Warning

People of Israel,

I rescued you from Egypt.

Now listen to my judgment

against you.

Of all nations on earth,

you are the only one

I have chosen.

That’s why I will punish you

because of your sins.

Can two people walk together

without agreeing to meet?

Does a lion roar in the forest

unless it has caught

a victim?

Does it growl in its den

unless it is eating?

How can anyone catch a bird

without using a net?

Does a trap spring shut

unless something is caught?

Isn’t the whole city frightened

when the trumpet

signals an attack?

Isn’t it the LORD who brings

disaster on a city?

Whatever the LORD God

plans to do,

he tells his servants,

the prophets.

Everyone is terrified

when a lion roars—

and ordinary people

become prophets

when the LORD God speaks. (Amos 3:1-8)

God punishes those he loves. God tells his people, whom he loves, that just as two people can’t walk along together unless there is some agreement between them, so the Israelites are going to have to agree with God. Moreover, just as a lion roars only when he has his prey, as trumpets are blown to signal an attack, so God does not act without warning. Ordinary people will become prophets when God speaks. God doesn’t need anyone special to serve as his spokesperson. Amos was not a professional prophet. He was just a shepherd and farmer. He had never planned on speaking upon God’s behalf, but when God came to him, he obeyed, warning Israel, Judah and the surrounding nations of God’s intent and their need to repent.

How was a person to know when what was happening was the hand of God? Prophets announced ahead of time what was going to come upon them. They interpreted the circumstances and explained the reasons for them. They pointed at how God in the past, in the time of Moses, had already warned them. God doesn’t punish without making it clear that it is him. Disaster does not befall from God without him issuing a warning. It isn’t going to be a mystery; people won’t be wondering whether it was God or not. A trumpet blast, a roaring lion, a snare catching a bird are all obvious and easy to recognize. Likewise, the acts of God in our lives are obvious.

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