Take Two: Amos 4, Proverbs 28

Amos 4 is pretty harsh...but is a judgment oracle of God. In Amos 4:1 the prophet addresses the rich women of the court of Samaria (though some believe that both men and women are in view) as "cows of Bashan." The reference is to their indulgent lifestyle which was unable to be satisfied. The attempt to satisfy this desire resulted in oppression of the poor. The prophesy against them is in Amos 4:2-3 where their utter destruction is pictured. They will all die and be carried away.

Amos 4:4-5 is a "parody" on the call to worship. Amos calls the people to go to their false altars at Bethel and Gilgal...to sin and sin again. Bring your offerings and carry on with your religious activity; however, God will not listen and will only charge you with the sin of idolatry. Regardless of whether they brought offerings every three days or every three years, they would oppress the poor for their own properity every other day. This not only invalidated their worship...but became a source of indictment against them.

Think of it as a flaunting one's sin before God. It is like coming to church with unconfessed sin...or leaving a church having rejected an invitation to repent and respond to God. Ultimately...this is flaunting one's rebellion before a Holy God.

Amos 4:6-13 is a succession of statements of how God had disciplined His people yet they would not return. Even when difficulties came, they turned inward for answers and refused to return to God. Therefore (Amos 4:12) God declared His righteous judgment against them.

It is a dangerous thing to ignore the call of a Holy God to repent and return. Sometimes, as with a man this week, the voice of God calling becomes muffled and quieted after prolonged rebellion. Meanwhile the weight of sin guilt builds up and weighs down. At other times, God more actively brings judgment. Either way...it is a dangerous thing.

I might encourage you to seek after God and seek to know if there is unconfessed sin or failure to respond with obedience that weighs on your life. While the weight of God's judgment is heavy, the arms of God's Son are strong. He seeks to pick you up, restore you, remove the weight, and re-send you into the harvest as God's special children and Ambassadors of Grace. The decisions is yours alone.

Proverbs 28:13 is the takeaway today. Confess and forsake. They key to abundant life.

Grace,