Judgment and Righteousness Abandoned Amos 5:7

Amos the prophet continued to share the judgment and warnings to the people of Israel, and he relayed the LORD's words to “Seek” Him which included a promise that they “shall live”. If they did not heed the LORD's warning, He would “break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it” and there would be “none to quench it in Bethel”. In chapter five and verse seven of his prophesy, Amos shared how Israel abandons “judgment” and “righteousness in the earth” where we read:

You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

The verse begins, “You who turn judgment to wormwood,...” Amos began with the words, “You who turn” or “those in Israel who overthrow, overturn, change and transform” “judgment” which means “justice, ordinance and an act of deciding a case” “to wormwood” which refers to “bitterness or hemlock”. The people of Israel changed “justice” into a “most bitter wrong”.

The verse goes on to say, “...and leave off righteousness in the earth,” Amos continued, “and leave off” or “rest from, settle down, repose, be quiet and have rest from” “righteousness” which means “justice, law, and truthfulness in case, cause and ethics” “in the earth” or “in the land, country, territory, district or region”. Not only did they make “justice” a “bitter wrong”, they also “forsook” “truth” and “right” in their “land”.

When we consider these words of Amos, we see the LORD's assessment of the manner in which Israel handled “judgment” and “righteousness”. They had little regard to handling matters with justice, and they cared less to do things “right”. The prophet Isaiah wrote it this way, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; (Isaiah 53:6), and rather than “seeking” the LORD and His way, they directed their own path. Jesus Christ came into the world to turn people from their way to His: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John14:6), and those who are wise will forsake the ways that are like unto “wormwood” and make “righteousness” the pattern of their “land”.

Next time Amos tells the people of Israel to “Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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