Last year I wrote separate, unrelated, entries on this final part of Amos and on Obadiah. This year I think I see a common thread, we will see if that comes together. Amos prophesied against the people living in Israel, the Northern Kingdom, who saw the struggles others were having and complacently thought it would not effect themselves because of their wealth and power. Those who have turned justice into a tool for their own power rather than seeking it in truth. Amos accuses them of bragging about accomplishments which amount to nothing. When I read the following I think of how many businesses operate today.: When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, 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.
The practices are not quite the same, but I think about how the idea of businesses being closed on Sunday is a thing of the past, and now businesses open late in the day on Thanksgiving in order to get a jump on Black Friday sales. Businesses which choose to not to build quality products so that people have to buy replacements that much sooner. People who give no consideration to the needs of others so long as they get what gives them pleasure. And then in Obadiah, we have warnings against taking pleasure in the misfortune of others. All of these behaviors come back against us, but at the end Amos tells us that God will call some of us to Him. Those who turn to God, and care for their fellow man, will experience God’s blessing.
These two passage do not have much in common. So, I am going to write first about what I see in the last part of Amos. Then I will write about Obadiah.
In the first part of this passage Amos condemns the people of Israel for their complacency in the face of threat. Then he speaks of prophecies which God gave him concerning the destruction of Israel. First, Amos sees a threat of locusts, at least as bad as that which the prophet Joel prophesied about. Then he sees God implementing justice by fire. In both cases Amos cries out to God asking that He not unleash such devastation on the Israelites, because they would not survive as a people. God accedes to Amos’ request and issues a third plan. In His third plan to bring judgement against His people, the Israelites, God states that He will establish a “plumb line” among them.
I am going to take a moment to describe what a plumb line is because I had trouble understanding this passage before I knew what a plumb line was. So, a plumb line is a string of some sort with a small weight on the end used by builders to determine if a wall, or other upright structure, is straight, or if it leans. The plumb line is held at the top of the wall, or other structure, not touching it. If the string is further from, or closer to, the wall at the bottom than it is at the top, the builder will know that the wall is not “plumb”, that it leans. And He will know where the “lean” begins, how close to the foundation He needs to go to start over in order to build an upright wall.
So, God set a plumb line among those who He has called as His people. By measuring us by His plumb line, He knows how far He needs to tear us down in order to rebuild us as straight and upright people. That plumb line is Jesus Christ. We can also compare ourselves to God’s plumb line in order to know how badly out of kilter our lives are.
Obadiah prophesies against Edom. He tells us that Edom was arrogant and believed that their unique geographic position made them secure against attack. However, that was not what led Obadiah to prophesy against them. No, Obadiah prophesied that Edom would be destroyed because they stood by and watched while others attacked and brought harm to the Israelites, reveling in the destruction of their fellow man. They gloated at the destruction of Jerusalem and then took part in looting the ruins. The people of Edom gloated over the misfortune of the Israelites, sure of their security against such attacks. God brought judgement upon them for that. We should not gloat when others suffer misfortune, no matter how deserving we believe them to be. Further, we should not inflict more suffering on those who experience God’s punishment for their sins. While this passage does not illuminate this, we should instead seek to relieve their suffering, even though they had brought it on themselves, in order to possibly bring them to God.
I chose that line out of Obadiah verse 15 as my title for today because it reflected much about what I wanted to write about out of both the portion of Amos for today and Obadiah. Amos refers to the plumb line which God measures His people against. He measures us against the standard He used to measure Christ and finds us wanting. The determining factor in that measure is what we have done to others, but God does not measure us against those others. He measures us against Jesus. Fortunately, He also rebuilds us according to that standard if we will allow Him to do so. Amos also speaks about those who use their religious observance as cover for their deceitful practices; those who diligently take part in religious activities while eagerly awaiting their return to business activities where they will defraud their customers. Finally in Obadiah the prophet condemns the people of Edom for taking advantage of the misfortune of the people of Judah rather than aiding them in their distress. In all of these cases we learn that it will be done to us as we have done to others. But there is a positive side to this as well, when we do good for others, that will be done to us.
Amos warns those who lounge in luxury and sing trivial songs that they imagine make them great musicians similar to King David. This tells me that Amos’ warnings were not, and are not, directed at those who proclaim themselves pagans. No, Amos’ warnings are directed at those who imagine themselves to be worshiping but who also worship idols. Amos goes on to remind the people of Israel, and us today, that all people are important to God. The Israelites were not, are not more important to God, than other peoples. God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt, but He had brought other peoples out of other lands. The people of the United States are not more important to God than the people of other lands. Those who have accepted Christ as their Savior are not more important to God than other people. If we begin to believe that because we are Americans, or Canadians, or any other nationality, or because we are Christians that we are special to God over others, we will suffer for our arrogance.
I wrote above on the end of the Book of Amos, now a few comments on the Book of Obadiah. The people of Edom took advantage of the suffering of the people of Israel and therefore they were subject to God’s judgement. Fur much of the history of Israel and Judah, Edom had been under control from Jerusalem. This led them to resent the people of Israel, and Judah. This resentment led the people of Edom to feel entitled to take advantage of the misfortune of those who were almost their countrymen. Let us be warned not to seek profit by increasing the suffering of those already experiencing misfortune. The people of Edom imagined that the people of Israel deserved to suffer and that they deserved to profit from that suffering, even if that meant increasing the suffering. Obadiah tells us that we never deserve to profit from causing others to suffer.
Amos prophesies against those who enjoy the fruits of their wealth while ignoring the suffering of the poor and needy. When I read today’s passage I think of how the wealthy and powerful in Chicago stayed in their safe neighborhoods while ignoring the murders and violent crime in the other neighborhoods of the city. I hate to single out Chicago, because what Amos is prophesying about applies in many places. And it is not just in cities. This prophecy is directed at those who are living a life of luxury and ease while ignoring the violence and injustice occurring just outside their secure enclave. It is easy to think that this prophecy applies to people wealthier and more powerful than myself, but, if I am not doing what I can to help the poor and oppressed, it applies to me. Further down in today’s passage Amos talks about how God is going to measure us with a plumb line. For those of you who do not know, a plumb line is essentially a weight on the end of a string. It is used to measure whether a pole or a wall stands up straight. God measures us with the plumb line of His righteousness. Do we stand up true and pure? Or do we lean away from what is right and just?
Obadiah is the only prophet whose entire message is directed entirely against a people other than those of Israel and Judah. The people of Edom thought that the geography of the land they lived in would protect them against invaders. The prophet warns them that this is not so. God has chosen to bring judgement against them because of their sins. We can learn from their sins. God brought judgement down on Edom because they failed to offer what aid they could when the Children of Israel were in distress. Not only did they not offer aid when the Children of Israel were suffering, they rejoiced in their suffering, they gloated over it. They took advantage of the misfortunes of others to profit. As I read this I realized that we can understand what is being condemned by looking at news of the recent hurricane in the Carolinas. There are stories about people from areas that did not need to evacuate going into the areas where the people evacuated to loot. This is what the people of Edom were condemned for doing.
I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. Yesterday was my 16th anniversary. It has been a wonderful 16 years and I look forward to many more.
As I read the beginning of today’s passage it sounds so much like our society. Amos uses phrases which so accurately describe our society: “What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury”…”You are famous and popular”…”You push away every thought of coming disaster”…”You sing trivial songs…and fancy yourselves to be great musicians”…”You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.” All of those sound so much like the elites of today, but not just like the elites, it sounds like so many of the people in our society. They spend their time entertaining themselves with no thought for taking care of those who are suffering. Amos warns them that their parties will suddenly end and they will experience the misery they have so long ignored, or worse, used for political gain. Amos circles back a little later to talk about those who put on a pretense of doing what is right, while eagerly waiting the opportunity to take advantage of others. When I read the passage about enslaving the poor, I was reminded of our complex financial systems which are structured to lure people in and capture their little bits of wealth for the truly wealthy.
Unless we as a people, from the least to the greatest among us, learn to care for our fellows and work to meet our own needs, God’s judgment is going to fall on this nation. Amos’ prophecy was not unique to Israel, and its application today is not unique to the United States. I see the peoples of many other countries living as those Amos condemns in this passage. We, each and everyone of us, need to repent of our sins and cry out to God for forgiveness. The key is that we must repent, we must turn from our sins. Amos pointed out to the Israelites that they were no more important to God than the Ethiopians, or the Philistines, or the Arameans. We are no more important to God than the Venezuelans, or those who live in Somalia. If they are suffering today, what makes us think that we cannot suffer the same fate. Let us repent of our sins.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today’s reading is the book of Obadiah. The entire book is a prophecy against Edom. The prophet told Edom that they would be completely wiped out as a people and a nation. The people of Edom were sure that they were safe because they had a fortress city that was difficult to gain access to. The prophet told them that God was sending the nations against them and they would be rooted out completely. Their allies and those they trusted as friends would turn against them and assist in their destruction. Then the prophet gave the reason for Edom’s destruction. Edom would be destroyed because they stood aside and refused to help when Israel and Judah were invaded. Worse than that they gloated over the suffering of the Jewish people. The people of Edom went beyond that and took advantage of the suffering of the Jewish people in order to profit from it. They blocked the attempt of the Jewish people to flee the destruction, killing some of those who fled and capturing the rest and turning them over to their enemies. The prophet tells us for this sin Edom would be destroyed, but not only Edom, all of the surrounding nations that chose to profit from the destruction of Israel and Judah, rather than aid them, would be destroyed.
There is a lesson for today. Those nations which stand aside and watch the persecution of the Jewish people will suffer for it, especially when they look for ways they can profit from it. I do not think it is limited to the persecution and suffering of the Jewish people. Those who stand aside and watch while others suffer, looking for ways to profit from that suffering, will face God’s judgment. The day is coming when those who, rather than attempt to alleviate the suffering of others, have chosen to attempt to profit from it will see God’s judgment fall upon them. There is another side to this. Those who instead choose to aid those who are suffering and attempt to protect those being persecuted will be blessed. Let us strive to be among the latter rather than the former.
Here the writer gives a description of the throne room of heaven. He describes it as a glorious, beautiful place that is full of light in many different colors. He tells us that twenty four elders sit on thrones surrounding the throne of God. In addition, he describes four beings similar to those described by Ezekiel. He describes a time of intense, joyous worship of God. It does not sound very exciting, unless you have ever been in a worship service where you got fully caught up in the worship experience. Then you will have an idea what the writer is describing. He is describing a time and place where all of your senses are contributing to an experience of worship that transcends this physical world. Having occasionally experienced such worship on this earth, I can imagine that it must be overwhelmingly joyous in heaven. I have been trying to phrase this because I believe that the visual picture drawn here does not come close to doing justice to what the writer saw in his vision.
Nativity Scene At First United Methodist Church of Perkasie
The psalmist tells us that David promised to find a place to build the house of the Lord. Will we dedicate ourselves to finding a place in our hearts to build a house for the Lord? I will not rest, I will not sleep until I find a place in my heart to build a house for the Lord. There I will worship before the Lord and give my whole life to Him. Let me remember to do all that I do for the honor of God. Help me to extend the house I have built in my heart for God until it swallows up my entire being.
If you assist those who do wrong, you will do yourself more harm than any gain you might get. Put your trust in the Lord and do not fear people. The Lord will protect and care for you.
