WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the Lord.

“I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

Amos 4:6-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After a little break to celebrate Christ’s coming with a series of holiday devotions, today I return to our study of the Book of Amos. Let’s review what we know about Amos before we get to today’s passage.

First, you’ll recall that Amos was a shepherd and farmer. He wasn’t some high priest or member of Israelite’s upper crust. Rather, he was a simple tender of the flocks and orchards who God set apart for His purposes, continuing to show us through His word that He could choose anyone to do anything He so wills to be done.

Secondly, we know Amos prophesied before the fall of Israel and Judah during the reign of King Jeroboam to the north and King Uzziah to the south. We gain a lot of insight through his words as to why the God’s people had angered Him so much, placing themselves on the cusp of judgment.

As Chapter 4 of this book opened, we found that the Israelites had just been going through the motions of worship, putting on a show outwardly while continuing to have a sinful heart and mind within. And so we see as we pick up where we left off early last month, God tried and tried to get His peoples’ attention with little effect. Look again at this passage:

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the Lord.

“I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.  Amos 4:6-11

It was quite a list of attempts by God.

He tried to take away the Israelites’ food, hoping they might come back to Him if their stomachs were empty but that didn’t work.

He took away their water, hoping that they would become so thirsty that they would return but that didn’t work either.

Many times, He struck their gardens and vineyards, destroying the harvest of their crops with blight, mildew, and locusts but it still wasn’t motivation enough for the people repent and turn back to Him.

And so God upped the ante. He sent plagues akin to the ones He ravaged Egypt with, plagues the Israelites would have been familiar with knowing the history of their ancestors. He even sent punishment similar to what He gave Sodom and Gomorrah on some of the Israelites but neither it nor the plagues facilitated any change.

I’m sure at this point God was just ready to say, “What’s it going to take? What do I have to do to you to command your attention?”

Well, we know it took the utter demolition and devastation of the northern and southern kingdoms followed by a seventy-year captivity in Babylon for that to happen. It was a shame really because there was no reason it should have gotten that far. If only the people of God had turned from their sins and back to Him, it all could and would have been different.

All this got me thinking about the world we live in today. It seems every day we find evil making the headlines as people allow sin to more and more have its way in their lives.

What’s it going to take from the Lord in order for us to turn from our iniquities and toward His righteousness and holiness once again?

Is He going to have to go to the levels He went to with the people of Israel in Amos’ day?

Or are we going to learn from the past, wake up, repent, and live as God wills for us to live, with Him as the central focus of everything we do, say, and think?

It’s definitely food for thought as we enter 2017.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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