At the end of the day, God is God

“I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.” (Amos 9:14)

I suppose some of us might have been getting worried at the end there. Would God really condemn all the Israelites/Judahites to death? Would there be anyone left to carry on the name Hebrews? Would God wash the Divine Hands of this experiment ‘humanity’? Would faith-believing people ever get it right? Verse 14 allays much if not all of these fears. The ‘people Israel’ will continue. God’s wrath will not consume them totally.

There is a scene from “The Fiddler on the Roof” that exemplifies this. The main character, Reb Teyve’s daughter gets married. It is a wonderful comic scene that is filled with joy and celebration. Into the middle of this joy comes the reality of the animosity against the Jewish people in the form of a pogrom. Russian soldiers come in to disrupt the wedding feast and destroy and scatter the wedding gifts and the wedding guests. After the destruction they leave the wedding feast to go on and destroy more elsewhere. Reb Teyve tells his daughter and new son-in-law, and the other wedding guests to pick up and clean up. In other words, go on about the business of living. This is what I think God is telling the Israelites, to pick things up and go on living.

May we as people who hold on to hope against hope learn to pick up the pieces of lives, and help others pick up their lives, in the face of the evil and destruction that is in our world. Shalom.

Famine Times

“Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”—skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.. . . “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. “ (Amos 8:4-6, 11)

The writer of the book of Amos has delivered many stern warnings from, and on behalf of, God. But this warning is one of the most dire to my way of thinking. What could be worse for a weary and bleeding world than not hearing from God. And so many times it seems this has come to pass. We struggle and mourn for our world and bewail all the things that have befallen us. How often have we heard Christian and non-Christian alike say, “How can God allow this to happen?” The truth of the matter is that God has not allowed it. Humanity has allowed it; God has allowed humanity to act as it sees fit. And the difference between the two is huge.

It was explained to me once what verse six means; the poor and needy were not paid a living wage and could not afford to buy what they needed. Or that the poor and needy were enslaved because that is the only way they could be assured of food and shelter. Seems to me that those conditions are with us today. When I first heard that explanation I could not fathom a world where people could not afford to buy the items they were paid to produce. But now that is quite common. So why should it not be beyond the realm of possibility that God’s words are no longer heard? That is not to say that the Lord does not speak, but that those who inhabit the world do not hear the Lord’s words. If we who inhabit this world cannot, do not or will not hear God, that indeed is a famine situation.

May you hear God’s word this day and all the days to come. Selah!

Metamorphosis

“But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness- “ (Amos 6:12c)

Amos, by chapter 6, is well into his tirade. Those who are enjoying the good life, and not caring who they abuse, are being targeted. Not only are they resting on their laurels and past triumphs, they are also resting on silk couches and eating and drinking themselves into gluttony. I suspect that Amos has become grandiose in his speech; that is, he is using metaphors, analogies, and colorful phrases.

I am not faulting him. Traveling preachers whose stock and trade is fire and brimstone have done much in the field of evangelism. I am trying though, to figure out these associations. Justice as poison; if God’s people are supposed to support and practice justice, than the type of justice being practiced is deadly to those who receive. And the result of righteousness is bitterness because of the abuse being inflicted in the name of righteousness. This is not what is supposed to happen. And the Lord God Almighty is angry. “For the LORD God Almighty declares, “I will stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah” (verse 14)

Prudence and Practice in Evil Times

“Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.”

We live in turbulent times, horrifying times. Times when people are dying daily for so many reasons that we can barely keep up with them. Others are suffering, financially, emotionally, psychologically, physically. Again for reason cannot keep track of. Matthew Henry, the commentator, would tell us “Evil times will not bear plain dealing; that is, evil men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain even to speak to them.” I am not sure I can agree. If we remain silent, evil will continue. A phrase I have often heard is that ‘all that evil needs to flourish is for good people to keep silent.’ And I believe that. Many Christians have spoken out against evil, and stood against evil here and abroad. Perhaps we, as Christians, have not been ‘prudent.’ But I do not think that is a sin.

