Day 178: Called Back

2 Kings 10:1-36 In this particularly bloody chapter, Jehu and his men killed the entire families of both slain kings. Jehu invited all Baal worshipers to a great feast, only to slay all those who came to participate, and then toppled the pagan pillars that had survived the reigns of several predecessors. Although Jehu mounted a vigorous and successful campaign, he did not reform the unfaithful practices instituted by Jeroboam that consisted of mixing worship of God with idolatry of the golden calves. Because Jehu was better than most Kings of Israel, God allowed his dynasty to last four generations.

The Book of Amos

Author and Date:

• Amos is believed to have been the first chronologically of the “writer prophets,” who put some of their oracles in writing.

• Later disciples of Amos may have made minor additions to his book, and the first editing may have taken place as late as the sixth century BC.

• Amos, who lived in the eighth century BC, was born in Judah, although his prophetic ministry was directed to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the time of the divided kingdom.

• He wrote his text in Hebrew.

Audience:

• The message of Amos was directed toward the corruption and injustice of the leaders and elite of the Northern Kingdom in the years under Assyrian rule before the destruction of Samaria (722 BC).

Main Themes:

• The theme of Amos is that there is one sovereign and omnipotent God who governs human history, and all nations are subject to him.

• God chose Israel as his people, but this relationship placed responsibility upon them to respond to him and to keep his Law.

• The covenant was not, as many Israelites mistakenly believed, solely about God’s Providence and favor.

• Rather, the people themselves had solemn obligations toward God.

• Amos emphasized that the true practice of the faith is more than just ritual purity and worship but rather includes a moral and social dimension. 

• The faithful must practice justice and reach out to the poor, the needy, and the outcast.

• Amos complained that the people “sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes-they trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and turn aside the way of the afflicted” (2:6-7).

• If the Chosen People failed to live up to this full practice of their religion, then those guilty of injustice would be subject to judgment and would find “darkness, and not light” on the “day of the Lord” (5:18).

• Even for the people of Israel, the day of the Lord had dimensions of both salvation and loss (cf. 9:10-15)

• Amos has informed especially the Church’s social teachings, especially concerning the obligation to assist people in need. 

Amos 1:1 This book consists of a series of prophecies of condemnation against various nations-including Israel-followed by visions of punishments leveled against the people of Israel if they would remain unrepentant. Lastly, these predictions included a promise of healing and restoration following their exile. Amos was called by God from the Southern Kingdom of Judah to preach to the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BC.

Ch 2:1-16 Inspired by God, Moab and Judah are rebuked on account of their sins. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was especially reproached for its neglect of the poor, disregard for the prophets, and their practice of pagan idolatry.

Ch 2:6-8 Exploitation of people, especially the poor, was frequently condemned by Amos and the rest of the Old Testament prophets. Poverty and oppression of the poor strongly demonstrate the presence of sin since everyone is meant to have a share in the goods of the earth. This concept of Christian stewardship, which hinges in part on the “universal destination of goods,” means that God intended for every person to benefit from the created world so as to have the means to lead a dignified life. Amos declared that the king had incurred divine punishment for failing to promote justice for every individual in his realm. (CCC 2401, 2403)

Ch 3:1-15 God’s relationship with Israel was compared to a father-child relationship. His punishment, though severe, was the discipline of one who loves and forms a child. As God’s prophet, Amos spoke the Word of God. (CCC 2223)

Ch 3:12 Amid tribulation, God promised to save a remnant of the people of Israel, who would renew their fidelity to his covenant. Two sets of prophetic voices emerged in ancient Israel, one prophesying the coming of the Messiah (e.g., Isaiah), and the other prophesying a new outpouring of the spirit of God (e.g., Amos, Joel). The remnant of Israel would see the realization of both prophecies. (CCC 710-711, 1081)

Psalm 110 This psalm is quoted often in the New Testament, first by Christ and later by Peter and Paul, to indicate that the Messiah would be greater than David since he would be God himself: if “the Lord” gives a command to “my Lord,” the latter is another entity greater than David himself, who was king. Writing in the fourth and fifth centuries, St. Maximus of Turin found significance in the reference to the “footstool”: to be offered a footstool is a mark of honor, and here the honoree is Christ; furthermore, the teaching that he sits at the right hand of the Father signifies that Christ, in his divinity, is equal in dignity to and consubstantial with the Father. This prophetic psalm clearly indicates that this special descendant of David would sit at God’s right hand. He would also institute a new priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. The priesthood of Christ is a perfect priesthood since both the priest and victim are Son of God made man, who effectively reconciles the world to the Father through his Passion and Death on the Cross. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audiences, November 24, 2003, and August 18, 2004)

This psalm is prayed at Mass on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Year C, since it is Christ the priest who offers his own Body and Blood in his Sacrifice for us. (CCC 659, 1536-1537)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• So let’s start with 2 Kings Ch 10

• Jehu is kind of a complex character

• Jehu is the king after Ahab

• Ahab had 70 sons

• Jehu basically says that of all the people of Samaria, all the elders, Ahab's 70 sons one of them could be king

• So which one did they want to be king?

• The people wanted Jehu to be king because yeah...

