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The Lord’s prophet,
Amos, announced these words to a corrupt Israelite society (ca.
760-755 BC). He ministered during the reign of a popular and
powerful king, Jeroboam II.
The “day of doom” was imminent but was often ignored.
1) Great
Prosperity
There were certain
things that blinded Israel to Jehovah’s “day
of doom.” One such thing was their great prosperity. Several had
winter and summer houses . . . many were “houses of ivory” (Am.
3:15). Sin corrupts things, even the blessing of prosperity can
be corrupted into a curse. If one is greedy when
poor, one’s greed will radiate even more so when rich! One rich fool
expressed it this way:
“. . . I will do this: I will
pull down my barns and build greater. . . And I will say to my
soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your
ease; eat, drink, and be merry’” (Lk. 12:18,19).
His “day of doom”
was also near, and he didn’t know it:
“But God said to him, ‘Fool!
This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will
those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Lk. 12:20,
21).
Here is a man whose
love for riches pierced himself through with many sorrows (1 Tim.
6:10).
2) Great
Decadence
Another thing that
blinded Israel to the “day of
doom” was their great decadence.
“Thus says the LORD: ‘For
three transgressions of
Israel
, and for four, I
will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous
for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after
the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and
pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the
same girl, to defile My holy name. They lie down by every altar on
clothes taken in pledge, And drink the wine of the condemned in
the house of their god’” (Am. 2:6-8).
This passage is a
specimen of several. Amos saw the righteous with the poor sold and
crushed. He saw evil men making merry with what had been squeezed
from them (cf. Am. 4:1, 5:12); he saw gross immorality committed; he
saw an abundance of false religions/teachers/altars. Wow! One would think he is
describing America with our
contradicting religions that readily sacrifice unity to keep their human
creeds and doctrines of men. Likewise, the news raises our eyebrows
of how some famed persons with seemingly criminal behavior can be
freed as innocent in the
courts of the land where “justice is for all.” Does our nation also
sell out justice? Are our judges bought by bribes? Further, the
sexual deviancy of politicians and priests are commonplace in the
news. Churches have sold out the Lord’s moral government by
fellowshipping those in love with adultery. Some are even ordaining
homosexual preachers and others are tolerating unscriptural divorce
and remarriage (Heb. 13:4; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Matt. 19:9).
3) Great
Hatred
Finally, the core
reason of
Israel
’s demise was that
they abhorred those who cried against their sins,
“They hate the one who rebukes
in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly” (Am.
5:10).
Jesus identified “for everyone practicing evil
hates the light and does not come to the light. . .” (Jn. 3:20).
Do we despise the law of the Lord (Am. 2:4)? The citizens of this mighty
nation are becoming more intolerant of preaching that condemns sin
and are adoring teachers that leave out “the day of doom” in their
message. The latter are esteemed highly by the sheer numbers
flocking to hear them!
Why not begin
preparing for the judgment day? Investigate
the church of Christ. |
