I've read Amos every day since the beginning of July. There are nine chapters so I read half one day and the other half the next. I've already begun to list the places and the people mentioned. Although the names have changed, the characteristics of each is all the same. Same sins, different people. Today, these verses stood out.

Israel has always been a people marked by history, by tradition, by wandering.  Now, just as in the days of Amos, we find ourselves asking questions—questions that seem to lead us in circles. What does God do with Israel now? Does the Book of Amos shine light on such questions? And are the sins of today a mere echo of the past? It’s a mystery, one we’ll unravel step by step, piecing together the clues, until the truth emerges and perhaps—just perhaps—Israel finds its way back to God.

Same Sins Different People

The “religious” leaders of the day defended the ungodly secular rulers of that day:

Amos 7:10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.

They seek to censure him and silence him.  

Amos 7:12-13 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! 13 “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.”

Amos replies, “Sorry Charlie, but I’m just the messenger.”  Your issue is not with me but with the Lord.

Amos 7:14-15 Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. 15 “But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’

And then bam!

Amos 7:16-17 “Now hear the word of the Lord: you are saying, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'”

Are we not on the brink of history repeating itself?

Here is a summary taken from Talk Thru The Bible. One line from it inspired the title of this post today. This so characterizes Netanyahu and his regime.

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Click on the "Amos" tag below to see all the posts in this series. To go to the start of this series click here. To join me in this study on Gab click here.