Amos 3 | Wayfarer

“On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
I will tear down the winter house
    along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
    and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the Lord.”
Amos 3:14-15 (NIV)

Many years ago I was in Manila and had the opportunity to tour Malacanang Palace that had been the residence of infamous Philippine despots, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. The Marcos’ were known for living outlandishly opulent lives while their people struggled to survive. Imelda Marcos was famous for her shoe collection, and I can attest to the thousands and thousands of pairs of shoes she had hoarded away in her palace. I saw them with my own eyes. It was something. After losing power, their palace was made into a museum so that the people of the Philippines could see it for themselves.

Ferdinand and Imelda, of course, are not alone. A person with great wealth often invests in properties. It’s typically a safe investment and it affords space in multiple locations to hoard more stuff.

As Amos delivers his prophecy to the people of Israel, it is a time of great economic prosperity. But like the Philippines under the Marcos regime, the powerful and wealthy are hoarding their ill-gotten gains in their various mansions while the poor and needy struggle to survive. There was no social welfare program in the ancient world.

Beyond this glaring social justice issue, the root of Israel’s corrupt prosperity was idolatry. When the northern kingdom broke away from Judah, the first thing King Jeroboam did was create a pagan altar in the town of Bethel and set up a system of idol worship. Centers of pagan worship generated a lot of business and it made those who controlled it very rich.

In today’s chapter, Amos declares that an unnamed power will punish Israel for her sins of idolatry, greed, and injustice. Amos’ description is striking. The summer villa will offer no refuge. The winter palace will be no place to hide. Even “the horns of the altar” which a condemned person could cling to as a last resort appeal in the justice system of that day would offer no recourse because the altar itself would be utterly destroyed.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself pondering some of the despots who have risen and fallen during my life journey. As it has been, so it is, and will continue to be. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. The teacher of Ecclesiastes observed the futility of building up wealth only to die and leave it to someone who never worked for it. I was watching Antiques Roadshow the other day and a very strange looking dude had a $50,000 cold air return grate that a sugar baron once commissioned Tiffany & Co. to make for his mansion in Manhattan. A generation later the mansion is no more and some rough looking dude in California has the $50,000 cold air grate in his garage.

I suppose that there are those who would say “you only live once” (Yolo) so you might as well get as much as you can while you’re here. Jesus told His followers to have enough faith and wisdom to not just look from here to the grave, but to look from here to beyond the grave, to the eternity that lies beyond it. The sound investment strategy, Jesus said, was to not worry about treasure in this earthly life which is nothing but a shadow of the life to come. He advised His followers to store up treasure in heaven. How? By loving God, and loving the people around me. By living a life of contentment marked by kindness, forgiveness, consideration, gentleness, goodness, and generosity.

An eternal investment portfolio is focused on giving rather than getting while I’m on this earthly journey.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
Amos 3:7 (NIV)

Over the past 23 years I’ve been a business consultant specializing in customer satisfaction research and quality assessment. Some of the most enjoyable, long-term client relationships I’ve experienced are with companies who value the data and insight our team provides. When you see a client’s long-term improvement and success, it’s rewarding.

What is not as enjoyable in my profession is to watch good people and good companies ignore data that offers them a hint of trouble on the horizon. Often, the data from our research or assessments warn of changing customer attitudes or internal corporate issues that threaten to create larger (and costly) problems for the company if the issues aren’t strategically addressed. It’s never fun or easy being the bearer of bad news, and even less fun watching insecure executives and managers burying or denying the data in an effort to avoid the issue. On occasion, I have to defend a sharp attack on our data and methods when a client really doesn’t like what our data reveals.

The ancient prophets occupied a critical role in the Great Story that God is telling from Genesis to Revelation. Like spiritual consultants presenting a spiritual picture of what lay ahead, the prophets sounded the spiritual warning sirens of trouble on the horizon. When current circumstances had the government and public feeling good in the moment, the prophets often offered a bleaker picture of what was going to happen if certain issues were not addressed and strategic spiritual changes weren’t made. More often than not, the prophets had to watch as their message was ignored. They had to watch their warning of doom come to pass. They also endured sharp personal attacks from their audience. Some of them were even killed as scapegoats.

Jesus regularly mentioned the prophets in His teaching, pointing out to the religious leaders of the day that their ancestors ignored and killed the prophets who were sent to warn them. Because the priesthood and religious duties of the temple were passed down by family line, the religious leaders Jesus spoke to were the direct descendants of those who sometimes killed God’s messengers:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

“Woe to you [religious leaders], because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.”

“Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute. Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world'”

“If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

“How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

This morning I’m thinking about the role of being a truth teller. It’s not always easy being the bearer of difficult or bleak news. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier to simply paint rosier pictures and ignore what we don’t wish to see or hear. But, we all need prophets in our lives. Sometimes we need someone to look us in the eye and tell us the truth we don’t want to hear. We’re better off when we find the wisdom and courage to heed the warning signs and make the necessary strategic decisions to avoid future problems.