RIGHTEOUS MOURNING OVER EVIL

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AMOS 8:4-7—RIGHTEOUS MOURNING OVER EVIL

News about the assassination of Charlie Kirk recently have fostered numerous responses of anger, confusion, and surprisingly even celebration by those who would reveal the evil in their own hearts. Whether or not one agrees with someone’s opinions and expressions, murder should never be a response and certainly should never be celebrated. The Prophet Amos spoke to the people of Israel in vivid visions and warnings, perhaps nowhere less than Amos 8. The Prophet begins the chapter by referencing visions of summer fruit (v. 2).[1] Through the prophet, God charges Israel with social injustice, commercial dishonesty, and indifference to holy days. Here, a sharp warning is given to God’s people regarding injustice, for God is just so anything that does not exhibit his own heart is evil.

Amos 8:4-7

English Standard Version

⁴ Hear this, you who trample on the needy
    and bring the poor of the land to an end,
⁵ saying, “When will the new moon be over,
    that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
    that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
    and deal deceitfully with false balances,
⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

⁷ The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.[2]

Amos, although prophesying often to the nations surrounding Israel, spends most of his ministry prophesying to the nation of Isreal herself. “The vision could not be simpler. In contrast to the plumb-line [Amos 7:7-9], where Amos had to sort out what was central from what was peripheral—wall, hand, etc., what Yahweh showed here was identical to what Amos saw: a basket of summer fruit.”^[3] According to the maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite (Ps. 89:14), God is just; no matter how unjust circumstances may seem and in a realization of God’s complete knowledge and the ignorance of humankind, it is impossible for God to act in any way that contradicts justice (i.e., God is righteous no matter what).

The Prophet Amos here offers the Lord’s complaint against the nation of Israel for their injustice. As such, since righteousness requires justice, justice is a part of the character of God, and the Lord demands his people to exercise justice, a presentation of requirements for righteousness is realized.

Righteousness Requires Justice (v. 4)

Righteousness first requires justice. Justice is inarguably the primary focus of the text here in Amos. Two imperatives exist in the text here. First, injustice is not separated from but is the antithesis of humility. The Apostle Peter indicates that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet 5:5). Scripture teaches that God hates pride (Prov 8:13, 16:16-19). Pride does not exist in the character of God, for he is humble. Ironically, God is the only one who may rightfully be filled with pride. Surely, God is self-centered and demands worship (because he may rightfully do so), but his own atoning sacrifice on the cross to purchase a people who utterly rejected him suggests that God is humble. So too should his redeemed people be. Pride is the antithesis of righteousness, for it is the opposite of humility and, thus, the opposite of godliness. God is righteous so godliness requires justice and, therefore, humility.

Second, righteousness requires justice because God’s just heart is for the needy (Ps 72:12-13, 140:12, Prov 14:21). Throughout Scripture (and especially the Psalms), it is revealed that God holds a deep affection for the poor and needy. Even Jesus teaches that the poor and meek are blessed (Matt 5:3-5). Amos points to Israel’s lack of righteousness—lack of godliness—by referencing their own injustice—specifically trampling upon the needy and discarding the poor (i.e., those for whom God has a heart and loves). If godliness is to be poured from his people’s lives, justice is demanded. Anything else is worldly and demonic.

 Righteousness Requires Worship (v. 5a)

Amos next focuses on worship and specifically feasts and holy days, which emphasizes the importance of the Lord’s day of worship. For Christians, that day is Sunday. Lord’s Day gatherings should not underestimated. The people of Israel neglected the new moon (every fourth week) and the Sabbath (weekly and founded on God’s acts of creation in Exodus 20:8-11 and redemption in Deuteronomy 5:12) and were admonished for such neglect. Nevertheless, how often does culture consider Lord’s Day gatherings as minimal? For the people of Israel, neglecting God’s commanded feasts and holy days was not optional but required punitive acts from the Almighty. What one generation does in limitation, the next will do in abundance.

