The purpose of this lesson: To emphasize that people need God even when they do not realize it.
In all generations, people fail to grasp the destructive power of evil. It robs a person and a people of time, of physical strength, and of quality of life. It creates the illusion that “we are free and in control” when in fact, we are enslaved to our desires and out of control. Though the fact that we are enslaved and out of control many cost us our health, “cost is insignificant.” It may rob us of much or all of what we produce, but “it is worth what it costs.” It often causes those we say we love the most to suffer terribly, but “it is not our fault that they hurt.” Life is needlessly shortened, but we are deceived into believing we are lengthening life “by making living worthwhile.”
Evil hurts all of life in all of its expressions. Evil is not just a spiritual problem with spiritual significance expressed in spiritual consequences. Evil has destructive consequences on all of physical life.
No matter what happens as a result of our attitudes and actions, it is always others’ fault. Later, people will analyze the reasons for our failures, but we never see nor recognize those reasons. In our eyes, we are never accountable for our mistakes. Though our ethics and morals are horrible, what happens is never a matter of ethics or morals. Our society crumbles around us as justice dies, the righteous are opposed, and the good are treated as enemies. Yet, if someone seriously asks, “How are things?” we seriously reply, “Everything is fine!”
People commonly have two reactions to consequences caused by evil. (1) Someone else is to blame for the consequences caused by evil. (2) Evil itself has no consequences if it is deemed helpful—things are fine even if evil is rampant.
It is amazing how rotten a society can be as its people pronounce it good! What commonly are the criteria used to measure people’s attitudes and conduct? Is it a matter of finances? A matter of fulfillment of desires? A matter of standard of living? Or is it a matter of justice? A matter of respect for people? A matter of commitment to right and good? What determines when a people are successful? What determines when a society is beneficial and worthwhile?
Commonly, people do not associate social ills with expressions of evil. Those who make that association often do it in a manner that destroys their credibility. The result: people react to the presenters rather than reacting to the message or the concerns. Establishing the connection between the consequences of evil and social ills is often more complex than righteous people realize. More is involved than pronouncement or condemnation.
Often what people view as evidences of success are viewed by God as indicators of failure. People often in some way couple concepts of social success with financial success expressed in improvement of physical lifestyle. In societies, God defines success in the way people treat people. It is quite possible for a society to be successful in its own eyes while (at the same moment) it is seen as a failure in God’s eyes.
The values of God and the values of people who are not concerned with God commonly are quite different.
In the book of Amos, the Kingdom of Israel would have said they were quite successful. The elite of society had an incredible lifestyle. The nation enjoyed a lengthy period of national prosperity. Jeroboam II had a lengthy reign, so the society enjoyed political stability. If people were in the right levels of their society, existence was incredibly good.
Success as defined by society and success as defined by God often are different. It is simple for godly people to accept society’s definition of success instead of God’s definition of success.
However, if you were stuck in the lower levels of society, people struggled to exist and endured continual injustice. Your level in society actually determined if life was good or life was terrible.
If things are going well for us in our level of society, it is easy for us to ignore how things are going for people in social levels beneath us.
God speaking through Amos said your condition is terrible. You need Me whether you know it or not. The pronouncement that matters is not yours (“All is great!”) but Mine (“All is terrible”).
Conditions as seen by God were quite different to the views of those who enjoyed material success. The successful thought they we doing quite well without “the interference” of the God who cared about the conditions of everyone.
First, consider your need (5:1-3). You have fallen, and you will not get up again. You are like a helpless virgin who has fallen in a field outside of the city. She is defenseless, and there is no one who will come to protect her in her vulnerable condition. Whether you know it or not, you also are defenseless, and no one will come to protect you. Though you think you are strong, soon you will have reason to mourn how few remain.
No one then would want to be as vulnerable as was the virgin. She was opportunity, not a person in distress. God said, even if you do not know it, that is how vulnerable you are. Do not be deceived by your present numbers!
Second, realize Who I am. Do not trust in your cities, your territory, or your defenses. Your security does not lie in any of those. Your security lies in Me. If My protection is lost, you will be consumed as if a fire devoured you. Do not think your strength is in yourselves. You will not make yourselves strong by making justice weak and holding righteousness in contempt!
It is easy to measure our strength by the wrong criteria. When we do that, we deceive only ourselves—not those who would exploit us. Never do people build strength by doing evil. It is never short-term results, but long-term stability.
I am the One Who made the stars you worship, Who changes the darkness of night into the light of morning, and Who takes water from the sea and puts it on the earth. I am the One who destroys the physically strong.
Strength is found by trusting in God and living by His values. That is always an investment, not a “right now” reward.
Third, contrast what I can do with what you have done. You hate the man who judges with integrity (you want a justice that can be bought and sold rather than a justice that is concerned with what is right). You charge the poor impossible rent and tax them unfairly (you make poor people’s existence impossibly difficult). While you do that to those who have little or no choice, you live in expensive houses.
People do not see their weaknesses until they see God’s strengths.
Here is what will happen to you. You will plant vineyards, but you will not own the vineyards when they produce. I know every wrong you have done, and your wrongs are huge! (You made the righteous miserable, you made justice a matter of economics, and you refused to listen to cases of poor people.) It is all going to come crashing down upon you. If you are smart, you will keep quiet instead of making matters worse by trying to justify yourselves.
We always view our enterprises with long-term views and plans in mind. Few are the people who understand just how fragile they are! We rarely look at evil as having consequences. People often consider the ways of good as too uncertain and too slow.
Fourth, it is time for you to repent! I, God, am the only hope you have! Saying, “I am sorry!” is not enough. It is time to search for good instead of following evil. You will do so because you despise evil and love good! It is time to stop making justice a matter of money—bribes are evil!
Repentance involves seeing (recognizing) the evil we have done and directing our lives away from the evil. That means we recognize good and pursue it.
Then—and only then—maybe I will listen to you and be gracious.
God’s favorable response to our dilemmas commonly involves our repentance. We cannot continue to pursue evil and expect God to bless our efforts.
Our mistakes are always small in our eyes. That is not the issue! The real issue is what size our mistakes are in God’s eyes. This text suggests there is a connection between (1) Our mistakes bringing us physical prosperity, and (2) The size of our mistakes in God’s eyes.
Often we refuse to recognize the connection. With God, there has always been a distinction between mistakes made in ignorance and mistakes produced by rebellion. See Numbers 15:27-31 and Hebrews 10:26-31.
For Thought and Discussion
1. What have people always failed to grasp?
People have always failed to grasp the destructive power of evil.
2. No matter what happens as a result of our attitudes and actions, what do we commonly do?
We commonly blame others (and refuse to accept personal responsibility).
3. Regardless of how rotten a society is, what do people in that society often do?
People commonly declare how good their society is.
4. Often what people see as evidences of social success are seen by God as what?
Often people’s evidences are seen by God as indicators of failure.
5. In Amos, the elite of the Kingdom of Israel had what? What about the poor?
For the elite, life was good with an incredible lifestyle. For the poor, life was a struggle with lots of injustice.
6. People in the Kingdom of Israel were like what?
You are like a helpless virgin who has fallen in a field outside a city.
7. What did they need to realize?
They needed to realize who God is.
8. What had they done?
They hated people who judged with integrity, people who refused bribes, and people who were unconcerned about how well they lived.
9. Why would they plant vineyards but not own the vineyards when they produced?
This would happen because they were guilty of huge injustice.
10. What was it time to do?
It was time to repent.
11. What connection does Amos suggest?
A connection was made between the size of mistakes in God’s eyes and their prospering from their mistakes.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 7