I'm sorry I didn't send out the reading yesterday; I'll add it to today's reading and talk briefly about both. The Prophet Amos is one of the clearest voices against injustice in Israel and Judah. In his day the two kingdoms were separate: Israel was the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Samaria and Judah was the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. For Judah things were going pretty well in a lot of ways and the people thought of themselves as the faithful half of God's people. They apparently prided themselves on their worship life.
Amos addresses the rich and powerful in both kingdoms and accuses them of taking advantage of the poor. He talks about living in luxury while others go hungry. He also talks about commercial injustice: getting rich by selling poor quality grain and by using dishonest weights and measures. Amos warns them not to put so much confidence in their religious connection to God: they are chosen but they throw away God's favor by allowing and supporting injustice. What word does Amos have for us today?
God bless,
Sam
Amos 6:1-9
Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel resorts! 2Cross over to Calneh, and see; from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory,
3O you that put far away the evil day, and bring near a reign of violence? 4Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; 5who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; 6who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! 7Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. 8The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts): I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds; and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.
Amos 8:4-10
4Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 7The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 9On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
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