Self-Centered and Bitter: Amos 5:7
God does not want us creating and living in a society where our moral compass is fueled by our selfishness. He came to save us because we need Him. He cares for us and teaches us a better way. We are His people, not His possessions.
Amos points towards a specific group of people in today’s passage just prior to giving us an interlude about God in the next section. Amos speaks ill of those who turn justice into wormwood and who cast down righteousness to the earth. In other words, Amos is speaking against those who treat other people with contempt.
What is wormwood? This word is occasionally translated as hemlock, but it generically implies any of a species of weeds common to the area of Canaan that have a bitter taste when chewed or used for cooking. It is not particularly poisonous except in very large quantities, so it isn’t something likely to kill a person. Wormwood would take food that might be pleasurable and make it unappetizing.
In this context, God’s message is clear. The Israelites turn justice into wormwood. They take something designed to promote community and turn it into something producing a bitter experience. Justice is something to be relied upon to vindicate people who are right. Justice is something to which people without recourse cling.
The common people could no longer rely upon finding favor by making good choices. The elite structured society so the elite always came out on top. The courts could no longer be trusted. Community leaders no longer used their influence to protect the common person. If a person had enough power, they could take advantage of anyone below them on the social ladder.
The other analogy Amos uses fits right into this idea. God takes issue with those who cast righteousness to the earth. To cast something to the earth means to bring it low. It literally means putting it below our feet and treading upon it. To cast something to the earth means to consider it below a person.
God is accusing the people of considering themselves above righteousness. In other words, they are selfish, greedy, and self-centered. Instead of doing what is right, the people of Israel only consider what is right for them. Instead of caring about their neighbor, they look for ways to use their neighbor as rungs in the ladder of their success. Whatever they can get away with is fair game. Another way of saying this is something is only wrong if they get caught – and even then only if they can’t manipulate the system to take their side anyways.
God is judging a society without a moral compass. They do as they please, assuming prosperity equals divine approval. It is the ultimate might-makes-right society. Unfortunately for them, God disagrees. God does not want us creating and living in a society where our moral compass is fueled by our self-centered nature.
