Let us hear from the prophet Amos these words in chapter 8: 1 This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day," says the Lord God; "the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!" 4 Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5 saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6 buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 9 On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, and we know that death brings with it mourning and wailing. In the same way to live an intentionally sinful life is to invite sorrowful times to accompany us. Pity the poor prophet, who as God's "mouth piece" had to speak God's hard truth to a hard-hearted people, the people of Israel. They were not being compared to a basket of summer fruit, about to spoil from its ripeness, and the message is clear, Israel's days with God were almost over, not by God's intention but by Israel's unfaithfulness and disobedience. The picture that follows is a sad one; instead of praise songs being sung in the temple, the sound of wailing will take their place. Dead bodies will litter the streets and silence will follow. Their sin? Abusing the needy and bringing even further ruin to the poor; not what God desires in our relationship with God and God's people. Prophetic imagery continues; sun going down at noon, darkness in the sky during daylight hours, feasts of mourning instead of celebration, songs becoming crying sessions. The dress of the day will be the dress of those mourning, sackcloth and ashes and shaved heads. And God says that a great famine will come upon the earth, not a physical one, but one for the Word of God. And in their search for it, they will go from here to there and there to here and not find it.
God has given us free will and we're free to be apart from God, but given what we know or should know, why make that choice? We remember Joshua's sermon on that day before the people of Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land and he said plainly, we have a choice between blessings and curses, life and death; choose life! (Deut. 30:19). To choose to live a life of sin is to choose to be away from God and it is a choosing to invite sorrow to come your way as well. And there will come a point where you will die spiritually and it will seem like there is no resurrection possible for you. But, we know that is not true; as long as you are alive and breathing, you can return to God no matter your sin. God's grace and love will take that sin away from you and God will make you new. We can only imagine what it was like for those who experienced that famine of wanting to hear about God but could not, for it was no where to be found. We take for granted the resources and freedoms we have, and choose not to hear and not to believe; what would happen if one day those resources were taken away from us? Can you imagine a country where Sunday schools no longer exited? Can you imagine not being able to own your own Bible? Can you imagine not being able to hear a Christian sermon because they were outlawed and to preach or hear a sermon could mean you losing your life? May we instead choose to feast on what is ours now.
PRAYER: Loving God, use me to reach those who have chosen to be away from God. Help us realize the feast that is set before us, yet we choose to starve. May it not be so; may we seek You and Your word in all times and may we lovingly and freely share it with others. This is our prayer; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
