5: 21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
8: 1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord GOD.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
Comment: Is it possible in the light of the above passage to say that ‘God is Love’? Is ‘Love’ the highest quality that God has? Is a parent or one in control really loving if he/she fails to correct and discipline? Surely the Bible contains many statements about the steadfast nature if God’s love – it does! His lovingkindness (the Hebrew word ‘hesed’) occurs 248 times! It only twice says that ‘God is Love’. It twice says that God is ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ and over 900 times refers to his holiness. The Hebrew word ‘qodesh’ is used 467 times! But what does ‘holy’ mean? Sometimes people use it in the sense of ‘goodie-goodie’. That is not its Biblical meaning! It means ‘set apart’. Here it becomes difficult. In human terms set apart would be used if someone is distant either emotionally or because of status. But (and I understand that this is by Biblical inference rather than word definition) God is perfect in understanding, power, knowledge, goodness, balanced character! So how many times does the Bible talk about God’s justice. The Bible doesn’t use the phrase ‘God is just’ but to quote Wikipedia ‘While the Bible doesn’t explicitly use the phrase “God is just” a specific number of times, the concept of God’s justice is pervasive throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Numerous verses affirm that God is just in his actions, judgments, and character. For example, Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.”‘ God says ‘enough is enough!’ and I wonder if that is what the world is experiencing at this time!
Amos 5: 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Prayer: Help me to realize that every time I ‘judge/comment on/assess’ others that I must be honest with You and myself about ‘me’.
As I read it! 