Stroll through Scripture for November 9, 2025

Based on Amos 1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24

The passage from Amos will present a whole lot of problems for someone who thinks that God doesn’t get political.  There are mentions of kings, a capitol, good and evil, establishing justice and more.  But this passage is more than just a political passage. It’s a passage with a target – the religious community that claimed to worship and follow God.  But the reality was far different.  The king was wicked, as most of the kings of the northern kingdom were.  He had success on the battlefield – adding land and riches.  In a way, he was making Israel great – at least in terms that kingdoms and empires think. 

But those successes and wealth led the nation away from God and away from God’s people.  It caused them to turn an eye away from the poor.  God didn’t like.  So, God sent Amon, a farmer, to the northern kingdom to speak prophetically against the northern kingdom and their injustice.  

While it’s easy to talk about injustice in an abstract way, let’s dive into what the injustices were.  According to scholars, these injustices included excessive taxation – not of the wealthy, but rather the poor.  The wealthy seized the land of the poor, often through fraudulent means, using bribes with judges and denying due process for the poor.  People were enslaved for minimal debts.  The wealthy threw celebrations while the poor suffered.  The wealthy were “religious” – checking off all the boxes to wear their religiosity on their sleave but not caring about anyone else.  

In other words, the wealthy were doing what the wealthy and powerful have always done – exploit the poor and marginalized for their own benefit.  This isn’t about being against people who work hard and are rewarded for that.  This isn’t about envy either.  This is about how people treat one another – especially those that have the means and resources treating those without.  For most human history, someone who was wealthy obtained that wealth in less than ethical ways.  And it was a small, exclusive club that did not welcome others to join it.  It was about hoarding wealth and power and figuring out how to obtain more of them.  

But God intends for the world to operate differently.  In verse 24 we hear the prophet state it – “But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”  Justice is related to righteousness.  They both have the same root word in Hebrew – Tzedek.  It’s about right relationship, moral uprightness, and legal fairness.  Righteousness could be summarized as right relationship between a person and God.  Justice would be considered right relationship between people and with creation.  

Questions for Further Reflection:

• How does this passage give us pause today?  
• How do you react to terms like injustice and wealth?  Why?