Amos: Seek The Lord and LiveSýnishorn

Ouch. I can’t remember a preacher ever turning to the congregation and saying, ‘Hear this, you fat cows!’ Amos was not a man for genteel company. Here he attacks the affluent women of society. To be clear, he is not criticising them merely for being wealthy. Rather he attacks them for how they obtained their wealth. It is due to the oppression of the poor and the crushing of the needy. Their wealth comes at the expense of others. There is clearly a sense of entitlement here as the women turn to their husbands and in effect demand, ‘Bring me another gin and tonic, darling.’ 

The Lord warns them that there will be a complete reversal. They who live in luxury will be pulled away with hooks through holes in the city wall. It will be miserable. 

It’s helpful to know that the cows of Bashan were actually prized beasts. In that culture this was the finest cow there was – it was top of the range. So it seems that Amos’ point is that here are a bunch of women who cared only about their bodies and not about their souls. They may have been ‘top animals’, but they still had the values of cows. 

It makes us ask some awkward questions:

• Do we care obsessively about our body to the neglect of our soul? 
• Are we content to expand our own wealth without a thought to how the most vulnerable in society are surviving? 

I’m writing this a couple of weeks after the Grenfell tower went up in flames, killing dozens of people in Kensington, London. That second question feels quite awkward and acute for many in our affluent capital city. Having more money can give you more choices in life, but it cannot nurture or protect your soul. 

 

Reflection

Have you recently heeded Jesus warning about the deceitfulness of wealth (Matt. 13:22)? It can choke the Word of God so that it bears no fruit in your life. It offers a deceptive security.