3. Fresh or rotten to the core?

Pathways in the Old Testament

18 July 2010

Amos 8:1-12

We are continuing a short winter series from the Old Testament … and I am following the evening lectionary which gives us a second passage from the Book of Amos.

This sheep farmer from Tekoa often travelled north where the good arable land existed and his visits may well have been linked to his other line of trade … sycamore figs. So Amos was very well acquainted with the area in which he prophesied.

As we established last week, he was not a professional prophet but his authenticity was grounded in the validity of what he had to say. It should not surprise us that many of his illustrations, images and messages come out of the world of nature and farming. This is the prophet who talks about trees, harvest, a roaring lion, an ensnared bird and the world of ploughing.

Amos is full of direct and memorable sayings which still apply today, for example:

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? (3:3)
This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel, ‘Seek me and live …’ (5:4)
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream (5.24)

We now turn to a vision of Amos which speaks of a basket of summer fruit, which symbolises the immediacy of Israel’s end. The prophet is unashamedly direct in the way he points out the situation and what it might mean.

Text: Amos 8:1-2 -
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. ‘A basket of fruit,’ I answered. Then the Lord said to me, ‘The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’

The basket of summer fruit is a means by which the prophet is able to address the problem of a people who were going through the motions of worshipping God and yet living in a way that was contrary to the heart of their religion.

This is the fourth vision and it is similar in style to the preceding three, in that it depicts something tangible and focuses on that which communicates a profound message of God’s truth.

These visions appeared over a period of about a year. This can be discerned by the fact that we see the events recorded in the turn of the calendar:

The locusts were associated with the spring.
The devouring fire was associated with the summer.
The fruit speaks clearly of autumn.

Let us look more closely at the basket of summer fruit:-

The message of the summer fruit – v.v. 1-2

Amos observed what had been going on in the cultural setting as reflected in the first three visions. He had now been given, in God, a vision of summer fruit. In one sense, the message is clear:-

The fruit that looks good will not be so for long.
Summer fruit, in particular, does not last.
The ripeness will come to an end.

What does all this have to say to us?

Fruit may look good on the surface

At this juncture, life seemed sweet but they must not be fooled by the external appearance, as a basket of fruit reminds us.

Jesus spoke in parables and the disciples wanted to know why. They asked him in the context of the great parable of the kingdom, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" Jesus is reported to have replied, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance.’(Matthew 13: 10-12) Amos encourages his audience to examine their motivations more closely.

The fruit looks good now, but it is for a passing moment … because, if not eaten, it will soon decay. The present appeared so pleasant for the people of Israel. The prophet Amos had to declare the truth of the situation at a time when nobody wanted to hear it. John Wuster wrote, ‘Who wants to hear protests when the prevailing winds of prosperity are blowing so strongly?

Things had never felt better. Alec Motyer paints the real picture, "Standards had gone to pot. Authority and the rule of law were despised and national leadership, while revelling in the publicity and dignity of position … seemed to be contributing to the complete breakdown of law and order."

I suppose what is being said is that the summer fruit reminds us what it is like to live at a time of injustice and unrighteousness. Everything looks perfect now. At this moment, life is sweet … but good times will not last.

Robert Lewis, speaking out of an American context, wrote, "Prosperity has not been kind to the American family. It breeds short, shallow roots. Fragile anchors. It’s not that prosperity and wealth are inherently evil. They aren’t. But their presence constantly tempts us to believe we are secure without God and that money can be an adequate substitute for real family values."

Fruit may be decaying on the inside

If the situation looks good on the surface, it doesn’t take much digging to discover what things are like on the inside. The good times cannot last. The message of the eighth century prophets constantly reminded the people that life is lived under the scrutiny of God. This is not only true about individuals, but also for communities and the leaders of nations.

The way we treat the vulnerable is a sign of whether our life is lived in God … or outside his influence. Amos is, therefore, not afraid to rain on their parade, to announce the end of the good times, and to declare the destruction of a nation. This is not a temporary setback, but a long-lasting judgement.

There is an interesting word play here. After the picture of ripened fruit is developed, we read, ‘The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’ (8:2) The word ‘end’ comes from the root ‘to cut off’ which sounded to the ear like ‘ripened fruit’. The words come from entirely different roots, but the identical sound carries a message.

Put simply, the words ‘fruit’ and ‘end’ in Hebrew are very similar.

Lloyd Ogilvie explains this: So the point of the vision was to declare that Israel’s rebellion had ripened.

Recently there has been a debate in the UK about the ‘wrath of God’ in relation to a soon to be published hymn book. I find Charles Swindoll’s words in Living Above the Level of Mediocrity are most helpful:

"Surely this phrase 'the wrath of God' is greatly misunderstood. Many think, invariably, of some sort of peeved deity, a kind of cosmic, terrible-tempered Mr Bang, who indulges in violent, uncontrolled displays of temper when human beings do not do what they ought to do. But such a concept only reveals the limitations of our understanding. The Bible never deals with the wrath of God that way. According to Scriptures, the wrath of God is God’s moral integrity. When humanity refuses to yield itself to God, we create certain conditions, not only for ourselves but for others as well, which God has ordained for harm."

Swindoll continues on this difficult theme: "It is God who makes evil result in sorrow, heartache, injustice, and despair. It is God’s way of saying to us, 'Now look, you must face the truth. You were made for Me. If you decide that you don’t want Me, then you will have to bear the consequences.' The absence of God is destructive to human life. That absence is God’s wrath. And God cannot withhold it. In His moral integrity, He insists that these things should occur as a result of our disobedience. He sets man’s sin and His wrath in the same frame."

