Evening star., 1927-11-05
Sunday School Lesson

in truth. He condemned the idolatry
practiced in the name of religion,
which they observed from selfish mo-
tiyes and not to glorify God. He con.
demned specifically "tithes, thanksgiv-
ings, free-will offerings, feast days,
solemn assemblies. music. both vocal
and instrumental" as being wicked
and even reasonable because of their
insincerity. The test of religious serv-
ice is not in it's antiquity, but the wor-
ship of the heart. He taught that the
most elaborate worship if insincere
was an insult to Jehovah. who was a
God of righteousness.
The prophets passion for ,cial
Justice grew out of his view Of the
character of Jehovah. He interpreted
Him as being a powerful God of all
nations, whom He ruled in accordance
with His ethical and spiritual person
ality. His one note oe the requirement
of moralit~. exhibited in -ocial justice
terward all men, taught the world that
Jehovah demands from all His pro-
fessed followers practice of the
golden rule. The justice that Amos
taught was "the impregnable rock
upon which His people might have
built a permanent social and spiritual
structu1e, but they sacrificed principle
for prosperity and lost in the attempt
t. invei Gods order"
They refused to heed His injunction
to repent, so that God warned them
through the prophet of their false
hopes and the certain coming of doom.
Amos painted the disastrous conse-
quence of IsraeFs refusal to do the
will of Jehovah by word pictures that
appealed to the minds of his hearers.
1t was these illustrations that aroused
Amasiah to make an effort ! silence
the prophet, when he showed them
Gods love and mercy called for their
punishment as a nation.
Justice Mercy's Avenger.
Our lesson calls for the consideration
Of only three of the four well-defined
visions" that Jehovah gave 10 Amos
the gra shoppers, the fiery drought,
the plumb line and the basket of Sum-
mer fruit. They were familiar objects
that God revealed to the prophet as
illustrations of spiritual truth. These
may have been the visions that the
Lord used to call Amos from his flock
and work as a pincer of figs. They
consist of two pairs Of visions, each
pair contributing a definite message.
Thu first two represent the approach
ing disaster S coming from God. but
without revealing the cause of the ma
tion's imminent sdoom. The second
pair showed Amos that their rapidly
approaching end was due to their
spiritual defect. In these simple stories
Amos has opened up ,..e toor of his
heart, showing us that in his expert
ence with God the Lord had spoken to
His prophet the message that he bold
ly proclaimed.
Amos knew that Israel did not real
ize their peril. The burden of their
danger forced Amos to reveal Gods
desire to save the nation and warn
them to repent, foster social justice
that would reveal their walk with
God He saw in the plumb line now
God measured our lives in accordance
with his standards and requirements.
Ii we fail to meet his standards our
petitions could not remove our In
iquity. The ripened Summer fruit
taught him that the moment nation
reached its highest point of growth
and glory II would i then COM
mence to decay. The only thing that
could save Israel from decay and doom
was change of the nations moral
nature. The prophet appealed to the
citizens of the nation to correct the
| nations errors or suffer the penalty OF
sin. Justice in the mind of Amos was
| the avenger of mercy.
There Is a limit to Gods love. We
must comply with His standards or be
rejected. If America Is to survive and
mot go the way .of destruction. toward
which she is going according to some
critics. then we must realize our spo-
sition among the naf hons guide them
~ adcpt spirit of jlstice iTt I2eir