Day 65 - Hosea 13:7 - Amos 9:15

In today's section, we read about:

the conclusion of Hosea's prophecy, with the hope of healing for the penitent
In Joel, there is famine in Judah and a horde of locusts
A call to repentance in the face of the coming Day of the Lord
God's promise of restoration and his Spirit
Judgment on enemy nations and blessing for God's people
Amos opens with judgment on the surrounding nations, followed by even more scathing verdicts on Israel and Judah
A call to repentance in the face of coming judgment
Visions of locusts, fire, a plumb line, ripe fruit and the altar of God
Promise of restoration

Some thoughts that occurred to me:

Hos 14:4-5 - "I will heal you of your faithlessness; / my love will know no bounds, / for my anger will be gone forever. / I will be to Israel / like a refreshing dew from heaven." 14:7, "My people will again live under my shade. / They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. / They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon." 14:9, " The paths of the Lord are true and right, / and righteous people live by walking in them."

The Day of the Lord doesn't sound like a lot of fun to look forward to (Joel 1:15, 2:1,31 - cf Mal 3:2). As 2:12-14 says, "That is why the Lord says, / “Turn to me now, while there is time. / Give me your hearts. / Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. / Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, / but tear your hearts instead.” / Return to the Lord your God, / for he is merciful and compassionate, / slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. / He is eager to relent and not punish. / Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, / sending you a blessing instead of this curse."

There are some fabulous promises in ch 2 - "Then the Lord will pity his people / and jealously guard the honour of his land" (18), "I will give you back what you lost / to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, / the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts" (25), "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord / will be saved," (32). Best of all, is the promise which Peter proclaims fulfilled in Acts 2:17-21, "will pour out my Spirit upon all people. / Your sons and daughters will prophesy. / Your old men will dream dreams, / and your young men will see visions. / In those days I will pour out my Spirit / even on servants—men and women alike."

As in Ezekiel, the purpose of all of this is that people will know that God is in control (3:17)

3:16 - "the Lord will be a refuge for his people, / a strong fortress for the people of Israel." 3:21 - "I will pardon my people’s crimes, / which I have not yet pardoned; / and I, the Lord, will make my home / in Jerusalem with my people.”

Reading the opening chapter of Amos, I imagine the Jews were sitting there feeling quite smug as God passes judgment on all the surrounding nations for what they had done to His people. It must therefore have been quite a shock to read that this judgment is now being turned against them, and with much more force.

Amos 3:7 - "the Sovereign Lord never does anything / until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets."

Some of this is quite grim reading, eg 3:12, "A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth / will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear. / So it will be for the Israelites in Samaria lying on luxurious beds, / and for the people of Damascus reclining on couches," and 4:1 "Listen to me, you fat cows / living in Samaria, / you women who oppress the poor / and crush the needy, / and who are always calling to your husbands, / “Bring us another drink!”"

The message is clear and stark - judgement is coming on those who have turned away from God and not acted justly, those who delude themselves with their complacency. Repent, and bring about what God wants, "I want to see a mighty flood of justice, / an endless river of righteous living" (5:24). The passage in 4:6-11 recalled the punishments and curses in Deut 28.

I found ch 7 very interesting, where Amos pleads with God to turn away from carrying out the punishment prepared, and twice God does so (7:3,6).

7:14-15 is very interesting - "Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’" The king of Israel wanted tame, house-trained prophets, who were dependent on him for their livelihood and status, not someone who would be answerable only to God.

8:11-13 is a frightening prospect - "The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, / “when I will send a famine on the land— / not a famine of bread or water / but of hearing the words of the Lord. / People will stagger from sea to sea / and wander from border to border / searching for the word of the Lord, / but they will not find it. / Beautiful girls and strong young men / will grow faint in that day, / thirsting for the Lord’s word" - cf Deut 8:3, "people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

Amos ends with the picture of two sides of God's nature - His justice watching over his people and his love, restoring them, and ensuring that "not one true kernel will be lost" (9:9). Ch 9 also is interesting as it shows in v7 that God looks out for other nations as well. However, Israel is still his special possession and they will be restored - "I will firmly plant them there / in their own land. / They will never again be uprooted / from the land I have given them,” / says the Lord your God" (9:15).