God’s people must comprehend the severity of worship: worship is not optional, a luxury, or an element low on the priority scale. God is jealous (Exod 34:14) not of but for his people—specifically his people’s worship (i.e., God’s demands are nothing less than complete abandon and total adoration). Here, God extends the seriousness of such demands to the people of Israel. Israel was chosen as God’s own people but neglected to employ the first of his commands to have no other gods before him. Instead, God’s own people, chosen and bought for his glory, neglected the Lord’s utmost command of worship. If Christians desire to live righteous lives both as individuals and as a people, worship is necessary. Worship is required both on an individual level (lifestyle worship) and as a comprised body (corporate worship). Neither should be forgotten, for neglect of worship indicates neglect of the living God.

 Righteousness Requires Honesty and Integrity (v. 5b-6)

Third, righteousness requires honest and integrity. The Prophet Amos criticizes Israel’s business practices, for God’s people were “boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat” (Amos 8:5b-6). “Such dishonest business practices are against the Lord’s law, and will result in his judgment (Lev 19: 36; Deut 25: 14).”[4] Moreover, selling the sweepings with the wheat emphasizes a specific dishonest practice abominable to the Lord. “By mixing the chaff with the actual kernels of wheat, the estate owners cheat the buyers of their grain. These owners add to the good wheat that which falls the floor and is supposed to be discarded in the wheat threshing process.”[5] How will an outside world looking into the Christian faith believe upon the name of Jesus if his own people act no different from anyone else? What kind of example is observed when God’s people act in dishonesty? Integrity and honesty are required of God’s people for righteousness, for God himself is honest and demands the same of his people.

God Does Not Let Injustice Go (v. 7)

Mark Labberton refers to worship as a dangerous act, for when God’s people truly worship, they hold a heart for justice and desire to trample upon injustice.[6] Malachi submits the day of God’s justice when what has been wrong will be made right.

For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts (Mal 4:1-3).

God’s justice demands consequences for injustice, which is of what Amos warns here. Amos provides a sharp warning to Israel here by referencing the pride of Jacob. The pride of Jacob “may refer to the Lord himself, or to the land of Israel, which is elsewhere called ‘our heritage…the pride of Jacob’ (Ps 47:4).”[7]

Additionally, the Lord’s promise in the context of injustice is that he will never forget. After September 11, 2001, calls for the United States to forgive and forget what happened on the day of those dreadful attacks were made by radical terrorists to which a growing response became, “We will never forgive; we will never forget.” Truly, an injustice had been served to the United States, and people rightfully felt wronged and, thus, upset and angry. When the justice of the Lord is compromised, his anger rightfully burns, and it is a righteous anger. Likewise, God’s people are right in expressing outrage over injustice, but such outrage must not be the endpoint, for the people of God must strive to exercise justice, as God’s instrument. God does not let injustice go. He did not do so for Israel, and he will not do so for his people now. To live in righteousness, the Lord requires his people to employ perpetual justice, for God himself is just. Worship requires righteousness; righteousness requires justice.

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[1] The Hebrew words for “summer fruit” and “end” are similar and skillfully brought together (v. 2) for effect (i.e., the end has come for Israel).

[2] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Bible.

^[3] David A. Hubbard, Joel and Amos: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 25, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 231–232.

[4] R.C. Sproul, ed., ESV Reformation Study Bible (Sanford, FL: Crossway Publishing, 2016), 8651, Kindle.

[5] Sproul, ESV Reformation Study Bible, 8651, Kindle.

A significant Biblical principal is that of commercial and business honesty. The Apostle Paul instructs the Church at Corinth to do all to the glory of God whether eating, drinking, or anything done (1 Cor 10:31-33).

[6] It should be noted that God does not differentiate between disparate types of justice. Justice is justice, just as the gospel is the gospel (i.e., social justice is not different from any other type of justice). Moreover, any time a term is placed before the gospel (e.g., social gospel, etc.), it is a false gospel, for the gospel of Jesus Christ makes no distinction. Said another way, justice is justice with no such distinctions, and the gospel is the gospel in the same manner.

[7] Sproul, ESV Reformation Study Bible, 8651, Kindle.

THE PRAYERFUL PLEA OF THE RIGHTEOUS

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THE PRAYERFUL PLEA OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Any faithful believer will testify to the fact that prayer works. In unfaithfulness, God is faithful, but it is the prayers of the righteous that are accepted by God and are a stalwart part of his plan for his people. Exodus 32 offers the narrative of God’s people creating a golden calf, an idol, and worshiping it. God’s response was anger and seeming propensity to destroy his people who had turned from him. Moses, however, pleaded with God (prayed) causing God to relent. Did God, however, relent because of Moses’ plea, or was it already a part of his plan? A deeper look into the text confirms God’s sovereignty and plan to never abandon his people.

