AMOS 2:4-5 PASSING THE TEST

4 This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, 5 I will send fire upon Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

The responsibility of leaders is great, especially the leaders of God’s chosen people. The kings, priests, Levites and prophets were entrusted with the Law and the welfare of the people, both spiritual and physical. The Law was God’s gift of self-revelation and guidance as to the way we were created to live. It was entrusted to the leaders in order that the people might be able to live in a reconciled relationship with the source of life and be a witness for God in the world. But instead, the leaders led them into disobedience, and the people willingly and enthusiastically followed them. Like the other nations, the leaders of Judah perpetrated this evil against the people and God for what they saw as their own gain. So also, the people rebelled against God.

This passage serves as a warning to all church leaders and members. The revelation that has been entrusted to us as Christians is even greater than the Law and the Prophets given to the Hebrews. God’s love for us and his seriousness about the Law have been graphically demonstrated by the death of his Son Jesus Christ. When we reinterpret the Gospel for our own gain or comfort, we are guilty of doing violence to God and misleading his people to their destruction. We thereby disobey the summary of the Law and the Prophet, which is to love God and our neighbor. That disobedience has consequences both in the church community and in the world at large. The community is led to false thinking and false gods, and the world remains in the darkness of ignorance when it comes to the true nature of God.

Our only protection against false teaching is Christ; his word and his Body. As St. John wrote:

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God (1 John 4:1-3).

It is Jesus as he is revealed in Scripture and understood by the Church from the beginning who is to be the ultimate test of God’s will and direction as well as the shape of our obedience.

Lord Jesus, as you have revealed the true nature of God through your incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, guide me along the path of righteousness for God’s glory. Keep me ever aware of your precepts as a corrective and guide in my life. But make me ever mindful of my need to maintain my relationship with you. Amen.