How we treat other people matters
Looking at the first two chapters of the book of Amos, there’s an repeated motif that gives these chapters a poetic quality. A formulaic structure that’s repeated seven times to create a dramatic effect.
This is what the Lord says:
‘For three sins of Damascus,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
I will send fire on the house of Hazael
that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad…’ Amos 1:3-3
Each time, the city or nation is different, the reason for what God will do is different and what God will actually do is different (after sending fire to consume the fortresses). But the intent is the same. God is going to hold all these nations and cities accountable for what they have done.
Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah and Israel,
That’s right, this isn’t just about the nations surrounding God’s people. It’s God’s people themselves as well. If God is going to hold the nations accountable, then he is going to hold all nations accountable.
You have to be careful what you wish for. What you pray for. If you pray for justice and integrity and compassion and peace for the world, God may well have to start with you.
In each case, the reason for God’s judgement is how the nation has treated other people. And even those with power and privilege will have nowhere to hide. They will not be spared.
Because how we treat other people matters. There are no excuses. It is how we treat other people that reveals God at work in us.
It is just Judah’s judgement that is different. This is about how they have treated their God.
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord
and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods,
the gods their ancestors followed… Amos 2:4
This actually goes hand in hand with how we treat others. If we harden our hearts and turn away from God, we will harden our hearts and turn away from God’s people, all people. But as we learn to love God, we will learn to love others. As we learn to value and respect God, we will learn to value and respect others.
And then with Israel, there’s more detail. There’s that sense of ‘After all I’ve done for you….’
‘Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
though they were tall as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots below.
I brought you up out of Egypt
and led you for forty years in the wilderness
to give you the land of the Amorites.
I also raised up prophets from among your children
and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?’ Amos 2:9-11
And yet still Israel has exploited the needy and denied justice to the oppressed.
Still Israel has engaged in promiscuity and failed to respect women and God’s holy places.
Still Israel has silenced the prophets that God sent with His message.
And so they will be crushed.
Even the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,’
declares the Lord. Amos 2:16
It’s all very sobering stuff, isn’t it?
But it is good to be reminded that it is how we handle our relationship with God and with others that matters most of all.
Respect.
Integrity.
Justice.
Love.
This is the only thing that will count at the end of the day.