“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. . . . . But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 13,14,15 & 24)”

What we have done, in our not being silent, is show how we hate evil and seek good. And we, as Christians, have felt God’s presence. We have insisted on justice for all people and have extended mercy to those who have sinned. And we have hoped and prayed that the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on us.

And as verse 24 states, we have hoped and prayed for justice and righteous to come full force into out lives. We have asked and prayed that justice and righteousness would ‘carry us away’ with its force and enthusiasm.

The verses preceding verse 24 declare that God despises the festivals, assemblies, offerings, and songs that do not address the sins that the people have committed. All that hoopla cannot erase or ease the wrongs that have been committed against the poor and the weak.

There is a time to be prudent, and there is a time to speak out against evil and injustice, and stand up for justice and righteousness. May the Lord God teach us the correct times and the practices. Selah!

Cows of Bashan

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!” Amos 4:1 (Context: Amos 4:1-13)

Bess (lovely wife) had this Bible in college that would just naturally open to a certain point. Unfortunately, that certain point was Amos 4:1. It took her a while to realize that it wasn’t so much God’s constant message to her, but a crease in the spine.

Still … 

It is good to be reminded that we, who live in the richest nation in the history of the entire world, are not to live our lives as fat cows, commanding others to bring us drinks and entertainment, living off the oppression of others. In fact, it is more than a reminder, it is a threat. Israel was threatened with famine and “cleanness of teeth;” we are warned (in the parable of the soils, this past Sunday’s lectionary passage):

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. (Mt 13:22).

For some of us, it means fleeing the wealth of this world, with all of its deceitfulness and choking power. For others of us, the wealth of this world is given to us to use as good stewards; to use what is ultimately God’s wealth for the building out of the kingdom. 

It’s tricky to do. But we really do want to avoid being taken away with those hooks, and our posterity with fishhooks.

A piece of an ear

They do not know how to do right, says the Lord, those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds. (Amos 3:10; context: Amos 3:1-15)

It is hard to overstate the anger and violence in Amos 3. The calamity that is about to occur is called a roaring lion, a springing snare, a blowing trumpet, a disaster. The surrounding nations are invited to watch as the calamity unfolds, and the internal weakness of Israel allows her enemies to invade and conquer. It will be like a lion attacking a sheep, and not much can be done about it:

Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out.

It is clear that our response is not “store up violence and robbery” in our lives, individually, and as a church: ‘he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,” as our Lord says. Those who choose to live by the economy of violence will necessarily be subject to violence; subject, even, to the violence of God, as this passage indicates.

This passage, though, has no easy commentary or theory of living. Perhaps a sitting back and being still before the anger of God is best.

Reading of the Charges

“Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.” (Amos 2:6)

When someone is charged with a crime, first the charges against them are read out. The first chapter and the first half of the second chapter of Amos are a reading of the charges that God has against them. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammonites, Moab, and Judah In each there is the litany “for three . . . and for four” as if more than three and as much as four is a serious charge.

The commentaries that I consulted told me that God equates Judah’s and Israel’s guilt as at the same level as the other non-God believing nations. That is to say that Judah and Israel show the same sort of ignorance of God’s ways as the other nations who had never been called by God.

The book of Amos was supposedly written based on one man’s day of prophesying against God’s people during one day. Amos did not take years or even months to prophesy. The length of time is spent prophesying was short. It was recorded by someone else several years after Amos prophesied it.

For however long we spend with the book of Amos let us keep ourselves aware of what we might learn of being faithful and unfaithful followers of God.

Why he?

“His [Israel's] young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:6-7)

I believe in equality in the sexes, I truly do. But I have to wonder why in this instance Israel is personified as “he.” In the paraphrases/translations I looked at, all of them use the word ‘he’ except for God’s Word Translation which used ‘they’.

