Amos 5-6

Dear RTB’ers,

The Lord continues to rail against Israel and Judah – Israel in chapter 5 and Judah in chapter 6. Actually in chapter 6 it’s difficult to see whether the Lord is speaking to Judah alone or to the combined twelve tribes of Israel.

When I think of Amos, it’s 5:21-24 that I remember: I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 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. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. A couple of short phrases stand out in my mind, what I recall as “I hate, I hate…” and “…the noise of your songs…”. And I ponder where we are today. Does the Lord hate what we do in our “solemn assemblies”? Is our worship noise to Him?

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24) This verse was cited by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In the American psyche it has become almost synonymous with the Civil Rights movement. As I went online to verify the statements that I just made, one website had (in my mind) the perfect statement for what we are reading today: “Throughout Amos 5-6, the prophet lashes out against those who have become rich at the expense of the poor and against public—but hollow—displays of piety.” https://www.bibleodyssey.net/articles/let-justice-roll-down-like-waters/ And again I think about how “rich” we are in the United States and whether our public worship is “hollow”. I don’t think so, but I do wonder…

Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory … anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph … they shall now be the first of those who go into exile… (vv. 6:4-7). Those who are the most comfortable will be the first ones taken. I wonder if that might apply to our church leaders today? Or, again, to us…??

Blessings!

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See also: June 5 (2023) / Amos 5:16-9:15

Amos 3-4

Dear RTB’ers,

I hope you all read John’s comment yesterday pointing to a post from last year. He provides good background for our reading of the prophets, even clarifying some of what I wrote yesterday. Also, in reading his post I was reminded that Amos was the first of the prophets that we read in The Chronological Bible. Amos was sent to prophecy to the Northern Kingdom and it was the first to fall, in 722 BC. So in our chronological study we read Amos in the context of our historical readings of II Chronicles and II Kings.

After blasting neighboring nations in chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2, God (through Amos) now continues His judgment on Judah and Israel. We see that Judah is included in His judgments today as we see Him speaking to the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt… (v. 3:1) Much of what Amos writes includes God’s concerns for inequality, for greed, for the rich subjugating the poor: …the oppressed in her midst… (v. 3:9); …those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds… (v. 3:10); …you cows …on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy… (v. 4:1)

But God also has judgment against their “religion”. Here He is speaking sarcastically: Come to Bethel, and transgress… (continued in Amos 4:4-5). My Study Bible speaks well of the Northern Kingdom’s mix of religious ritual and human inequality: “They loved the forms and rituals of religion but did not love what God loves – goodness, mercy, kindness, justice.” We’ll see more of this mix as we continue in Amos.

Finally in Amos 4:6-13 God speaks of His “smaller” judgments against Israel – His goodness to them alongside difficulties that He has brought upon them. And His clear message to them is from His heart, His longing for them: “Yet you did not return to Me…”, spoken four times (Amos 4:6, 9, 10, 11). I think there’s a message there for us today – return to Him!

Blessings!

Amos 1-2

Dear RTB’ers,

Thus far in RTB 2024 we’ve been fairly “linear” in our readings – Genesis and Exodus in the Old Testament and a gospel (Luke) and Acts in the New Testament. Now the STS authors have us jumping around a bit, dropping us into the middle of the Old Testament with Amos and Hosea. So a bit of OT history might be helpful.

When we left Exodus, we had the Israelites escaping from Egypt into the Wilderness of Sinai and receiving the Ten Commandments from the Lord. They stayed in that Wilderness for forty years before they entered the Promised Land. After conquering most of the Canaanite people they ran through a period of some 400 years of various “judges” leading the people through trials and tribulations. Soon the people demanded a king – someone like the kings that they saw in their neighboring pagan nations. So God gave them Saul, then David, then Solomon, then Solomon’s son Rehoboam. During Rehoboam’s reign the Kingdom split north (Israel) and south (Judah / Judea). In the south Jerusalem and its temple were the center of worship for faithful Israelites. However the people in the Northern Kingdom rebelled against the Southern leadership and formed their own center of worship in Bethel. Here’s where we pick up today, with Uzziah as the king of Judah and Jeroboam II as the king of Israel (Amos 1:1), probably sometime relatively early in the 8^th century BC.

Amos begins with the Lord’s judgments against Israel’s neighbors (Amos 1:3–2:3): Damascus, Gaza (and three other Philistine cities), Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. Each of these “nations” has a long history with the Israelites, both friendly and hostile and including some family relationships. [NOTE: Gilead, another name that is twice mentioned (Amos 1:3,13) is land east of the Jordan River that is occupied by the Israelites, with three of their twelve tribes living there. Note also that the Gaza mentioned in Amos 1:6-8 is the same “Gaza Strip” where Israel and Hamas are fighting today.]

