Seek Good

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. 
Amos 5:14-15

Introduction

During seminary, I was required to study ancient Hebrew (this was both for my denomination and school). The last class in the study was biblical research (exegesis is the technical term).  I chose a passage from the prophet Amos to study and write a paper. I would say in the course of study that I became very close to the book. I enjoyed the research and getting to know this great book. Recently I was brought back to this book in my devotions. My love for this book was reawaken.

At this time in history, the people of Israel are split between two nations, North and South. The northern kingdom keeps the title of Israel while the southern kingdom is only known as Judah. Amos is sent to the whole of the people of Israel, but he is specifically preaching to the people of Israel. 

I find the work of the prophet interesting in that the first prophecies are against other nations and against the enemies of the Israelites. The prophet lists through all the troubles caused by the other nations. Amos even gets to the point of listing of the sins of Judah. Then the attention is brought to the people of Israel. The sins they have committed that caused God to turn God's back on them and the repercussions of these actions. 

The Sins

What did the people do that was so wrong? The first and most important action was they turned their backs on God. God had sent prophets and Nazirites to help the people.  The people killed the prophets and most importantly they oppressed the poor in search of greater wealth. Through all of these actions, God's anger enraged. The time was to come when the people were to be punished for the sins. The prophet calls gives a chance of grace to the people of Israel.  

Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. Amos 5:6

 Today

I was taken back by the advice of Amos 5 to turn back to God and the call to do good. I am curious how this works in a modern situation between the "liberal" ideology and the "conservative" ideology. One is calling upon a less open market and sharing of wealth while the other calls for a more open market. Are we in the face of a time similar to Amos? Are we putting profit ahead of people? These are the words against the people of Israel:

For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines. Amos 2:6-8

We as followers of Christ live in perilous times. We are called to do the good God and serve the poor. We also must be cautious and not create a culture of dependency on the gifts of the church.