Zechariah 5-8
Revelation 19
“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” Amos 5:14-15
Amos was a prophet during the reign of king Jeroboam II of Israel and king Uzziah of Judah. Amos lamented the condition of the Northern Tribes where injustice was pervasive; they were casting righteousness to the ground and turning justice into bitterness. Not only were they condemning the innocent poor, they were building wealth off the backs of oppression. Amos wrote in his letter, warning the Northern Tribes that they had actually wandered away from the worship of Yahweh into false gods and idolatry. Why? Because true worship of God should always look like justice, righteousness and loving our neighbour.
In Amos 6:1, Amos addressed those who ignored his message: “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” Amos actually broadened his message to encompass the whole nation. He spoke about Jerusalem and Samaria of their pride and haughtiness, how they felt secure in their little mountain fortress, believing that their being chosen meant that they were above or better than the nations around them. Yet, Amos’s letter to them was during a time of national abundance and military conquest. They did not believe God was sending them a warning through Amos or that harm would come to them in their mountain fortress. Their false sense of security was actually making things worse. They mistakenly thought that they were the chosen ones and therefore nothing bad could happen to them; when in reality, God was warning them of the consequences of disobeying His law.
Leviticus 26:14-16 goes, “But if you will not listen to Me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject My decrees and abhor My laws and fail to carry out all My commands and so violate My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.” Beyond this small excerpt, God warned them four times in Leviticus 26 on the escalating nature of failing to listen to Him.
Indifference is not a neutral position. It will actually lead us to a place where we are hostile towards God. When we are indifferent, we let sin get a foothold in our lives, where it grows and has an anaesthetizing effect on our conscience, making us feel comfortable with its presence and then it starts to take over. Sin will eventually cause us to tune out to the voice of the Spirit in our life. But sin does not get the final say in our lives. If we are willing to return to God, to heed His warnings, He will redeem us and welcome us back.
Almighty God, I do not want to be indifferent to what You are calling me to be. Help me to walk rightly with You. Thank You, Lord.
Revelation 19
“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” Amos 5:14-15
Amos was a prophet during the reign of king Jeroboam II of Israel and king Uzziah of Judah. Amos lamented the condition of the Northern Tribes where injustice was pervasive; they were casting righteousness to the ground and turning justice into bitterness. Not only were they condemning the innocent poor, they were building wealth off the backs of oppression. Amos wrote in his letter, warning the Northern Tribes that they had actually wandered away from the worship of Yahweh into false gods and idolatry. Why? Because true worship of God should always look like justice, righteousness and loving our neighbour.
In Amos 6:1, Amos addressed those who ignored his message: “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” Amos actually broadened his message to encompass the whole nation. He spoke about Jerusalem and Samaria of their pride and haughtiness, how they felt secure in their little mountain fortress, believing that their being chosen meant that they were above or better than the nations around them. Yet, Amos’s letter to them was during a time of national abundance and military conquest. They did not believe God was sending them a warning through Amos or that harm would come to them in their mountain fortress. Their false sense of security was actually making things worse. They mistakenly thought that they were the chosen ones and therefore nothing bad could happen to them; when in reality, God was warning them of the consequences of disobeying His law.
Leviticus 26:14-16 goes, “But if you will not listen to Me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject My decrees and abhor My laws and fail to carry out all My commands and so violate My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.” Beyond this small excerpt, God warned them four times in Leviticus 26 on the escalating nature of failing to listen to Him.
Indifference is not a neutral position. It will actually lead us to a place where we are hostile towards God. When we are indifferent, we let sin get a foothold in our lives, where it grows and has an anaesthetizing effect on our conscience, making us feel comfortable with its presence and then it starts to take over. Sin will eventually cause us to tune out to the voice of the Spirit in our life. But sin does not get the final say in our lives. If we are willing to return to God, to heed His warnings, He will redeem us and welcome us back.
Almighty God, I do not want to be indifferent to what You are calling me to be. Help me to walk rightly with You. Thank You, Lord.