Exodus 32:7-14

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

¹¹ But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴ And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

Sin Is Never Accepted by God (vv. 7-10)

The notion that God accepts people as they are is a godless doctrine rooted in godless and selfish thought, for truly, no one is accepted by God as they are; rather, people are loved as they are and loved, in fact, too much for God to allow them to remain where they are.[1] From the Exodus text, it is apparent that sin is never accepted by God. If it were, the Israelites would have been allowed to continue in their godless ways. Rather, God sees his chosen people’s fault and commands Moses let his anger burn against them (v. 10). Here, there subsist three imperatives regarding the sin of people and God’s response:

1)      people are prone to sin,

2)      God is not oblivious to sin, and

3)      sin is a serious matter to God.

Since the Fall, humanity has existed as a perpetually and radically evil race. This is known as the Stain of Adam (i.e., all people have inherited a sinful nature where the issue is not only that people sin but that humans do nothing but sin apart from Christ). The issue is not the sin but the disease that people carry in their nature, which is still present even after conversion. It is a battle between the flesh and the spirit (Gal 5:17). Paul says it well.

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me (Rom 7:15-20).[2]

A battle wages within each person between good and evil, and without Christ, that battle is futile and impossible. No person does good apart from Christ including those who do not believe in his power (i.e., any good that is exuded from anyone is of God, for God alone is good and everyone and everything else evil). The falsity that people are good (or even mostly good) by nature is not to be believed, for it is from the pit of hell. For repentance to occur in people’s lives, there must be an acknowledgement of humanity’s radical evil and dire need for Christ.

Moreover, God is not oblivious to sin. In the instance of the golden calf, the Israelites were impatient and began worshipping a false god while Moses was hidden on a mountain with God. It is often when God is not seen that people believe they are also not seen; yet, such a thought could not be more false. When it seems God is not present, he is omnipresent; when it seems God does not know, he is omniscient; when it seems sin is hidden, it is brought to light; and when it seems sin is allowed, it is punished. God sees the sin of his chosen people causing his anger to burn hot against them. God knows and sees everything, and the sin of humanity is never hidden from God.

Additionally, sin is a serious matter to God. In this instance, God desires to destroy the Israelites because of their faithless ways. One may ponder how a people who have been redeemed and rescued by God would ever forget his mercy and goodness, but humanity has a short attention span, which often causes a cycle of comfort àrebellion àconsequence àrepentance and back again. God, however, remains faithful to his people and never abandons them. Even in the narrative of the golden calf, God is ultimately faithful to his people. It should never be thought that God is faithless. Humanity is the only faithless party in covenant with God; yet, he is faithful. Sin, however, is serious to God and must never go uncastigated.

God Does Not Forget the Covenant He Made with His People (vv. 11-13)

As the text continues, Moses implores God not to destroy his chosen people. The key word here is chosen.[3] God is faithful to his promise. Nonetheless, even in expressing his dissatisfaction of his own people, God shows grace. This is a crucial aspect of the narrative “because this is one of the passages people use to argue that sometimes God changes his mind. This is one of the arguments of open theism—the dangerous new doctrine that God does not know the future but is working things out as he goes along.”^[4] Such a perspective may seem logical and valid, but Scripture teaches that “the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (1 Sam 15:29). Moreover, “when we study Exodus 32 more carefully, we discover that God’s will is as settled here as it is anywhere else in Scripture.”^[5]

How then is one to interpret the narrative of the golden calf? Phillip Graham Ryken says, “It was never God’s purpose to destroy the Israelites, but only to save them. Even as he threatened wrath, there were hints that he would show mercy.”^[6] It is not as though God forgets his covenant. Even in hearing the cries and groans of his people (Exod 2), God remembers his covenant—not as in first forgetting but rather responding in his time and his sovereignty to the laments of his people whom he loves without hesitation.

Additionally, the covenant promises of God cover the people of God now. As chosen people grafted into his adopted family, God has included Christians as a part of Abraham’s blessing and carried it through to redemption through Christ’s death and resurrection. God’s people now hold a matchless hope. Even in the midst of sinful nature, God redeems his people and imputes Christ’s righteousness to them so that although believers are not yet actually righteous, they are being made as such and, thus, counted as righteous, for the church subsists in the grip of Christ. God will never forget the covenant he has made with his people.

