And Justice Will Roar

AND JUSTICE WILL ROAR

AMOS 1:1 - 2:16

Introduction:

One thing we are all interested in is justice.

We seek justice in all aspects of our lives, at all times.

We have sought justice from the earliest days of our youth.

Do you remember the games we played as children?

How many times have you heard the following statements:

a) That’s not fair

b) You cheated

c) That’s against the rules

d) You can’t do that

For those of you who go to Pairs & Spares you are still hearing them said, usually to me.

Sometimes we have a misguided view of justice.

We sometimes use the concept of "Justice" to hide what amounts for us to be "Vengence"

You will hear people saying things like:

a) They deserve the chair

b) Lock them up and throw away the key

c) Execution is too good for them. It is too fast

They need to suffer

We see the "Vengence" coming out when the justice we hoped for is not dispenced.

We say "there is no justice when x amount of years is all they get"

Even if x amount of years is the maximum penalty by law.

We ask "what about the rights and hurts of the victims"?

Such as it is "The Justice System" is a God-ordained institution.

But it is not a perfect institution.

It is an institution run by humans, some christian, some non----christian.

It is a system that can be used for good and we see"Justice served"

Or it is a system that can be abused by lies, and having the search for truth, fall into second place due to legalistic rhetoric, or "strategies" designed not to search for the truth, but to get a client off at any cost.

We hear about the "legal loopholes"

What we find is that the institution that was God-ordained has given up on God.

No longer do we swear on a Bible to tell the truth.

The God by whom all truth is based has been usurped by todays idol, the almighty dollar.

If you got the money you can get the justice.

One of the most public examples of the use or abuse of justice in our time would be the O.J. Simpson trial.

It is hard to accept, that when all is said and done, that justice was served.

Not God’s justice, but earthly justice.

Noted the kaos it created.

It’s even harder to believe that the only thing that could Knock the television coverage off the air, was the Oklahoma bombing, killing 169 people, many of them children.

With all of this we are left asking the question, "Where is the justice"?

The hope of the Christian is not based on the justice of man, but on the righteous justice of God.

This is the question that Amos seeks to answer in his book.

Historical Background:

Amos was a herdsman and grower of figs around Tekoa during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam II.

This dates his prophecy at approximately 760 B.C. in that range, two years before a great earthquake.

He was called to prophesy to Israel at a time of great prosperity.

Their prosperity led them away from God.

It fell to Amos and Hosea to be God’s messangers to the people of Israel, and to us today.

Hosea spoke with a broken heart.

a) From his personal illustration (His marriage)

b) He was a native of the north

Tekoa, on the other hand was in the Southern kingdom.

Thus Amos did not have the personal relationship with the north.

He might even have disliked them.

Amos’ position was a further obstacle to his message in that he was a "sheep herder".

He was likely to be heard as a "shepherd" was a lowly position.

Some have tried to argue that the hebrew term to describe Amos means "sheep breeder" not just "sheep herder".

I agree with Calvin in this case as he opposes this interpretation.

To suggest Amos was a "sheep breeder" would put him in a place of prosperity.

The Israelites would be more inclined to listen to a man of prestige.

If he were such a wealthy man with large herds, why the added income of a fig grower?

Fig growing was not prosperous.

Usually it was just used to make ends meet.

It would turn off the ears of those he was speaking to as it would put him in a lower class.

Last, Tekoa itself was not a prosperous city.

How then could its inhabitants be?

I suggest to you that God used Amos as the prophet, and as a "living example" of the sin many of the countries mentioned in the passage were guilty of.

I suggest to you that he was a poor herdsman who augmented his income by growing figs.