Scripture Text (NRSV)
5:6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of
Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
5:7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to
the ground!
5:10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the
one who speaks the truth.
5:11 Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them
levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall
not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall
not drink their wine.
5:12 For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are
your sins-- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push
aside the needy in the gate.
5:13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is
an evil time.
5:14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the
God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said.
5:15 Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it
may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the
remnant of Joseph.
Comments:
... you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain ...
The money in my storehouse belongs to the poor. I am wealthy only if I
use my resources to help the needy.
tom in ga
Very often 'good' christians get so caugt up in their own piety that
it becomes quite easy to neglect our responsibility to those less
fortunate both spiritually & materially. Andy in Trinidad.
At least for Southern Baptists, this is World Hunger Sunday. I see
some possibilities here but wonder if any of you have other thoughts.
JG in WI
Amos was a herdsman by profession and a prophet by God's call. During
a time of great prosperity in the Northern Kingdom, the prophet speaks
of poverty, corruption, and oppression to the wealthy upper class. He
warns his listeners that fulfilling God's demand for justice brings
blessing, while corruption and evil bring curse.
We think we are living when, as James Joyce says, we are dancing on
our own tombs. In another discussion, the notion of our deperate
search for extending life focuses on our physical self, not on our
spirit and Eternal Life. This is the direction I will pursue, as I
think it has clear implications for today's church. - Philip CFla
