Lasting Justice and Righteousness
NOTE: This is the manuscript I use to preach from, which means somethings will not make sense unless you listen to the message itself. If you’d like to listen to that message, please click HERE.
-Looking in depth at justice last week, not going to dive in again. Summary: biblical justice is marked by: radical generosity, complete equality of person, special concern/care for the poor and marginalized, both corporate and individual responsibility.
-So often we think of justice as something we do “out there” and not affecting what we do “in here” We divorce our Sunday mornings from the rest of our week, but what we’re going to see today is the way we pursue justice will directly connect to our worship on Sunday morning
READ
PRAY
- Let Justice Roll (18-27)
-Woes begin here. That is, sorrow will be coming because judgment is coming
-Think of Jesus “woe to your scribes and Pharisees, you tithe your mint and cumin, but you neglect the weightier matters of the Law”
“Both notions (justice and righteousness) are wrapped up in Yahweh’s character and moral order, which were to be the foundations for the relational ethos, the social behavior, and the political, legal, and socioeconomic structures of the community. The leaders – in particular the king – were to embody these qualities and habits. This is why they are singled out for special judgment in Amos and throughout the prophetic literature.” (Carrol, NIV Study Bible, 307)
- The Day of the Lord (18-20)
-First woe is reserved for those who desire (crave) the day of the Lord.
-This is a theme throughout Israel’s history. If things get tough, just remember God will judge our enemies!
-There’s an element to that that’s true, right?
-Think of a place like Deut. 32:36 “For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.”
–Acts 1:6 “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
-I pray regularly, “God please come soon.” Early church prayed “maranatha”
-So why would God condemn them for their craving of this time when that’s a theme throughout the Bible and history?
-Because their fascination/fixation on the future led them to disregard their holiness in the presence. Does that sound like anyone you might know?
-Story working in college at a church who GUARANTEED Jesus was coming back in the pastor’s lifetime, so take on a bunch of debt.
-Guy from a previous church who “cracked the code” through astrology and was able to tell you the EXACT date Jesus is returning. Didn’t like it when I told him that “secret codes” and “hidden knowledge” is called Gnosticism and was labeled a heresy in the 4th century.
-There are 2 issues related to eschatology we need to be careful to avoid (define eschatology)
-Get’s tricky quickly, you’ve got historical premil, dispensational premil, amil, postmil, pretrib, postrib, midtrib, then you’ve got the person who say’s they’re panmil, we’ll see how it all pans out. Recommend The Future of Everything or Systematic Theology.
-Millard Erickson, Christian Theology “there is intensive preoccupation with eschatology…eschatomania. The opposite might be called eschatophobia. Somewhere between the two extremes of preococupation with and avoidance of eschatology, we must take our stance. For eschatology is neither in unimportant and optional topic, nor the sole subject of significance and interest to the Christian.” (1058-9)
-Don’t forget 1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
-These people – these leaders of Israel are so preoccupied with the future (eschatomania) they’re neglecting to live holy lives today. Church, let that not be true of us!
(Erickson, 1059) “after describing the second coming and assuring his readers of its certainty, he councils, “therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). It is sometimes easy to forget that the eschatological truths in God’s word, like the rest of his revelation, our intended to comfort and assure us.”
-Amos next uses a really funny example of “The day of the Lord” will look like
-Anyone ever watch the 3 stooges, or Mr Bean, or enjoy slapstick humor like that? That’s the exact picture Amos paints here!
-Imagine Larry, Curly, and Moe stumbling across a wild Lion, so they immediately turn and run away, yet in their haste to get away from the lion they’re not paying attention to where they’re running so they run straight into the side of a giant bear! They finally escape from the clutches of the bear, sprint into their house, slam the door, lock it, winded they lean up against the wall to catch their breath and their bitten by a snake! They can’t catch a break!
-And why is it this way? Why is “The day of the Lord” judgment and not celebration?
- Unacceptable Worship (21-23)
-If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am unbelievably passionate about worship. I think one of the primary ways we should be reading the Bible is through the lens of worship. Gen. 1 is meant to instill worship in all of us for the sovereign creator God, and Rev. 22 ends with the reminder that Jesus is coming soon where we’ll finally worship perfectly, then everything in between is how we worship God acceptably, with TONS of reasons historically and theologically.
-God begins “I hate” look back up at vs. 10. While His people hate those who bring about true/lasting justice, God hates their worship.