The Prayers of the Righteous Hold Great Power (v. 14)

Scripture teaches that the prayers of a righteous person hold great power (Jas 5:16), but such a promise subsists in the context of confession (i.e., of sin). Scripture also informs that there was none more humble than Moses (Num 12:3). The prayers of Moses then held great power, for Moses consistently met with God (even in his glory). Moses’ appeal to the Lord had a drastic impact, for God relented from destroying his chosen people.

To consider God’s shift in attitude, several foundations must be remembered. It has already been concluded that God does not forget his promises. Additionally, God is unchanging. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8), believers should be certain that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament and the God of today and forever—it is a surety, which means that the God who answered the prayers of the righteous in Scripture certainly answers the prayers of the righteous still. The blessing of an unchanging God should cause the hearts of humankind to turn toward him in worship, not questioning.[7]

Second, Christians must realize that God is patient. Although even God’s patience may end, none is more patient that the ever-loving, faithful, and good God. As seen here with the people of Israel, God remembers his covenant and relents, though his own people forgot the covenant and went the way of wickedness. God, however, does not forget his covenant and acts in patience rather than anger.

Third, even in anger, God does not delight in destruction—even the destruction of the wicked (Ezek 33:11). Unquestionably, God has destroyed people and even commanded his own people to destroy entire peoples.[8] Nevertheless, God’s intention is always grace and goodness, for he alone is good (Nah 1:7, Ps 145:9), and all goodness is derived from him. Sinful humanity deserves utter and eternal destruction, but God offers mercy. In the rare cases that God judges by destruction, he is not pleased. God is glorified but not pleased in the destruction of people. God fully intends on offering grace and gives humanity the utmost opportunity to receive it.

Fourth, prayer works. Moses’ prayer might be viewed as an act, which thwarted God’s plan and purpose, but in the Lord’s sovereignty, the prayer of Moses was precisely the opposite (i.e., Moses’ prayer was a part of God’s plan, for his plan was to relent and show grace to his people). The unchanging and uncompromising God intended to give his people grace, though they deserved death. Moses’ prayer, however, played a significant role in God’s plan. Humankind is surely unaware of God’s specific plan, only his commands. Thus, walking in obedience and righteousness surely holds incredible power when God’s people pray. The chief concept, however, is righteousness.

The question of whether God hears everyone’s prayer has been offered on numerous occasions. While God certainly loves and is good to all people (Ps 145:9)—including those in hell—, he does not hear all prayers. Rather than a matter of audibly hearing the cries of the lost, what is meant is he does not respond, for it is only through the mediation of Christ that humanity comes to God in prayer. Therefore, only the prayers of the righteous hold such power, not as a method of persuasion but a part of carrying out God’s sovereign plan.

A Life of Worship Is a Life of Prayer and a Life of Righteousness

It has been said that worship is prayer and prayer is worship. The text here reveals a righteous individual in Moses who pleads with God to save his chosen people. Astonishing to some, it worked. Nonetheless, God’s purpose was never to destroy his own people, for his covenant stands eternally. Even in his people’s sin, God is faithful and good. Sin must never be accepted, but God’s goodness stands forever. Christians should hate sin because God hates sin. To be true worshipers, God’s people should hate what God hates and love what God loves. Moses was a righteous man who pleaded with God as a part of his plan to relent. As worshipers of God, may his people continually pray, seek righteousness, and walk uprightly for his glory.

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[1] Certainly, God does not require one’s perfection before turning to him, for if he did, there would be no need for repentance. God instead transforms believers progressively to become like Christ. John points to obedience as the evidence of love for God (John 14:15).

[2] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Bible.

[3] Such a term references and points back to the place where God promises Abraham that he would make a great nation of him and his descendants and make them to be a chosen people for his own glory (Gen 12:2).

^[4] Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 987.

^[5] Ryken and Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, 987.

^[6] Ryken and Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, 987.

[7] Even the laments and questions of the Bible are framed in an unshakable acknowledgement of God’s faithfulness.

[8] Since humanity deserves eternal death, God’s allowance of living and offering humankind mercy reveals his matchless love.