Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-22
Golden Text: Hate the evil, and
nNn the nnnd y Amos 3 Ii.


love the good" Amos 5.l5.
1t would be a human imposs1billty
to cover even specifically the mes
sages of the books of Amos and
Hosea in Gne.haf hour. All we can
hope to do mere is to discover the
conditions under which these men OF
God were raised UP and against
which they spoke, those conditions
which were subversive to the high
est interests of Gods people.
They were contemporaries but en-
tireIy different men. Hosea lived
in the north and was city man,
Amos lived in the wild barren re-
eion of the mountains of Tekoa in
the south and was a herder of sheep
and truck farmer. Hosea was the
embodiment of love: Amos was the
stern advocate Of law. Hosea plead
ed. entreated, yearned, suffered
Amos denounced in the plalnest IAN
guage. OHe called the 4fashionaole
ladies whose lives were spent IN lux,
ury and sin, You rat COWS %
Bashan.0
They lived during the reigns OF " "
ziah in the south and Jeropoa1n II
in the north. At this time the klns1
dons of Israel and Judah were at tue
zenith of their prosperity. D.'.
with increasing wealth and power
had come attendant evils. Ihere
was No middle class. The rich were
becominc richer and richer, ana the
moor We're increasing in poverty Inc
rich "sold the righteous for silver
and the needy for pair of shoes.
So greedy for gain were they that
thew "panted after the dust on the
head of the poor"-begrudged even
that They were totally conscience
less-''turning aside the way OF the
meek"-not hesitating to betray any
trust if thew could make little mon
ev out of it. And so bent on getting
were they, that they begrudged the
time spent in religious obserVanceS'
always anxious for the time to go by
So they could get back to their ne
ia rious businesses-''W will the
new moon be gone, that we may sell
corn? and the Sabbath that we may
set forth wheat?" And with 1t all
they were also dishonest, making
' the ephah small and the shekel great
and dealing falsely with balances
| of deceit"
With increasing wealth came lux
urious living. They had silkeh
couches, and beds of ivory; winter
houses and summer homes, great
mansions and estates. The most
. delicate Viands must be served at
i their tables; and all kinds of amuse-
ment must be devised for their en-
! tertainment. They adorned them
selves with the finest of clothes and
anoirted themselves with the chief
+ ointments.
Intemperance in the matter Of wine
was an easy step and they were no
longer content with the occasional
drink, but drank wine in bowls. I'm
morality was the next step; and es-
pecially disgusting because it was
done in the name Of religion.
The thirst for power and for gain
was so great that they took brides
and perverted judgment; even TAX
. ing the clothes off a mans back as
q pledge and then coming to the
house of worship with them!
For, strange as it may seem, these
people were most religious. They
did not neglect in one instance the
observance of their religious cere-
monies. They brought their sacri-
fees every morning and their tithes
every three days. They came to
church whenever it was opened and
contributed regularly and literally.
They even made thanksgiving sacri-
fees to God for prospecting them so
in their temporal affairs and pro-
claimed freewill offerings of that
which they had taken by all-but-
crushing out-the-very-life-of
They were extremely religious-but
their religion was merely an observ-
ance of the forms. They were not
"grieved for the affliction of Jo-
seph." They were totally indiffer
ent to the rights of an holy God, for
He said II hate. I despise your
feasts. and I will take no delight in
your solemn assemblies. Yea, though
we offer me burnt offerings and meal
offerings, | will not accept them;
neither will | regard the peace of
fering of your fat beasts, Take thou
away from me the noise of your
songs; for / will not hear the melody
of thy viols.'
Increasing wealth, greed, graft, in
Justice, oppression, luxurious living,
intemperance, immortality, indiffer
ence to the real needs of the people,
! Journalism in religion-What an in
dictment against those who by reason
of Gods dealings with them in the
past should have known better and
behaved differently! OF course, there
could be but one result-deGenera
ton and destruction. And that is
what occurred. The northern king
dom, more corrupt, was destroyed
and their people carried captive into
2xAssyria. Some years later the south
ern kingdom fell captive to Baby
lon. God "sifted" them, did mot ut
terly destroy" them, let mot the
least grant fall to the earth for He
had made a covenant with Abraham
and confirmed it with an oath, and
Gods oath holds good Their dis
persion today and the prosecutions
they have endured and shall yet en-
= dure will not violate that oath, for
He will yet raise up a tabernacle
or David and bring again
the captivity of Israel and
they shall no more be plucked up
out of their land which 1 have given