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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Amos 2

God has an indictment to bring against the nations. We read about it in both the Old and New Testaments. Often it has something to do with the way that the world has treated the Lord’s covenant community. In Amos 1 it is possible that all of the nations mentioned were involved in the destruction of the Lord’s people in the region of Gilead to the east of the Jordan.

It would be too easy to assume that the whole story is as simple as that. If you abuse the Lord’s people, you should expect the Lord’s wrath. That message is true, and it is reinforced in many passages throughout the Bible, but it is not the only story. The God who sends His rain and sun upon the just and the unjust also expresses His concern for all of humanity. Here at the beginning of Amos 2 a rather striking example of this principle is given.

The Edomites were already condemned by the Lord in the first chapter of this book. They were the receivers of the abused people of the Lord, and they were indicted for their furious wrath against their fellow descendants of Abraham and Isaac. In another book of the Bible, the Lord goes so far as to say, “Jacob (Israel) I loved, but Esau (Edom) I hated.” Yet here the nation of Moab is condemned not because of their treatment of the Israelites, but because of their actions concerning the bones of the king of Edom.

God hates death, though His Son was willing to suffer it in order to bring us eternal life. The Lord is all about life, and He hates it when men go crazy in their pursuit of the death of even their worst enemies. The Lord is in charge of vengeance. Men must not take these matters into their own hands without the Word of God directly instructing them to act as His agent of vengeance. When the King of Moab presumes to be the Lord of vengeance and shows vicious wrath against the bones of another king, he has gone too far.

The Moabites could have reasoned that there would be some limitation upon human wrath. They were guilty of brutality even if they never had one Word of the Scriptures brought to their attention. How much more serious is the problem of Judah, for they have been given the Law of God in written form, and they have not kept it. They are worthy of punishment from God just as all the other nations.

They are not alone in their special guilt. The main focus of this book is the northern nation of Israel and the Lord’s indictment against that nation begins now. Like Phoenicia and the Philistines they are ready to sell people. They do it for such a small price, and they sin against their own kinsmen. They should care for the poor among them, but the trample them in the dust. They should protect their women, but they are engaged in cult prostitution and drunkenness. In all of this they are just as bad as the nations around them.

Their guilt before God is compounded by their exalted position as His covenant people. It was God who gave them everything they have. It was He who rescued them from Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land. Yet they have refused to hear the Lord’s prophetic Word and they have disgraced the Name of God with their defiling religious ordinances. Like Judah, they have despised the Lord’s voice, and like all of the nations around them, they have treated God’s people as objects for their own use, and have been part of the death team that has brought such great destruction upon this fallen earth.

The descendants of Adam are prone to pride. They forget that they are dust, and then they grind others into the dust. They forget that they have been redeemed at great cost, and then they buy and sell the people of God. One might assume that our disobedience would be the end of every story. Yet the Lord would not speak through Amos unless there was some testimony being given to a way of life beyond the burnt remains of an unrighteous king’s bones. Surely there must be some hope for us beyond our own filthy sin. The prophets tell us what we deserve, but they must be talking to us for a reason.

The salvation that we long for will never come through our own strength. God’s judgment is coming, and is pressing hard against us. It would surely crush us. God is coming fast against us. We could never run so fast that we would get away safely through our great speed. God’s arrows are poised to be released. Each one will be devastating and will reach its mark. Yet there is a Substitute who will take the point of the spear. He will not run from the punishment that we deserve. He will be crushed for our iniquities, and we shall be healed.

In terms of what we deserve, we must admit that Judah and Israel are no better off than the vicious King of Moab. Yet God has lavished His electing love upon us and has paid the amazing price necessary for our salvation in the blood of His own Son. Men came against Jesus, the King of the Jews, with all the hatred that the King of Moab displayed for the King of Edom. Even we would have gladly destroyed the Lord of Glory with our own presumptuous wrath, as if we could have brought some case against Him. Yet by His grace our foolish hearts have been softened. We have been won by the story of the suffering Servant, and we have been captivated by the love of our dying Savior. Like Him and through Him, though we are dead, we yet live. This fact is very pleasing to the God who loves life.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 6:00 AM

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