In our Bible study tonight looking at the start of Amos 2, we saw that whilst God may have had judgment to pass on the nations surrounding Israel, His own people were not excused from judgment. In some ways, they were even more culpable than other nations, because they had God’s law and knew the standards expected of them, but they chose to live according to the standards of the nations around them. Amos lists the behaviour and practices which God abhorred: ‘they sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girland so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altaron garments taken in pledge.In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.’ (Amos 2:6-8)
Israel’s rejection of God’s law (Amos 2:4) led to other things (see Hos 4:1-2) such as the abuse of power, the denial of justice and sexual immorality (all of which are sadly only too visible in our own society.) Israel had become complacent, relying on their ‘privileged’ status as God’s people, but as Jeremiah warned, complacency and spiritual arrogance would not be sufficient excuse against God’s judgment (see Jer 7:1-8). It’s all too easy to rely on our relationship with God (see Matt 3:9), without realising that this is a two-way relationship. God promises much, but He also expects much from us! Belonging to Him and a knowledge of His ways brings responsibility.
It’s clear from many Old Testament references that God cares about the foreigners, the orphans and the widows: those who can’t help themselves. Deut 14:28-29 and Deut 24:19-20 show us how God made provision for those who could not survive without help. James 1:27 reminds us that religion that God accepts is to look after orphans and widowns in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. This is not the world’s way, which favours the rich and powerful and ignores everyone else, but as Jesus demonstrated, His way was to serve and not to be served. We must care about what God cares about and act in accordance with His commands if we are to escape His judgment.
