A Wrong Conclusion

Amos 5:8-15

How easy it is to be led to a wrong conclusion, and you and I have bought into more scams than we will admit, yes, rip-offs by dishonest schemes, and the root cause is not being stupid, but being greedy, or lazy and not looking into the matter or not getting counsel.   The elderly of our society are often the prey of evil people because they put trust in people with titles or people in places of authority; like lawyers, doctors, money managers, and government employees, even those elected by the people.

Could that be the reason why God refers to us as sheep?  Sheep are dumb and are easily led and often will go off alone and encounter danger.  My neighbor, Jim raises sheep and at this time has many baby lambs on the ground.  I ask if I could come take pictures of the lambs, and this was Jim’s reply; we do not get near them for three to four days because they will follow a chicken or a person and then the mother will not let them nurse and we end up bottle-feeding them. 

Gene A. Getz in the Life Essentials study Bible, had these comments about the people that Amos was speaking to: “When the children of Israel turned away from God, they did not abandon the practices instituted at Mount Sinai.  However, their burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fellowship offerings and other rituals became sacrilegious and meaningless.  They were using these God-ordained symbols to worship false gods.  This is syncretism – incorporating idolatrous activities into biblical worship.” (Page 1194 #8)

Folks, these idolatrous activities did not happen over night, it was designed and orchestrated by the one Jesus calls the thief in John 10:10, the one who controls the deceptive channel that my friend Bill calls channel One.  I find it of great interest how close we are as a Nation and a people to the days of Amos.  Listen to what Amos is saying about them and ask yourself, could that be said about our Nation?  “They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity.  Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards
you have planted.  For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable.  They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.  Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil. (Amos 5:10-13)

The message to the righteous in Amos’ day is also the message for Christians today.  And this is the message: “Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.  Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate.  Perhaps the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious
to the remnant of Joseph.”  (Amos 5:14-15)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice