What’s Up with Me?
I haven’t met with you for a while, I know. There’s been upheaval and milestone alternating for about a month. The roller coaster does not inspire effort, have you ever noticed that? Study and learning is still happening but not much writing.
Upheaval
My dog died. The Gu¨nter is no more on this earth. It was a shock.
He got up that morning unusually early to bark at the sidelight. When I let him out, he made sure the nothing that was out there knew he was in charge and he came back in to do his tricks to get his breakfast. I’d found sausage on sale later that day and was cooking it ahead to freeze so the Gu¨nter was sniffing the air, asking, “Whatcha doin’ in there?” Around 3 o’clock, it was ball time. To say he had a ball obsession is not extreme enough language. For about 20 minutes, he had a lovely time playing fetch after which he trundled up the steps to the porch to get a drink.
I had my gi on because it was about time to go to the dojo for class. Noticing the blind that is mounted on the outside of the house was wonky, I opened the French door to fix it. Don’t judge me, but I think that making sure my dog has a sense of humor ensures he is a dog who is able to roll with the punches of life. I saw him lying on the deck next to the open French door, so I said, “baah!” to startle him. After such a comment, he would historically leap in the air, look around for a toy, and be ready to play with a sparkle in his eye and a wiggle of his boxer butt.
Not that day. He didn’t move.
Milestone
The same day? Our son was no longer deployed to Iraq. He traveled to Kuwait, I think it was, and then to Bulgaria on his way back to the US. After 7 or 8 months of him reporting to me that he had another round of rockets hit his base or the drone this time exploded 100 feet from him or whatever, it was a huge relief personally to have him no longer exposed to these circumstances.
Although in a global sense, I’m unsettled about the US leaving the Middle East… I would rather keep the fight in their backyard and out of mine.
Another Upheaval
After driving for a day, spending a few hours with the part of the family we went to see, making the most of the visit (isn’t family difficult?), we went to a hotel to make sure we weren’t with our feet in their house too much.
The next day, our child had to work in the morning so we amused ourselves by visiting a gym and working out. We were so amused with the workout, we decided to buy one of the pieces of equipment as an anniversary gift to ourselves. (In reality, we had been planning and saving for 3 years to go to Israel…since the Middle East in general is a place of regular bombings and Israel in particular requires a “vax passport,” it seems inhospitable currently. A piece of exercise equipment seemed like small potatoes compared to what we’d been planning.)
After the workout, we went back to the family’s house for lunch and to see what we would get up to. With sandwiches in front of Jeremy and me, our child came to the table in distress. He told us that one of the people in his family has decided I was offensive the night before by not including her in a comment I made. Additionally, I’m disrespectful to her because I burp.
There’s obviously much more to the story, but suffice to say we were made to feel unwelcome. I don’t stay where I’m not wanted, so we packed up and drove the 8 hours back home.
Another Milestone
This year we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. It’s getting strange to tell people that because many of our friends and acquaintances are in their 30s. Also, people do the math and figure out easily that we were VERY young when we got married. Yup. 19, actually. Funny how people marvel at the number of years and say things about how uncommon that is now to make it that far or something.
It feels both like it has been my whole life and it’s just been a few years. Love that isn’t the fiery hot moment of emotion, but the steady, solid, weighty love of endurance. Years and years of intentional time and conversation and experiences to build a relationship that causes us to enjoy time together more than at the beginning and regret when we are apart.
As you can see, my world has been topsy turvy. Thanks for walking with me through it. Now you know how I’ve been, let’s turn attention to study of the Word.
The Big Picture
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks rummaging around, understanding who’s who in the Middle East. Details are life, but they can also end up distracting from the point.
Significant to my study is that this passage we are working through, Amos 1-2:3, is the only place Amos speaks God’s Word about the neighbors surrounding Israel. The judgment upon the lot of them is almost a “let me say this and get it out of the way.” For example, Amos says his three and four transgressions but there are only one or two examples of the transgressions. The balance of the remaining 8 chapters is about Israel. God’s character is that righteous judgment extends over all people, but his emphasis is on those with whom he is in covenant.
Israel promised to walk with their God. They didn’t.
I want to keep it in mind that knowing about Syria and Philistia and Moab is important because God spoke of them. Actually knowing about them will help me understand the rest of the history around Israel. However, I want to remember for my purpose in study (to know my God), my emphasis should align with God’s emphasis. I will spend a little more time in this passage, but I want to move along and get to God’s heart for his people Israel.
Examining the Text
So, if God mentions these various folks and their crimes, even in passing, why? Why does he bother to pause over them when so much of his attention is on his own people?
As I read through the passage over and over, I keep seeing the same phraseology. Which is pertinent to any student of the Word, right? Repetition means something.
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they… (Amos 1:3)
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they… (Amos 1:6)
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they… (Amos 1:9)
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he… (Amos 1:11)
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they… (Amos 1:13)
- Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he… (Amos 2:1)
For each of these people groups, Amos uses his talent for oration (and subsequently literature when it was written) to use this poetic template to declare the indictments. Does God judge and punish the innocent? Never. Amos says that the ones being punished are being punished because.
