Sunday School Commentary Lesson
By Walter Albritton
(Substituting for Dr. Jason Thrower)
June 28
Nothing is gained by
sugarcoating the teaching of Amos, the Shepherd Prophet of Tekoa.
Better to call a spade a spade. What we get from Amos is not hope but doom and
gloom. God had given his people the opportunity to repent, to turn from their
sins and put God first, but alas, they had refused. So the end had come. God’s
judgment was at hand. God, said Amos, is going to destroy his people for their
sins. The judgment of God will fall upon those who disregard the principle of
justice between man and man. The Israelites had done that. Their greed and
dishonesty had resulted in the oppression of the poor. Now God would use the
ruthless Assyrian Empire to punish his own people.
God showed Amos a
vision – a basket of summer fruit. There is a sense of finality about a basket
of ripe fruit. The time for ripening is over. Green tomatoes might be put on a
window sill for a few days to ripen and turn red. No so with Amos’ basket; the
summer fruit was fully ripened. Its time had come. The same was true for Israel.
No more time remained. Judgment was at hand. The nation was ripe for
punishment.
And how shall I
describe the scene when judgment falls, Amos seems to ask. His description is
quite horrible: dead bodies everywhere, weeping instead of singing, and
“silence.” Why? Because, Amos says, “The Lord has spoken.” After a scathing
denouncement of the way merchants have been “trampling on the needy,” Amos
hears God saying, “I won’t forget your deeds!” He goes on to describe what it
will feel like when an earthquake strikes fear in their hearts:
The earth will tremble for your deeds,
and everyone will mourn.
The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;
it will heave up, then sink again.
9 “In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth while it is still day.
10 I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning
and your singing into weeping.
You will wear funeral clothes
and shave your heads to show your sorrow—
as if your only son had died.
How very bitter that day will be!
11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 Beautiful girls and strong young men
will grow faint in that day,
thirsting for the Lord’s
word.
14 And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—
who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan
and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba—
they will all fall down,
never to rise again.”
Amos uses the word
“famine” to describe God’s judgment. It was a word familiar to people in that
ancient world; most of them had experienced the horror of a famine in the land.
However, Amos speaks not of a famine of food or water but a famine of “hearing
the words of the Lord.” He paints a striking picture on our minds with his
phrase, “thirsting for the Lord’s word.” That is truly a dreadful thought: men
and women staggering, searching, wandering, thirsting for a word from the Lord
– and hearing none! Who can imagine a more terrible famine! The very thought of
such a famine is especially frightening to those of us who know Jesus as the
Word of God and have found the precious words of holy scripture to be spiritual
food for our souls!
Amos saw what happens
when people turn their backs on God and ignore his commandments to care for the
poor and needy. He realized that disobedience can result in spiritual famine.
There may be times when God’s words are precious to us but then we become
impressed with our own words and self-centeredness results in spiritual
deafness.
As we consider the
horrors of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, perhaps we should give
thanks that Amos is not the end of the Bible. There is more, much more. As we
read on we discover a rich understanding of the mercy of God and of his great
willingness to forgive our sins and remember them no more. Amos was long on
judgment but short on mercy. Yet we shall be wise to heed the warnings we find
in Amos and other prophets and be careful that we do not test the patience of
God. We can thank God for the Apostle Peter who reminds us of the mercy of God:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)
Though we are confident of the eternal mercy of God, we
should remember what Jesus said in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.
Five were wise; five were foolish. The five foolish virgins failed to take oil
in their vessels with their lamps. Instead of preparing for an emergency, they
“slumbered and slept.” Thus when the bridegroom came, they could not go in with
the others because “the door was shut.”
There comes a
time in life when the door is shut. Though once we could have entered, the opportunity
no longer exists. If we are wise we will enter into the door of God’s mercy
while it is open and not risk hearing the sad words, “The door is now shut.”
Contact Jason – throwerjason@gmail.com
Contact Walter – walteralbritton7@gmail.com