This is not hellfire from the outside, but the result of our own unwillingness to choose his way. Amos would have concurred with this perception.

The danger of godless religion – v.v. 4-6

Fruit does not ripen immediately … but, if you like, the ripened fruit is hypocrisy at its final stage. In the days of Amos’ prophecy, religious hypocrisy had ripened into blatant rebellion.

It must have been difficult to be a prophet when all appeared to be well. They might have said, ‘Who needs the word of God … when our own words seem sufficient? Who needs to acknowledge God the Creator … when the works of our creativity are so successful? Who cares what God thinks … when our own thinking has produced such wealth?’

All seemed fine and the bank account was healthy.
Worship was well attended and folks seemed content with their situation – even blessed by God!
The prosperity of the nation was linked to its religion.

However, Amos had to deal with the fact of:

A corrupt nation which practises religion

In this mid-section of the passage (v.v.4-6), it is quite clear that Amos saw the corrupt nature of a people:-

Trampling on the needy and doing away with the poor – v.4
They practiced good religion, keeping their festivals and ceremonies with great strictness – v.5a
They falsified the weights and measures of trade … a serious matter for everyone – v.5b
They sold the poor into slavery – v.6

Injustice was rampant in Israel and the net effect was to impact upon their life in God.

If we want to be true to this biblical message, we will not interpret high attendance at worship, great publicity of activities and prominence as signs of all being well. God’s love, as we meet it in Jesus Christ, is of One who declared the message whatever the circumstances and was also full of integrity and truth (John 14:6).

The nature of God being displaced by materialism

The basket of fruit represented a good harvest. Fruit represented plenty of corn, plenty of grain, all gathered up in plenty of fruit. But we shall soon see, in the midst of fruitfulness, there was famine. God shows Amos that Israel was a dichotomy of fruit and famine, luxury and poverty, health and sickness.

God had given them everything they needed.
God had brought them out of captivity.
But they were never satisfied and wanted more.

Bishop Edwin Hughes once delivered a rousing sermon on ‘God’s Ownership’ that offended a rich parishioner. The wealthy man took the bishop off for lunch, and then walked him through his elaborate gardens, woodlands, and farm. "Now are you going to tell me," he demanded when the tour was completed, "that all this land does not belong to me?" Bishop Hughes smiled and suggested, "Ask me that same question a hundred years from now."

Jesus had a good deal to say about materialism … and the danger of riches is often mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 5:24; 13:22; 19:22; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 12:16-21).

We read in the Sermon on the Mount, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

The famine of god's word – v.11

At the time of Amos, one of the ways people interpreted God’s judgement was in the manifestation of famine. Famine and thirst appear throughout the Old Testament … for example, we read in Deuteronomy, …therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. (Deut. 28:48)

The Proverbs puts another positive reaction to enemies in the context of famine: If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. (Proverbs 25:21)

Physical hunger is still to be taken seriously. Television brings into our homes the stark reality of those who are starving. Hunger in Africa is still a major world problem, but the prophet points out another kind of famine:-

The worst kind of famine

The unrepentant hypocrisy of Israel is demonstrated in a famine of hearing God’s word. It is important to note that it is not a famine of the Word of God, but a famine of hearing. Hypocrisy has ripened to the point where the people did not care what God said or felt about an issue!

They had forgotten the words of the law (Deut. 8:31) which was later repeated by Jesus in the temptations: People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

God had fed his people with the nourishment of his guidance … but, when the times had greatly improved, they forgot the real source of their blessing.

Amos was never vague in his condemnation of social sins:

Exploitation of the poor – demonstrated by the rich trampling on the poor (5:11)
Bribery and corruption – seen even at the city gates, a place where the poor were helped (5:10 & 12)
Extravagant living – with their many homes (3:15)

The most obvious need

A pervading theme of Amos is the requirement of justice and righteousness. It is worthy of note that these words about justice (5:24) are written in the context of corrupt worship.

James Ward reminds us that ‘Amos 5:21-25 contains a message for the church in every age.’

Worship without social action is not an adequate expression of biblical faith.
Social action without worship cannot keep the church alive.
Worship and social action are built on an understanding that we are spiritual beings and material children of God.

Amos the farmer knew, at a time of famine, there was a need for water and new life to bring hope. Amos the prophet also knew that God’s word was essential.

In the twenty-first century, we too are called to a prophetic ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. The prophets Amos, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah all expressed hesitation about being called to bring that word of hope.

Amos concludes his prophetic ministry with words of hope (9:11-15). There is a note of blessing, which concludes that God is not only a God of justice, but also of mercy.

The ministry of Jesus was to bring this word of hope: My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)

Augustine said, "We count on God’s mercy for our past mistakes, on God’s love for our present needs, on God’s sovereignty for our future."

The film Tender Mercies is about two opposites who marry. He is a man battling with alcohol, bitter over a lost career as a country and western musician. She is a widow whose husband was killed in Vietnam. She never makes enormous demands on her alcoholic husband, never threatens him, never expects too much. Quietly, graciously, patiently, with tender mercy, she trusts God to deal with her husband.

The story comes to a climax when the husband, in the throes of depression, buys a bottle and screams off in his pickup. Meanwhile, his wife waits in bed, quoting Scripture to encourage herself while he’s gone. Finally, he returns, telling her, "I bought a bottle, but I poured it out. I didn’t drink anything." His life turns a corner at this point. And he goes back to the work he once loved – song-writing.

Amos, this prophet of justice, knows that God is also full of mercy. Mercy is what God uses to change lives!

Christian Life