Since, Then
What we have here is the Law of Causality. The friends and relations surrounding Israel did not behave as friends and relations ought and they are accountable. God through Amos basically says, “Since they behaved thus, then I will behave thus.” I realize the reality that God holds every person accountable is disputed as well as the related topic of whether or not God should hold every person accountable. However, in this passage, I don’t have information surrounding those topics. I have text that reveals other information about God. Namely, how God’s character compels him to react.
Side Note on God’s Character and Nature
No, that’s not the right phraseology. I know that God doesn’t change. God is a simple being while we humans are complex. What I mean by that is one day I am happy and content in my circumstances and the next day, in very similar circumstances I am grumpy and discontent. Not even days. Minutes. But the point is that I change. God doesn’t. Biblical authors convey God’s “emotions” using anthropomorphic language to aid understanding, but God is constant. He remains the same.
When the Bible speaks of God’s anger, it isn’t like us where we simmer a while until we explode in rage and then calm down again. Whatever God’s anger is, it’s only like our emotion of anger, but isn’t exactly the same. So I have this tension when I’m discussing the reaction of God to transgressions between the biblical language used in order for us to relate and the reality that actually is God’s character. What I’m talking about is called the “incomprehensibility of God” in theology. Not that God is utterly incomprehensible but our knowledge of him is incomplete. Not to be confused with the idea that God is “wholly other.” If he were, we wouldn’t have the capacity to know anything about him at all.
In my feeble efforts to explain what I’m learning about our great God, I want us to keep his consistency and infinitely perfect character in mind while using finite and flawed language. It’s like conveying the stunning beauty and the characteristics of this stream at Tomboy Mine using only those fat, pre-school crayons. Even the photo doesn’t do it justice.
With What Does God Take Issue?
As I’ve been examining the groups of folks and their history in order to understand why in his perfection God is punishing these particular transgressions. Of people with whom he isn’t in covenant. What is in the heart of God?
The question that came to mind is here on my sticky:
With so much of the book addressing Israel, why even talk of these folks?
Answering that question from the text helps us to know our God better.
Within the passage, these are the themes I see:
- Justice/judgment
- Covenant and keeping word
- Bloodlines
- Punishment befitting the crime (similar to justice but when I was making the sticky, they seemed to need distinction)
- Treatment of moms/babies
From a few verses here in the OT we get to see a glimpse of the heart of God. What does he value? These are some of the things about which he cares deeply.
Reflection
After learning about the identities of these different groups and how they relate historically to Israel, it’s easier to see why the excessive use of force, wrathful pursuit with the sword, exiling, destroying the hope of the future, and defiling the dead are worthy of God’s attention in defense of Israel.
The relationship between Philistia (part of the unconquered allotment of Judah) and Israel, we all know, had been problematic since practically the beginning of time, but the rest of the groups? Those are all friends and relations!
Who is God?
As in most passages of the OT, the holiness of God is highlighted. His justice is front and center. Very much related to justice are the distinct aspects of goodness and righteousness. Why does God indict and convict people of transgressions? Because he is a just God. If he weren’t just, he wouldn’t be good and he wouldn’t be righteous.
Who is God? His nature is that he is a covenant-keeping God. As we know from the NT, that covenant-keeping nature means that he defends his own.
So when I look at this list, I see that how humans ought to treat each other matters. I see honoring of promises matters. Family matters. Women and children matter. And the serving of justice when these have been violated, matters.
Who am I?
I see that, for myself, I need to pay attention to the sense of oughtness that God has built into me. Each of the points on that list up there are items that should matter to me as well. I know that scripture speaks of man being made in the image of God. But I’ve learned enough theology to know I don’t know how I am made in the image of God. Not exactly. However, as a child of God, I want to be like my Dad as much as I can. This is why I want to align my emotions and my thinking to regard and value this list as my Father does.
Justice as my Father sees it.
Keeping my word as my Father keeps his.
Hold bloodlines in higher regard than not bloodlines. (Bloodlines in the OT were actual family. Bloodlines in the NT are those “brothers” and “sisters” who are under the blood of Jesus’.)
Having tenderness and compassion for mamas and babies as my Father does.
In all of these, direction not perfection. Am I going the right direction in my thoughts and emotions? As the German astronomer Johannes Kepler is credited with saying, “I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” That is what I would like to do.
Wrap Up
Our Bible Study Bite today is noticing what topic the majority of the book covers. It may seem simple, but don’t we often get sidetracked from the main thing? Amos’s primary focus was not on these friends and relations, but on Israel. How Israel had betrayed their God.
In similar manner to the significance I found from our passage, I want to align my thoughts with what God’s thoughts are. And his thoughts are focused on his people. Not that this passage isn’t important, because all scripture is useful. But place weight on what God finds weighty.
Thanks for studying with me today! If you’ve found anything helpful here, please like and subscribe. And if you know of other students of the Word, would you please share so we can all study and encourage each other with what we’re learning?
