I have an uneasy relationship with prophets in the
church. Amaziah, the priest, also had a
problem with this particular prophet.
His words were discouraging and they were demoralizing to the people and
to king Jeroboam, against whom Amos prophesied.
Amaziah first went to the king to get him to stop Amos and then went
directly to the prophet himself to tell him to leave Israel and go to
Judah. His assumption was that Amos fit
in better there, preferred those people to this part of the nation. We have a tendency to distance ourselves from
those who are critical, whether they claim to be prophets or not, and sometimes
they are just critical people, never finding good in anyone or anything, going
from church to church spreading discontent and it is important to know such
things, but there are some who are not in that category whose words deserve a
hearing. Amos says he is just such a
one, he didn't want to prophesy, he wasn't a professional and didn't come from
a prophetic family, he was a vinedresser and herdsman and the Lord called him
to this work. We need to listen to those
who give us warnings and discern the truth about them and their message.
The Pharisees see that Jesus takes the Word seriously, just
like they do, and He easily dispatched the Sadducees but they have a test of
their own. They have also decided to
reject Him but they need Him to slip up and make a mistake so they ask which is
the greatest commandment in the Law, not in the sense of being able to ignore
the rest. When we make ethical decisions
we have typically to choose which decision to make based on some
hierarchy. I have a friend going through
a difficult time in his church right now and he has to choose between loving
his enemy but also his concern for the flock in determining what to do about
the person causing the problem. Jesus'
answer is to love God is the primary commandment and the second is like it in
that loving the neighbor is loving those created in the image of God, they are
like in that both are loving God. We
show love for God by loving His image, not only in ourselves but in others. His question to them is a head scratcher, how
can Messiah be in David's line and not be his progeny but instead precede
David. The beginning of John's Gospel
gives us the answer to that one but these guys couldn't figure it out.
John receives a vision that begins with a voice behind him
commanding him to write to some specific churches. When he turns to see this voice he sees first
the lampstands that represent the churches to which he will write and in the
midst of those lampstands one like a son of man. This son of man is an image that arises first
in Daniel, "one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and
was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a
kingdom…" This is the incarnation of
the Word, one like a Son of Man, the perfect image of God in human form. This is what Daniel saw, the incarnation and
ascension of Jesus to the throne. He is
perfectly transfigured in this vision and He has the authority of the one who
owns the lampstands to speak to the churches.
The words aren't uniformly pleasant as we will see. Are we prepared to hear His voice for the
church today?
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