Evening star., 1940-04-06

AdAlcu ny ule close 10 the soil.
AS matter of fact, Amos Is the
earliest of the writing prophets Of
the Hebrews. He lived in the eighth
century B. c. These new" social
teachings Of his have been in the
Old Testament all the while. His
present vogue is simply another in
stance of the worlds catching up
with the Bible. Our "highbrows'
have become disciples of an uncouth
man Of the desert who dared fling
unwelcome truths into the faces of
the mighty. Always the great SIM
pllcities and integrities of life are
clearest to the plain people.
We know nothing about Amos ex-
cept what is told in the book that
bears his name. There is no trace
OF his ancestry; he emerged from
the undistinguished common people.
he was common laborer, with two
seasonable occupations, herding the
sheep and pinching the sycomore
hgs to increase their fertilization,
The sycomore (spelled with an o,
Mr.. Prlnter) is not our sycamore,
but a poor variety of fig tree. have
seen Arabs climbing the branches
OF the sycomore, doing the work at
Which Amos was skilled,
His home was the desert and hills
OF Tekoa, dozen miles to the
southeast of Jerusalem From the
walls OF the city one may look down
upon this bleak and barren country,
commonly called the wilderness"
IL was In a stern school that Amos
learned his lessons.
Confronting the Mighty.
Although himself a citizen of
judah, Amos felt called to 90 I'm
into Northern Israel, and to speak in
Bethel, the af11uent old capital. He
dld not wear city clothes or have
city manners; neither did he have
any fear of the face of man. His
stern admonitions and lamentations
gave him no popular vogue; yet he
1ted his prophet voice, in season
and out of season.
Our common idea of a prophet is
a 1oreteller. In truth the prophet
is rather a forth-teller, a speaker of
truth for the times. Thus every
preacher and teacher and writer
may be prophet unto his day. But
ne must first be possessed, as was
AMOS, by the idea that God is Sill
preme; that He is the basis and
source and supreme Agent of life
Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel"
crled Amos; and again, Seek yc
Me. and ye shall live"
With this message Amos confront
ed the rich and the mighty of
Israel, the self-engrossed exploiters
OF the people. He was the peerless
prophet OF social justice. So he
1earlessly attacked the greed, the
luxury. the frauds, the bribe-piyine
and the injustice of the upper class
ne nelo them to an ultimate reck-
onlng with the pure and Just Je-
noVah. He scorned those who tram.
PIE upon the poor; and "made
the ephah small and the shekel
great" He cried, Let Justice roll
down like waters, and Righteousness
as mighty stream"
Religiosity Versus Righteousness
LAY after day this rough repre-
sentative OF God from the wilds of
4eKoa poured forth his message of
social justice. He did not even spare
the outWardly correct religious oh-
servances of Bethel-for the rich
VINO trample upon the poor" were
careful about church attendance
and church ceremonies. Amos
shocked his hearers with such mes
sages from Jehovah as, II hate. I
desplse your feasts, and I will take
no delight in your solemn assem-
bhes." To him the great orthodoxies
were justice and love.
Piosity is no substitute for probitv
moral rottenness cannot be covered
ny the cloak of religion. Unless
tnere Is truth in the inward parts"
there Is no truth at all. Injustice
Is rottenness in nations bones.
Let justice be done, though the
heavens 1au,' cried statesman.
Let justice be done and the heay-
ems will not fall" retorted his COM
panion.
we are in a world blackened and
ohnded and broken by Injustice
Even religion cannot save us if this
continues. OF course, mans in
humanity to man" cannot continue
where Christianity holds SWAY. The
great struggle of our time is to de-
liver society from the hideous in
Justices and inequalities which have
turned the nations and the social
order into hate-fllled and destruc-
i've strife. Great Amos has the
word for our era; a word better
spoken by Greater than he.
AS this farmer shepherd of n
hundred years ago dared to speak
nigh truth to nation which Needed
not, and so was destroyed; so every
man and woman, no matter how
humble. must declare openly and
1earlessly, to however small a group.
the greatest truth that God has
made known to him. The most
hopeful sign on our days horizon is
that there are so many outspoken
lesser Amoses in our midst.
The Sunday school lesson for April
is "AmOS Pleads for Tu.+,..v