SCRIPTURE: Amos 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem… [Amos 1:2]
So God is angry, what else is new – seems like the whole OT is about an angry God.
Though this thought may go through our minds, I believe we do God an injustice.
If we appreciated the seriousness of the crimes that God had to deal with…
Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth… [Amos 1:3]
Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom… [Amos 1:6]
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom disregarding a treaty of brotherhood… [Amos 1:9]
Because he pursued his brother with a sword and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked… [Amos 1:11]
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders… [Amos 1:13]
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. [Luke 18:7-8]
God does not have a short fuse, He is not an angry God seeking someone to devour.
He sees and feels the pain and cruelty inflicted on every living thing.
He knows what lives in the hearts of all people, our twisted brokenness that makes us both victims and victimizers at the same time.
The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. [2 Peter 3:9]
But there comes a time when His justice finally demands an end to His mercy.
He holds off, but not forever; and when that time comes, no one will be treated unfairly or beyond what they deserve.
When the time comes, He roars, He thunders.
Think of Jesus patiently, graciously working with Jewish leaders, harassed and maligned at every turn, plotting to arrest and kill Him.
But it is not because of this that He eventually turns the tables in the temple; it is because they are making it hard for the people to connect to God, turning the temple into a den of thieves and robbers [see Matthew 21:12-14].
It was His love for the abused, the weak, the victims that eventually caused Him to roar and thunder.
And the same will come at the end of time, when God finally unveils His justice, and He judges the people for how they treated the least (see Mathew 25:45-46].
Jesus calls us to join Him in His mission of mercy, to join with God in His passion and compassion for those who are victimized by the world.
To be consumed with zeal for the house, and people, of the Lord!
PRAYER:
Lord, break my heart for the things that break Your heart! Show me the seriousness of sin that leads You to roar and thunder!