-So why is God rejecting the worship of his people? This is a wholesale rejection of everything his people are trying to do. Look at the senses God uses.
-Smell in vs. 21
-Sight in vs. 22
-Sound in vs. 23
-What exactly is it that makes God “hate” the worship of his people? Look at the next vs.
- Justice and Righteousness (24)
-Instead of fixating on the future, or offering up their plentiful acts of worship, God commands them to pursue justice and righteousness. We talked at great length about justice last week, what about righteousness?
-2 aspects to righteousness, God’s righteousness and our righteousness.
-Concept of being in right standing morally, ethically, spiritually, etc. But also has the idea of right living in the here and now.
-Read Rom. 3:21-26 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
-Law pointed to God’s righteousness, part of why the worship was called out is because it wasn’t connected to righteous living.
-The way we can be righteous today is by putting our faith in Jesus
-That’s where we can connect the dots between justice & righteousness in our daily lives. Paul will go on to say we’re either slaves to sin or to righteousness, but if we’re slaves to righteousness it leads us to pursue biblical/lasting justice in every sphere of life.
-Our world has disconnected these 2 concepts: justice AND righteousness. Our world wants justice APART from righteousness, but you can’t have 1 without the other.
-Kingdom without the king.
-The idea of righteousness & justice is supposed to flow out in every area of our lives in overwhelming abundance, like waters & an ever-flowing stream.
-Compare to a wadi – water comes in small doses then leaves
-We as Christians are so tempted by our world to operate using the world’s ideas/patterns of thought. We’re trained to think in these bipolar/partisan ways where everything is either Republican OR Democrat, but God calls us out of that way of thinking INTO a whole new way of life. His kingdom is NOT of this world, his patterns of life, of growth, of holiness cannot be built on the foundation of what the world offers us. Jesus calls us to a brand new way of operating, and he does it by drawing us into a family.
-Last week I talked about both the corporate and individual responsibility we have to live out a justice life, but one piece I didn’t bring up was the way the reciprocal is true in salvation.
-Remember, the primary or strongest responsibility we have before the Lord is individual, we’re not off the hook for corporate sins/issues
-But in salvation we’re saved individually, and only by being a part of the corporate are we then saved through Jesus’ atoning blood and sacrifice
-Remember from 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
-As God’s people, the church, we now have to look to bring about justice & righteousness wherever we find ourselves. That’s why it’s so important to be a part of a local church – we’re not lone ranger Christians, we’re called to a place AND A COMMUNITY for a reason! We need to demonstrate Christ’s love to the watching world, and then see God work in us and through us for his glory. Otherwise:
- Exile (25-27)
-Just their worship previously was rejected by God, God brings it up again.
-Some debate here as to what God means. It’s a rhetorical question, but do we answer “no” or “yes”? If no, then what about all the instances where the Israelites DO offer sacrifices? If yes, then what is God’s point?
-Most likely (and my opinion) is God is connecting it to justice & righteousness. The people’s worship (sacrifices & offerings) WAS connected to their justice & righteousness. AND it shows us that the right rituals were not the primary point.
-Think of a place like John 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and reminds her that a time is coming where worship will not longer be dependent on location – instead God’s people will worship 24/7/365.
-But this isn’t just a NT idea, in 1 Sam. 15:22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
-But look at what they’re doing with their worship now in vs. 26. These are Mesopotamian gods that the people have assimilated into their worship of Yahweh. So even if their feasts, assemblies, offerings, and songs were accepted by God, they were ALSO worshipping these other gods.
-Don’t we have a tendency to do the same? We only “worship” if it’s the songs I like, the preacher I like who agrees with all the same things I agree with, the translation of the Bible I like, wearing the clothes I like in the room that is decorated up to my standards.
-I have a friend who is a Pastor at a church where they don’t do any of the songs he likes. Isn’t that a better opportunity to worship than if it’s just the songs you like?
-Because the people are fixating on the future, are worshipping both unacceptably AND the wrong gods, God, the God of hosts, who can defeat all these other tiny little gods, will send them into exile
- Woes of Complacency (6:1-14)
-Just as the leadership has been previously called out, the leadership is going to be called out once again.