It is not so much the ‘he’ attached to the concept of beauty and sweet fragrance; it is the wondering why the ‘he’ needs to be changed in such a dramatic way, and ’she’ does not. All through Hosea one of the main metaphors has been one of God’s people as an unfaithful wife, a ’she’. But here the overwhelming personification is ‘he’.

As I think about this, I have to wonder if the ‘he’ is a generic term for the priest and false prophets that have been accused in other parts of Hosea. They would be ‘hes’. Or perhaps Israel does not mean the people, but a particular individual who is male. Or perhaps the metaphor of an unfaithful wife is no longer necessary or no longer needs to be sustained. The writer of Hosea does not need to parallel God’s desire for Israel with a husband’s desire for his wife. But I still have to wonder why in the translations the male gender determinant remains.

I do not think I can find an answer to this question. And in not finding an answer, I do not feel that this passage ’speaks’ to me.

BUT, for those it does speak to: May you grow tall and strong in the Lord. May you provide give to those around sustenance, fragrance and shade. And may you continue to be called to the Lord’s work. Selah!

Bickering like an old marriage couple

“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man— the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.” (Hosea 11:8-9)

Anger in a marriage is quite normal. After all you have two flawed imperfect beings trying to live out a perfect relationship. Sooner or later one spouse is going to slip up and the other is going to get mad. But all that humanity is flawed and imperfect the wrath of a person pales in comparison to the wrath of God, a perfect being. That is one of the reasons that the ‘voice of God’ in Hosea interests me. At times it could almost be a fallible person talking, which in actuality it is, or at least it is the voice of God as interpreted by/spoken through a fallible person. But here, in verse 9, the God-self comes through clearly. And whatever has been said before is gentled by God’s compassion because God is God.

But back to the analogy of marriage; one spouse has become angered, justifiably or not, at the other spouse. Usually this anger does not mean the end of the marriage. Once tempers have cooled, one remembers the good things and the love that are also a vital part of the marriage. And here again we see the parallel between God’s love and marriage. How can one give up the spouse they love? How can one spouse walk away from the other? It does happen; the divorce rate proofs it. But what level and depth of hatred must a person go through to cast aside the one they claimed to love?

Eugene Peterson in “The Message’ expresses God’s reluctance to act in anger like this: “I can’t bear to even think such thoughts. My insides churn in protest. And so I’m not going to act on my anger. I’m not going to destroy Ephraim. And why? Because I am God and not a human. I’m The Holy One and I’m here—in your very midst. “ (approx verse 9) God does not deny that the God-self is angry. Far from it. But that anger will not be allowed to destroy. In fact it does the opposite. It yearns to draw the loved one close and to convince the beloved to act in a loving way. It is like being in the middle of a marital spat and one spouse starts hugging and kissing the other spouse. Who can remain angry?

May the Lord who loves eternally grab you and convince you so throughly of God’s love that you never stray away again. Selah!

Rain on fallow ground

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12)

The hearer of Hosea’s words is to do right and receive the benefit of that righteousness. The hearer is also to work at break up and preparing those places in their themselves that have been unused. Then, and only then, will they be ready for the Lord to seek them out, and to bless their efforts on their part.

But who are the hearers of God’s words? Ephraim, Judah, Jacob, Israel and Bethel are mentioned in verses 9-15. In previous chapters of Hosea both the priests and the people have been chastised. This is one of the traits of these scourge-like exhortations; both the innocent and the guilty are addressed. One is hard pressed to know who is who. And, at times, one is hard pressed to know which one’s self is. Are we seen as guilty or innocent? Do we have fallow places in our lives? Can we be sure we are righteous and that God will ‘rain’ on us? Have we sowed so that we might reap steadfast love?

May you have the courage and wisdom to look in your own heart. May you find that God has planted within you the seeds or righteousness and steadfast love, and may God reign upon you that you may grow evermore in God’s sight.