Amos the
“herdsman” prophet continued to share about the judgment
that was to come upon the people of Israel. He wrote, “If there
remain ten men in one house, that they shall die”, and even
though a man's uncle were to cremate him and bring out his bones, he
would be investigated for others who might be in the house that would
not be able to save themselves even by mentioning the name of the
LORD. God was going to “smite the great house with breaches, and
the little house with clefts”, and in chapter six and verse
twelve of his prophesy, Amos showed how “judgment” was
“turned into gall” and “the fruit of righteousness
into hemlock” where we read:
Shall
horses run upon the rock? will one
plow there
with oxen?
for you
have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into
hemlock:
The
verse begins, “Shall horses run upon
the rock? will one
plow there
with oxen?” Amos
began with the words, “Shall horses
run” or
“shall swallow, swift or chariot horses dart swiftly, move quickly
or hurry” “upon the rock”
which means “on a crag, cliff or craggy rock”? “Will
one plow there” which
means “cut in, engrave and devise” “with
oxen”
which refers to “a beeve or animal of the ox family”. The idea
was that Israel could not have “justice”
and
“righteousness”
any more than a “horse”
could run upon rocky crags or and ox to “plow”
the same.
The
verse continues, “for you have turned judgment into gall,
and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:” Amos
added, “for you have turned”
or “overthrown, turned about, over and around” “judgment”
which means “justice, ordinance, the act of deciding a case,
process, procedure and litigation” “into gall” or
“venom, poison or hemlock”, “and the fruit”
which means “produce, bough and fruitful reward” “of
righteousness” or “justice,
truthfulness, salvation and prosperity” “into hemlock”
which refers to “wormwood and bitterness”. The reason “justice”
and “righteousness”
would not prevail among the people of Israel was because they turned
them into “bitterness such as a curse” and “poison”
When
we meditate upon these words of Amos, we see how the people of Israel
“poisoned judgment” and “made righteousness bitter”
among themselves. Their character was so hardened, they were like
those who tried to “run horses” on rocky crags and “plow
with oxen” in the same hard environment. These conditions are
similar to the hearts of some people. They have chosen over and over
again to rebel against the LORD and His ways, and now both “justice”
and “righteousness” are no where present in their lives.
Jesus Christ came into the world to expose “hard ground” or
“hardness of heart”, and when a person realizes they need His as
Savior and LORD, “gall” and “hemlock” are no
where near “judgment” and “righteousness'”
“fruit”.
Next
time we
see Amos ask a question of those who “rejoice
in a thing of nought”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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