-Remember these people were waiting for the “day of the Lord” to come, they were in the midst of a good economic season, so they felt like everything was going to be just fine
- Look at the Nations (1-3)
-These people acted as if they were the best people in the world! They were the best nation, they had wealth, they had prosperity, but as we’ve been seeing throughout this section instead of utilizing their wealth to serve others, it was to pack their own houses
-In vs. 2, God basically tells them to look at all the nations from the N to the S, nations that once were prosperous and had tons of land, but had been beaten into submission and now were tiny nations compared to Israel
-Then, vs. 3, weird idea that they are assuming the “day of disaster” is a long time away. Everything’s fine so party hard! But because they assume that it’s far off they can do whatever they want, or in this case “bring near the seat of violence.”
-How many people today live this way? According to a 2019 Experian review, the average American carries $6,194 of credit card debt. That is putting off the day of disaster, discontent to live within the means and times we’ve been given. Now – being in debt is not inherently sinful, so if you need financial help, we’ve got a class for you right now!
-The second half of this verse gets to how these people were not living enacting true and lasting justice in their current context. They were so fixated on the future they neglected to care for those nearby.
- Woe to the Wealthy (4-7)
-God then moves on to a second woe, this time explicitly focused on the wealthy.
-Look at all these descriptions:
-lie on beds of ivory – yes, that is a 4 post EXPENSIVE bed
-stretch on their couches – spread themselves out lazily
-eat lambs and calves – while the rest of the nation is given to “cleanness of teeth” the wealthy are eating the finest meats
-sing idle/lazy songs – they comparing their lazily written songs to David
-drink wine in bowls – wine isn’t cheap, and they drink it by the bowl full1
-Anoint with finest oils – just as wine isn’t cheap, neither is oils! Ever been to bath & body works?
-They have all these riches, their excess is clearly demonstrated, but they don’t give a rip about the destruction taking place around them. 2 options for the last line of vs. 6: either ignoring the societal ruin God has brought around them, or they’re ignoring the incoming judgment
-Yet those who think they’re hot stuff, always tooting their own horns and neglecting to care for those nearby them will be the first ones to be taken away into exile.
-Jer. 9:23-24 “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
- God’s Judgment (8-14)
-God won’t mess around. He’s willing to deal with his people in a destructive way. Because his people are prideful, God says he hates it, and will therefore destroy the city.
-Vs. 9-10 are a little bit weird. A house has been destroyed, relatives are searching for bodies to deal with. One asks if there’s anyone still in the house, the other says no, then one replies “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord!” A few options:
-First is fear of mentioning God’s name will bring more judgment
-Second is worry that if he uses God’s names as a curse he will be judged
-Another is there’s no reason to cry out to God anymore, they’re all dead.
-I’ll let you pick whichever one you like best!
-Vs. 11 gives us another description of the destruction, both great houses and little houses will face ruin.
-Then we end up with some more word play and slapstick humor in 12-13.
-First, do horses run on rocks? Ever seen a horse race? Are there big boulders for them to run through? No! Hooves would be destroyed!
-Second, many scholars break these Hebrew words out a little differently and end up with the phrase “Does one plow the sea with oxen?” Has anyone here been to the beach? Dig a trench and what happens? Yeah, immediately covered. Not to mention if you did find a way to plow then you’re using salt water to try to grow crops. Not a great combo!
-Just as ridiculous to try having horses run on rocks or plow the sea with oxen, is what the people are doing with justice and righteousness. Remember, we saw wormwood pop up last week in 5:7.
-But these people are so prideful that they continue boasting!
-Lo-debar is a city, but it literally means no-thing! So they rejoice that they have captured “nothing!” Ever been to the Grand Canyon? Or see mountains? Or the northern lights? Some amazing feature God has made. Push ups.
-Then they think they captured Karnaim by themselves. Karnaim is an allusion to horns which stands for strength throughout the OT. But their boasting leads to the last verse:
-As they boast in their strength, God is working behind the scenes to destroy them. The 2 places listed refer to the northernmost part to the southernmost part of Jeroboam’s kingdom.
-We saw today that we cannot divorce our weekly living from our Sunday morning worship, otherwise God will not be pleased with the way we’re worshipping Him, and we’ll be tempted to think we’ve accomplished what we have in our own strength and ways instead of realizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from a good, holy Sovereign creator!
What I was listening to this week, this song was playing in the background of my mind as I wrote this week’s message, and also played on repeat during the long drive in Indianapolis and back!
Pastor Mike's Musings 