December 11, 2019 - Suggested Reading Amos 5 for the December 15th message on Isaiah 9:1-7 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.”

Amos 5:7 (NIV) 

These two biblical Hebrew Words (sdq and mispat) when they appear together form a hendiadys – which is the expression of a single idea by two words. The single idea expressed is what we call social justice. The English Words are justice and righteousness; justice having the sense of settling disputes and righteousness having the sense of being right in my actions towards God and my
fellow humans.

Amos uses the expression “there are those who” in verses 7, 10 and 12, and a look at those verses paint a picture of a terrible state for anyone to live in. It seems as you read about bribes and lies and courts that don’t deliver justice, that their situation in the Northern Kingdom of Israel is not much different than our modern western society, nor if we can believe reports from around the world, much different from any other society in existence. Humanity shares a common problem when it comes to justice and righteousness, for there seems to be an inexorable move in every society towards turning justice into bitterness and casting righteousness to the ground.

How can we possibly see justice rolling on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream as the LORD calls us to in verse 24? 

I love the language of a river when it comes to God and His grace - you can dam a river, but you can’t stop it, it is inexorable. You can divert a river, but you can’t stop it, it is inexorable. There is pressure from on high, and so it flows. God’s grace is being poured out from on high, He pours out into His people as they seek His kingdom and His righteousness in their lives.

How can we possibly see justice rolling on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream? Only by breaking up the dam of pride and envy and conceit, by seeking His face in humility and repentance will that dam be broken and social justice flow out of my life. As each child of God does this, our lives will be marked by social justice - in our families, our schools and our communities.