“Amos was a shepherd living in the rugged terrain south of Jerusalem. One day while about the regular duties of sheep-tending, he was dramatically confronted by a vision of God’s fearsome judgment. Knowing this vision was from God, Amos left his flock to deliver the stinging rebuke to Israel…
Amos also exposed the practice of selling wheat on the Sabbath, cheating with dishonest scales, and selling the refuse of wheat remaining after the harvest which under Jewish law was to be left to the edges of the field of the poor. This was God’s welfare plan but the Jews had become so greedy profiting at the expense of the poor and powerless that they were depriving them of the crumbs needed to stay alive.
Amos pronounced God’s judgment upon Israel because “they sell the righteous for money and the needy for a pair of sandals,” a reference to the common practice of the wealth who could bribe judges with as little as the price of a poor man’s sandals.
Greed had replaced justice, money had triumphed over mercy, and the judicial system was merely a pawn of power and privilege used to oppress the very people it was intended to protect. The righteousness of God was no longer the standard in the land.
And so, speaking through Amos, God demanded that the nation repent, “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts” [Amos 5:15a] And then in one of the grandest declarations of Scripture, he thundered, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” [Amos 5:24].
Let those who believe that “God helps those who help themselves” read Amos. The Bible teaches exactly the opposite of that hallowed American maxim: God cares especially for those who can’t help themselves—the poor and needy, the forgotten and helpless. Amos warned that the nation whose vested interests manipulated power structures for their own gain, at the expense of the poor, must face the judgment of an angry God.”
Charles W. Colson (1931-2012) Loving God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983) 143-144.
As you may know, Colson went home to be with the Lord yesterday. I believe his instructions to those of use reading this post would be something like this: “Man your posts and do our duty to proclaim repentance, stand for justice and care for the helpless.”
For more info that celebrates his life and legacy, visit: www.chuckcolson.org