Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Monday, May 14, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 18
Scripture: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6
Note: The warning to Israel on the repercussions of an imminent judgment started from one of the herdsmen of Tekoa, by name Amos. This herdsman turned prophet was a contemporary of Hosea. The word of the Lord came to Amos during the reign of king Uzziah of Judah during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (Amos 1:1). Amos is reckoned to have been one of the earliest writing prophets. A shepherd and a farmer, he was a beneficiary of a stable political climate that engendered wealth creation and had led to apostasy in Israel.
Both prophets, Amos and Hosea witnessed the apostasy of Israel and they all spoke on the same social ills at the time. Amos began the process, but like Hosea, Israel paid deaf ears to the warning. In Amos 2:6-16, the prophet recounted the unbelievable and outrageous social disorder in Israel. The rich and powerful were oppressing the poor, leading to apostasy and social injustice. Prosperity had brought in idolatry, extravagance and corruption.
Rich nations particularly, are traditionally averse to change. Warning on any impending disaster is treated in a lighthearted manner and with mockery and contempt. Wealth, prosperity, peace and stability seem to have a disingenuous way of blinding people to the truth and the lurking dangers of social injustice. It was lost on Israel on their penchant for breaking the covenant that they had with God. Amos’ charge was for Israel to abandon the hypocrisy of their solemn assemblies and correct the social injustices instead.
The moral and spiritual declension in Israel witnessed the selling of the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. The poor were either ignored or trampled upon and afflicted. Fathers and sons were having sexual intimacy with the same woman. Every altar became a rallying point of worship outside the worship of Yahweh. In the house of God, they drank the wine of those who had been fined. The prophets were gagged through corruption and the Nazarites who were supposed to be separated to God through abstinence from alcohol, were tempted to drink wine (Amos 2:6-16).
Food for thought: Whenever the same word of God comes on two occasions, it’s an indication that it’s established.
Declaration: The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Amos 1:1
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