Then the Lord turns his anger toward Judah and Israel (Amos 2:4-16). He does not hold back! Judah’s sins are noted in Amos 2:4, with Israel’s sins listed in Amos 2:6-8,12. Then the Lord recounts His own grace in bringing the Israelites as His own people (Amos 2:9-11) and pronounces His judgment against them (Amos 2:13-16).

Enough for today! If you don’t own a Study Bible, you might consider buying one!

Blessings!

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See also: June 4 (2023) / Amos 1-5:15

Acts 1-28

Dear RTB’ers,

No additional reading for today, just time for a bit of reflection. Today we finish the sixth month in our three-year journey through the Bible. Thus far we have read through Genesis, half of Exodus, Luke and Acts and have touched lightly on the Psalms. We’ve averaged just over 24 verses per day and, in terms of verses are 14% through the 31,000+ verses in the Bible. So we’ve come far, but we’ve still got a long way to go.

How to summarize what we’ve read thus far? I’ll leave you with four words that encapsulate where we’ve gone: Creation, Deliverance, Redemption, and Sanctification. I’ll leave discussion of those four words to our gathering later this morning. Maybe you can bring your own four words? See you soon!

Blessings!

Acts 28:17-31

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul in Rome. So today we finish the Book of Acts. What a wonderful journey it has been with Paul’s traveling, preaching, and teaching. But we’re not through with Paul just yet; we’ve got thirteen of his Epistles to read over the next two-and-one-half years. We’ve got Paul in Rome now, at least for his next two years (v. 30). Many scholars argue that Paul left Rome after some time and traveled to Spain, Asia Minor, Crete and Greece. We’ll cover more on this claim of Paul’s “Fourth Missionary Journey” when we read I Timothy.

I am surprised that the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem had not sent word forward of Paul’s coming to Rome. Here are the Jews from Rome speaking: And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.” (v. 21) Since they did not have a predisposition to hate or harm Paul, they seemed to be open to listening to him, much like other Jews in synagogues had been during Paul’s missionary journeys. In fact, verse 23 tells us that Paul spoke, From morning till evening… What a change that must have been for Paul, to be allowed to preach without hindrance!

And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, having much dispute among themselves. (v.29) This verse may not be in the translation that you are reading. The NASB has it, but the ESV does not. The ESV indicates in a footnote that “some manuscripts” add this verse. But, to the verse itself… Paul has been speaking all day to these Jews who clearly have been open to what he has been saying, even to the point of arguing among themselves – very likely to the possible truth of what Paul has been preaching. We have often heard it said that God’s word never goes out void. Here is the cited Scripture verse: …so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11) So yeah, the Jews went out arguing among themselves. And there’s truth in that verse for us. If we’ve been sharing Jesus with an unbeliever, we have not wasted our words. Whatever we have said can be turned over and over in the mind of those who have listened to us – even something as simple as an invitation to church!

Paul appears to be under house arrest: …it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain. (v. 20b), but he also seems to have quite a bit of freedom. He was allowed to have visitors (vv. 17, 23, 30) and was living in a rented house instead of a jail cell, and he is allowed to continue his preaching and teaching. Verse 31 is especially clear about Paul’s relative freedom: …proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. I daresay that we all could preach and teach “without hindrance”, but most of us lack Paul’s “all boldness”. We need more Holy Spirit fire!

Blessings!

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See also: December 17 (2023) / Acts 25-28

Acts 28:1-16

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul on Malta and continuing on his way to Rome. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand … He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. (vv. 3, 5) In our local news we often read about snake-handling in parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. Mostly we read of this practice when someone has died. But snake-handling churches do exist and they draw their Scriptural justification from Acts 28.

Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. (v. 7) I wonder who the “us” is in this sentence. Was it only Paul and Luke and Julius? …or the soldiers and the sailors also? …or all 276 men from the ship? Already the natives were thinking of Paul as a god. Maybe it was Paul who was being honored by Publius and he brought along whomever he wanted? Wondering…

…and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. (vv. 13b-14a) Puteoli was on the Bay of Naples on the mainland of Italy and (according to my Study Bible) the chief port for Rome, some 75 miles to the north. From Puteoli Paul and his companions and guards could walk to Rome – no more sailing! And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. (v. 15a) In our chronological study we had read Paul’s epistle to the Romans while Paul was staying those 18 months in Corinth on his second missionary journey. So for today’s reading, it has been three years or more since Paul wrote Romans. So there has been plenty of time for the epistle to the Romans to have circulated through the entire area around Rome and the believers in that area have come to know one another. So for Paul, coming to Rome is like a homecoming; he has many friends there even though he’s never been there himself!

Blessings!

Acts 27:21-44

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul shipwrecked on his way to Rome. I’m not a sailor, but Luke’s detail on the sails, the anchors, and the rudders is intriguing. He was there and he wrote down specifically what he was seeing. In some sense that all makes it come alive more than other passages that I read.

And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. (v. 35) I’m sure we are all touched by this verse. Look at the verbs: …he took bread, and giving thanks … he broke it and began to eat. So reminiscent of the Last Supper, with shades of the Road to Emmaus and the Feeding of the 5,000. There is something about “breaking bread” that is special to us!

Blessings!

An aside… My Study Bible guided me a bit on ships and sailing. Presumably there were two rudders on these ancient ships, positioned on either side of the stern (the rear of the vessel). During the storm they had been hoisted up and tied so they would not get destroyed in the storm. Also, with no rudders in the water, the ship would go wherever the storm drove it and the rudders being out of the way would not hinder the ship’s free float in the sea. So now the ropes that held the rudders were being loosened (v. 40) so that the sailors could direct the ship to the bay where they wanted to land. Unfortunately they did not foresee the reef and the ship ran aground and was destroyed.

Acts 27:1-20

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul on his way to Rome. Luke is back to his “we” and “us” writings. It’s intriguing to have this first-hand account of Paul’s ministry. As we begin the trip to Rome in today’s reading, I recall my first time reading through Acts and feeling like I was on board ship with Paul and Luke. Especially intriguing to me is Luke having been through it all personally. Certainly he had the same fears for his own safety as all the others on board, but he could look to Paul for leadership in a way that the others could not.

And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. (v. 3b) Because Luke is on this journey with Paul, we are able to see this more intimate relationship between Paul and his centurion keeper. Luke even calls him by name, Julius, in verses 1 and 3, and mentions him as “the centurion” in verses 6 and 11. What’s interesting in verse 3b is the trust that Julius has for Paul. Presumably there’s no reason for Paul to escape – since he appealed to Caesar and he had already wanted to go to Rome he’s getting a free ride! But still, Julius letting him go off on his own is nice.

Blessings!

Acts 26:19-32

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul before King Agrippa and Bernice in Caesarea. Four verses stood out for me today.

First, “…that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” (v. 20b) In our world today there are discussions about salvation by grace alone vs. working one’s way to heaven. And often imbedded therein is a sub-topic discussion of works in general. Why do we perform works? What is the purpose behind Christians doing good things? We’re not working our way to heaven; rather, Paul seems to suggest a tit-for-tat. As God has done for us such a great deed as forgiving us and allowing us to have fellowship with Him, in return we need to do the same for others – deeds worthy of our salvation. I like that explanation.

Second, “…that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” (v. 23) Left unsaid in Paul’s statement is that Jesus, the Christ, …being the first to rise from the dead…, was, in fact, the first, and that there would be others: us!!

Third, “For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.” (v. 26b) This verse takes me back to the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), where Jesus joined two men who were walking along the road discussing Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection – specifically, … about everything that had happened. (Luke 24:14). When Jesus asked what they were talking about, One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (Luke 24:18) That is, as with Paul in the decades following his conversion, the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection … had not been done in a corner!

Finally, Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” (v. 24) I have long remembered this verse as “…your great learning is driving you mad.” Back in the early summer of 2003 I was Assistant Treasurer for the Diocese of Lexington (Episcopal) and the Diocesan Convention was just weeks or months away. I was walking with Bishop Stacy Sauls after a meeting at the Cathedral Domain, talking about homosexuality and the upcoming ordination of the gay bishop from New Hampshire. I was citing Scripture to him, arguing against homosexuality in general and this upcoming ordination in particular when he said, “Fred, I can give you dozens of books on this topic in support of homosexuality.” I recall my response, “If it’s that complicated, Stacy, I don’t think it’s from God. Jesus’ message was much simpler than that.” Our conversation continued, but I remember thinking, “Stacy, your great learning is driving you mad!” Sometimes I wonder if my great learning is driving me mad, but my most intense “great learning” has been the Bible, so I don’t dwell on the question!

Blessings!