A Tool of God's Grace: Amos 3:1-2
To whom much is given, much will be required. Jesus speaks these words when talking to His disciples in Luke 12:48. The greater context of His quote is a lesson about the condition of our heart, where we place our treasure, and how prepared we are to be with God. Jesus teaches that God desires to bless us and those who are blessed should live being changed by God’s blessing. We know this.
In the same vein, Amos made the point that the Hebrew people will be judged as the nations are judged. By including the nations of Judah and Israel among the list of those to be judged, he shocked the audience into a realization. Their God is not happy with them and they will not escape judgment.
Understanding this paradigm is critical to understanding God’s point. In the ancient world, people worshipped gods for protection and blessing. Sacrifices were made to procure blessing. Offerings were given to avoid wrath. Worship was about convincing a god to point the negative side to their power elsewhere. If it was done right, a nation could convince a god to point wrath at their enemies to help them be victorious.
Nobody in the ancient world wanted their god to point his wrath on them. That scenario spelled doom. After all, if a society’s own god was angry at them, who would be there to protect them from the other societies and the gods of the other societies? What Amos is doing here is equivalent to setting the modern doomsday clock to about one minute to midnight. When one’s own god is against a nation, who is there to help it?
Given that perspective, Amos’ role is a massive tool of God’s grace. God sent a warning about judgment. God gave the people time to repent and return to Him. Difficult messages are never easy to hear, but hearing truth is always a point of grace. We cannot change until we are confronted by the truth. As they say, the truth sets us free. The truth presents an opportunity to change.
The truth is God has every reason to be upset. God called the Hebrew people out of His love. He wasn’t required to develop relationships with Abraham and the Patriarchs. When the Hebrew people lingered in Egypt and found themselves being oppressed, He wasn’t required to free them. God wasn’t required to give ownership of Canaan to the Hebrew people and destroy the Canaanites who dwelled there.
God performed all these acts because He loved the Hebrew people. The Hebrew people were special to Him – not because they were inherently special but because He chose to make them special. God nurtured relationship with the Hebrew people. It makes sense that when they turn their back on Him that they will face judgment. To whom much is given, much will be required.
