I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Twenty years ago today, my wife gave me the best birthday present I ever wish for; she said “I do.”  We have now been married for 20 wonderful years.

  Happy Anniversary Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Amos 1-5.

When Amos began to prophesy, he started with condemnations and warnings against the nations surrounding Israel and Judah.  He warned them that they would pay a price for the sins they had committed, that God would judge them for the crimes they had committed against God’s people.  Part of me thinks that Amos first spoke out against these other nations because he was angered by the things they had done to his people and foresaw that they would pay for their sins.  Another part of me thinks that perhaps he started with them to make sure that the people of Israel knew that God’s judgement was not just on them for their sins.  In either case, Amos’ prophecies against the neighboring nations, and his prophecy against Judah, were sincere, but relatively perfunctory.  His prophecies against Israel (the Northern Kingdom) were much more detailed.

Amos reports that God had called some of the people of Israel to be prophets and others to dedicate their lives to serving Him, but the people of Israel had told the prophets to shut up and forced those dedicated to God to break their vows.  They trampled on the poor and bullied the oppressed.  God sent warnings, droughts, plagues, etc., but they did not listen.  They hated honest judges and despised those who told the truth.  People keep their mouth shut because to speak against evil is to invite attack.  All of this sounds familiar to me.  And Amos’ warning does as well: hate evil and do what is good, turn to God and seek justice.  And perhaps the most important part of his warning: do not wish for the day of judgement to arrive.  This reminds me of those who are today calling for a violent revolution, but it also applies to those who seek a strong crackdown, wishing violence against those we perceive to be the enemy may come back to bite us.