The oppression of the poor. Check. The establishment of structures built on immoral actions. Check. The acceptance of bribes in order to betray the less fortunate. Check.
We should be wary of reading these passages and thinking they are of a foreign place and time. These putrid acts are being lived out this very hour in our culture today. The irony of God’s judgment is that the very people who were supposed to be dispensing justice failed to do so because of their sin. The streets were full of wailing and turmoil because those in authority had abandoned God’s ways for the cheap thrills of sin. This had a domino effect on the entire culture as each looked out for their own needs. Spiritual desolation swept over the city.
But things were about to go from bad to worse. The religious traditions the people held to meant nothing because their hearts were completely alienated from God. Does this still happen today? Absolutely.
When the Word becomes just something we need to get done, our hearts are alienated. When our prayers become quick utterances that are only done in between daily tasks to make us feel better about our busyness, our hearts are alienated. When we worry and obsess over our own needs and how we imperfect our lives are because we don’t have what others do, our hearts are alienated.
God’s response to alienated hearts is a reality check. He has to respond with judgment because He is righteous. Now, before you get upset that I have labeled God as judgmental, I want you to think about the cross. What happened there? God’s ultimate judgment was on display for everyone to see. His wrath was poured out to the brim. There is only one difference between the judgment of God found in Amos and the judgment of God found at Golgotha… His target.
We deserve the punishment that we read in this chapter of Amos. Actually, our culture today is probably far worse. We should have been them. We should have been exiled. But God, being rich in mercy, placed His holy judgment upon His Son instead of us. Jesus took the judgment that you and I deserved and swallowed it up for eternity. How can this truth become so familiar that it doesn’t cause us to stop and tremble? How can we believe something like this and stay unchanged? Oh God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear…