Amos 8:1-9:15
The God of justice and grace
Amos again speaks out against injustice:
‘Listen to this, you who walk all over the weak,
you who treat poor people as less than nothing,
Who say, “When’s my next paycheck coming
so I can go out and live it up?
How long till the weekend
when I can go out and have a good time?”
Who give little and take much,
and never do an honest day’s work.
You exploit the poor, using them –
and then, when they’re used up, you discard them’ (8:4–6, MSG).
The condition of the people was not unlike the condition of the people that we see in our society today. People are dying of spiritual hunger. There is ‘a famine of hearing the words of the Lord’ (v.11). People are searching – they try drugs, alcohol, sex, or power. All this is an attempt to satisfy that deep hunger, but they do not find spiritual food (v.12).
The intention of the covenant law was to protect the disadvantaged. But, as is often the case today, the poor were not receiving justice. They were being trampled upon. They were being cheated. The Lord hates dishonesty because he loves us and he loves the poor. Injustice and dishonesty were at the heart of Israel’s sins. As a result of all this Amos says, ‘Judgment Day is coming!’ (v.11, MSG). Israel will be driven into exile (9:1–10).
Yet, the book of Amos does not end on this note. It ends with the promise of restoration: ‘I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces... Everything will be happening at once – and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel:
They’ll rebuild their ruined cities.
They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine.
They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.
And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land.
They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them’ (vv.11–15, MSG).
The ultimate future of God’s people is beyond your wildest dreams. Even sin and injustice cannot ultimately derail God’s plans of blessing. It is the same dynamic as we saw in our New Testament passage. God’s grace and mercy far outweigh our sins. Jesus ultimately makes it possible for both justice and forgiveness to go hand in hand.
Thank you, Lord, that you are a God of justice and of grace. Thank you that through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit we see an in-breaking of that future now. May justice triumph. May the new wine of your Holy Spirit and a great outpouring of grace drip from the mountains.
Pippa Adds
Romans 5:20b
‘Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.’
The Message translates this ‘but sin didn’t, and doesn’t have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace.’ I think that is why in prisons we often find so much faith and love; and transformed lives. The darker it is, the brighter the light shines.
Verse of the Day
‘A friend loves at all times…’ (Proverbs 17:17a).
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