• Because they know the reality that it would not be good to get on Jehu’s bad side

• Jehu asks them to prove their loyalty by killing ALL 70 of Ahab’s sons and bringing their heads

• So they do that

• Jehu eliminated ANY person from the house of Ahab that could pose a threat to his rule

• Later on, in Ch 10, he gets rid of the worshipers of Baal by deceiving these people

• He claimed to be Baal’s biggest fan and wanted all the priests, servants, and worshipers of Baal to come and worship with him

• He leads them into a big temple and has them all killed

• This is very interesting

• It is super deceptive

• AND YET…

• Here is Jehu doing something GOOD

• He is eliminating the FALSE WORSHIP of Baal

• AND YET…

• Jehu is not numbered among ANY of the good kings

• Remember, Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) didn’t have ANY good kings

• Jehu went PART-WAY

• Jehu did not go ALL THE WAY in restoring TRUE WORSHIP

• He kept Jeroboam’s golden calves in Bethel and Dan

• Because of that, he got some credit from God for being somewhat good

• BUT…

• He was only HALF-HEARTED

• He only HALF-WAY followed the Lord

• That is a lesson FOR ALL OF US

• He DID eliminate some FALSE WORSHIP

• BUT…

• He DID NOT RESTORE TRUE WORSHIP to the people

• Jehu would have known, just like everyone else, if they knew the Jewish Scriptures and their own history, the place of worship was in JERUSALEM

• If they were to worship God the way HE WANTED TO BE WORSHIPED, then they wouldn’t worship the golden calves in Bethel and Dan

• Jehu DID NOT DO THAT so is still numbered among the BAD KINGS

• Here we are with the Prophet Amos

• Amos lived roughly 50 years AFTER all the events of Jehu

• When Uzziah was the King of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM) and Jeroboam II, son of Joash, was King of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• Amos came from Tekoa, about 10 miles outside of Jerusalem

• So Amos is actually from the Kingdom of Judah

• BUT…

• Amos is prophesying mostly to the people of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• At the very beginning of the Book of Amos, he is prophesying to the people AROUND the nations of Judah and Israel

• He is preaching to Damascus, Tyre, Gaza, Edom, etc.

• He is preaching to all these OTHER NATIONS

• He tells them what the Lord God expects of them

• He tells them all the evil that they are doing

• Here is a saying that is in Amos’ prophecy in Amos 2:4 “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment…”

• What does this mean?

• It is kind of a way of saying, “You added sin upon sin upon sin.”

• So the Lord says there will be a CONSEQUENCE to ALL OF THIS

• That’s what the prophets are doing

• The prophets are REMINDING THE NATIONS

• But then in Amos 2:4, Amos reminds Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM) and then in Amos 2:6 Amos reminds Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• That’s when Amos really hones in and tells the transgressions of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM)

• What was the problem?

• Amos 2:4 continues, “...because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked.”

• REMEMBER THIS

• They keep falling into FALSE WORSHIP

• Their heart is still there because they still have the Temple in Jerusalem

• But they CONTINUE to have FALSE WORSHIP

• Now when it comes to Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) in Amos 2:6, it’s not just a call against FALSE WORSHIP

• It’s also that Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) is doing INJUSTICE in the sight of the Lord

• They are NOT WALKING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

• They are NOT TAKING CARE OF THE POOR, they are TRAMPLING ON THE POOR

• They are NOT TAKING CARE OF THE HELPLESS, they are ABUSING THE HELPLESS

• That is going to be a MASSIVE CRITIQUE that Amos prophesies against the people of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) throughout the course of this book

• Amos Ch 3 gives what we could call the LOGIC OF GOD’S JUDGMENT

• The logic of God’s judgment is that God keeps LOVING and TAKING CARE of the people, even the people of Israel, who have ABANDONED WORSHIP of Him

• He keeps giving them BLESSINGS

• He keeps giving them MORE

• He keeps giving them PROSPERITY

• He keeps giving them ABUNDANCE

• And they KEEP TURNING AWAY from God

• So because of this, God’s judgment is UNAVOIDABLE

• Amos 3:8 “...The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”

• Because God has given them SO MUCH

• Amos 3:12, “Thus says the Lord: ‘As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued…”

• So what does that mean?

• It means the shepherd goes to rescue the lamb from the lion, maybe gets two legs or an ear back

• So SOME of this will be recovered

• BUT…

• The majority will be LOST

• The people of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) WILL BE SCATTERED, WILL BE DESTROYED

• This is the prophecy of Amos who is trying to do what ALL prophets are trying to do

• Read the writing on the wall and call people back to the Lord before it is TOO LATE

• That’s what we are going to hear as we continue with Amos

• See the writing on the wall and come back to the Lord before it is TOO LATE

• That is OUR CALL as well

• Here is where God is calling you

• Where am I being false?

• Where am I not being just?

• Where am I not walking in righteousness before the Lord?

• NOW IS THE TIME

• Now is the time to TURN BACK TO GOD

• Let God, once again, make me RIGHT

• Let God, once again, make me WHOLE

• We can’t do it on our own

• SO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise. Gosh, Lord, thank you for your Word. Thank you for calling us back to yourself. Thank you for the voices and the words of the prophets that you inspire by your Holy Spirit to call the people of Israel, the people of Judah, and the people of all the nations back to your heart. Lord God, you call us back too. Help us to hear the words of the Prophet Amos and all the words of your Scriptures that call us back, that are your logic of love, that you give us so much and you expect so much from us. You expect us to be faithful to you when you are so faithful to us. You expect us to love you in return when you have given us so much love. Lord God, help us to repent to you before it is too late. Help us to turn to you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Help us to love you with everything we are and everything we have. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”