Amos: The Risks Of The Rich Series

Over the years, Milton Bradley’s Game of Life has gone through some interesting variations, which reflect the change in cultural values over the last couple of centuries.

In 1798, before Milton Bradley, a board game from England arrived in the United States and became popular. It was called The New Game of Human Life. Acquiring virtues sped you through the game while vices slowed you down. Parents were encouraged to play this game with their children. The game's main point was, “Life is a voyage that begins at birth and ends at death. God is at the helm, fate is cruel, and your reward lies beyond the grave.”

In 1860, Milton Bradley invented a simple board game and called it The Checkered Game of Life. The good path included Honesty and Bravery. The difficult path included Idleness and Disgrace. Industry and Perseverance led to Wealth and Success. Bradley described it as “A highly moral game… that encourages children to lead exemplary lives and entertains both old and young with the spirit of friendly competition.”

In 1960, the Milton Bradley Company released a commemorative edition, called simply The Game of Life. It sold 35 million copies. In this game you earn money, buy furniture, and have babies. Vices and virtues are non-existent. The winner of the game is the one who at “Life's Day of Reckoning” makes the most money and retires to Millionaire Acres.

In the 1990s Milton Bradley game designers tried to make the game less about money. They emphasized good deeds like saving an endangered species or solving a pollution problem. However, the only reward for these good deeds is cash. You can earn as much by winning at a reality TV show.

In the 2011 version, players can attend school, travel, start a family, or whatever they want. If they earn enough points, they can reward themselves with a sports car. There is no end or last square to the game. You can stop any time. The box says, “A Thousand Ways to Live Your Life! You Choose.” Values are up-for-grabs—you get as many points scuba diving as you get donating a kidney. The description on the website says: “Do whatever it takes to retire in style with the most wealth at the end of the game” (Jill Lepore, "The Meaning of Life," The New Yorker, 5-21-07; www.PreachingToday.com).

Sad to say, that’s the goal of many people in the real game of life today—Do whatever it takes to retire in style with the most wealth at the end of the game. So they pursue wealth and some become very wealthy. Now, you may not consider yourself “wealthy,” but if you had a hot shower this morning and a good breakfast, you are very wealthy compared to most of the rest of the world.

But wealth has its risks. There are very real hazards that affluence brings into your life—hazards like pride, which always goes before a fall, hazards like insensitivity to the needs of others, and hazards like justifying or minimizing your sin, which brings God’s judgment.

So, how do you avoid those hazards? How do you minimize the risks of the rich? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the Old Testament book of Amos, the Old Testament book of Amos—where Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa brings a message from God to the wealthy nation of Israel—the Old Testament book of Amos, chapter 1, starting at verse 1.

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (ESV).

Both Judah and Israel prospered during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam, their respective kings. Then, an earthquake struck, which caused many to flee for their lives according to Zechariah 14:5. It was a sign of judgement to come. However, before that earthquake, Amos comes with a message from God.

Amos 1:2-5 And he said: “The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD (ESV).

Now, “a murmur of approval might have rippled” among Amos’ audience when they heard about God’s judgment on Syria, with Damascus as its capital. For Syria has been a long-time enemy of Israel, even to the present day.