A Basket of Ripe Fruit

Amos 8:1-8

As I ponder on chapter 8, this thought came into my head, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34 ESV)  Have you ever thought; if only God would let me in on what’s around the corner then life would be so much better.   First, let me state He has given you the big picture and He has given you the grace to handle tomorrow.  It should be stated, God has made it clear in Scripture that dependence brings blessing and independent living will bring curses.  Jesus said, our problem is we choose to sin.  Do you remember the encounter with Nicodemus where Jesus told him; “You must be born again.”   In John 3, Jesus goes on and in verses 19-20 deals with the why; “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20 ESV)

Chapter 8 begins in this manner; “This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.  “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.  “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”  (Amos 8:1-2)  Do you remember the priest Amaziah telling Amos to go peddle his prophecy somewhere other than Israel?  And Amos’ reply is in my words; look mister priest I was neither a prophet or a son of a prophet, I was a shepherd and I took care of some sycamore-fig trees, but God said, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”  It is my opinion that shepherding was a piece of cake, compared to telling a nation God has compared you to a basket of ripe fruit and your life of ignoring God’s statutes and commandments are over, now you are going to reap what you have sown.

Very often in Scripture the Lord is commanding His people to make sure they look to the needs of the poor, now we have changed that title to the “under resourced” and to widows and orphans.   As you read the book of Amos, those are the ones who are being cheated or taken advantage of.  Picking up the account in verse four; “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 on 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 Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.”

I have stated and will again, we in the USA are living in such times.  We take great pleasure in stating; in the USA most everyone has a car or two, shelter, computers, cell phones and the difference between rich and poor is only in quantity and quality.  To some degree it is true, but an evil thing has been taking place of late in the USA and it is our leaders, not God, telling the (under resourced) they should have more without working for it.  And greed has no social class, it is common to the very rich and to the poorest of poor, it also has no skin color, so many are being taken captive by the promises of taking what they did not earn.  Is God showing someone in the United States of America, a basket of ripe fruit?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice