Seeing our nation through the lens of God

Seeing our nation through the lens of God.

Amos 1-5

“Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph” (5:15).

                  In a politically divided world, it is easy to see the faults of the other political party but remain ignorant of the sins of our own party.  We tend to look at our nation through the lens of the party with which we affiliate. However, political lenses are always distorted.  We condemn the other party while overlooking the sins that are perpetrated by the party we affirm. This was the fault of Israel.  They were quick to judge and condemn the governments and people around them while justifying their own actions.  

                  The book of Amos begins with the condemnation of the nations surrounding Israel for their sin. God condemns the nations for four particular sins. First, God condemns Syria for the aggression and violence it inflicted upon Israel in the invasion recorded in 2 Kings 13:1-9. Instead of promoting peace, it treated people with cruelty and inhumanity. The second nation condemned is the Philistines for their enslavement of those they conquered. In many of their incursions into the southern area of Israel, they would take captives and sell them into slavery to the Edomites. The third nation he condemns is Tyre for violating the pacts it had made with Israel. Like the Philistines, it took captives and enslaved the people of Israel even after it had claimed to be at peace with them. Last, God condemns Edom (descendants of Esau), who had continually attacked Israel and inflicted violence, especially upon pregnant women.

                  Having considered the nations around Israel, God then pronounces His judgment upon Judah and Israel. Like the nations around them, they had failed to keep the commands of God and had mistreated and taken advantage of the poor. Furthermore, they had embraced sexual perversion. But the final act of rebellion was their refusal to listen to God's prophets. A nation in rebellion seeks to silence the messengers of God.  

                  As we read through the sins and judgments of the nations around Israel and the nation of Israel itself, we see parallels to our own country and the sins of our nation.  Like the nations around Israel, we turn a blind eye to the poor.  Just as the nation of Edom committed violence against the pregnant mother by killing her infant, so we commit violence against the unborn through abortion.  God condemns Judah and Israel for their sexual perversion, and so he holds our nation accountable for embracing sexual perversion today.  When preachers denounce the sins of our nation, we also ignore their message and seek to silence them.  The troubles we see in our nation are not the result of economic downturns, corrupt politicians,  global warming, or any other cause; they are the warnings of God for our nation to turn back to him.

                  However, there is hope. In Amos 5, God calls the people to seek Him and to submit again to His word. Throughout chapter 5, God calls the nations to uphold God’s righteousness once again. But this requires us to look at our nation, not through the eyes of our political parties, which condemn the other while justifying themselves, but through the lens of God’s moral law and truth. Instead of looking to our favorite political party for solutions, we need to look to God and His word. When we start to do that, we will have hope as a nation.