Amos begins his prophecy by pronouncing judgment on Israel's neighbors. Jehovah roars from Jerusalem about the wickedness of Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab and even Judah.
I can imagine the response of the crowd as they heard the condemnation of their enemies. These were bad people who had done bad things. They deserved God's judgment.
"That's right God! Sick it to 'em! Wipe them off the face of the earth!"
But from verse six of chapter two until the end of the book it's all about Israel. Talk about a crowd turning!
Here they were ready for God to obliterate these people who had done such wicked things to them. Maybe some were even thinking that God should wipe them out and start over with the righteous remnant - Israel, of course.
And then God zooms in on them.
How easy it is for us to fall into the same trap. We talk about the evils of society. We gripe about the perversions in the entertainment world. We pray for God's judgment on the wicked people around us.
We'd rather talk about the culture war than the war in our own heart.
All that to avoid dealing with the evil in our own hearts. All that to avoid dealing with the perversions in our own thought life. All that to avoid the wicked actions that we have done.
God knows all those things about you. And He's more concerned about you, than the evils of society.
Lord, help me today as I go to church to let your Word expose the evil of my heart. Let your Spirit work in my life to change me.
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