AWAITING FLOODS (48 OF 52)
Scripture: Amos 5:18-21, Amos 5:23-24
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Awaiting Floods (48 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Amos 5:18-24
We have all heard of buyer's remorse. I remember as a child hearing about a sure-fire way to kill a flea. One could order the kit, follow its simple instructions, and be rid of fleas forever. The kit came with a wooden block and a small hammer. The instructions were to catch a flea, place it on the block, and strike its head with the hammer. If one followed that set of instructions, nothing could possibly go wrong. The only problems were catching the fleas one by one and getting them to stay still on the block long enough to hit them on the head. It was an honest scam sure to be effective if only one were able to follow its instructions. Not all buyer's remorse comes from a scam. It can simply be from mismanaged expectations, from not understanding the reality of what is to come. How do we respond when what God offers is not exactly what we anticipated?
Israel's history was fraught with misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the life and world Yahweh had planned for the nation. There were flowery words about a land flowing with milk and honey alongside the reality of enemies on all sides. There were dreams about the nations coming to pay homage to Israel and Yahweh, Israel's God for establishing unsurpassed bounty, wealth, and provision upon all those within its borders. There was likewise the reality of those who never lived up to the expectations and commands laid upon them for conduct befitting the people redeemed by Yahweh from Egypt.
The Hebrews had failed in the wilderness by casting idols of Yahweh in the form of a golden calf, claiming that this was Yahweh who had redeemed them from Egypt. They failed later on by demanding a king on whose shoulders they might lay the burden of their national security, just like the nations around them. They tried to treat Yahweh akin to the Jinn of Aladin's lamp, using sacrifice and other modes of worship as a means t ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Amos 5:18-24
We have all heard of buyer's remorse. I remember as a child hearing about a sure-fire way to kill a flea. One could order the kit, follow its simple instructions, and be rid of fleas forever. The kit came with a wooden block and a small hammer. The instructions were to catch a flea, place it on the block, and strike its head with the hammer. If one followed that set of instructions, nothing could possibly go wrong. The only problems were catching the fleas one by one and getting them to stay still on the block long enough to hit them on the head. It was an honest scam sure to be effective if only one were able to follow its instructions. Not all buyer's remorse comes from a scam. It can simply be from mismanaged expectations, from not understanding the reality of what is to come. How do we respond when what God offers is not exactly what we anticipated?
Israel's history was fraught with misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the life and world Yahweh had planned for the nation. There were flowery words about a land flowing with milk and honey alongside the reality of enemies on all sides. There were dreams about the nations coming to pay homage to Israel and Yahweh, Israel's God for establishing unsurpassed bounty, wealth, and provision upon all those within its borders. There was likewise the reality of those who never lived up to the expectations and commands laid upon them for conduct befitting the people redeemed by Yahweh from Egypt.
The Hebrews had failed in the wilderness by casting idols of Yahweh in the form of a golden calf, claiming that this was Yahweh who had redeemed them from Egypt. They failed later on by demanding a king on whose shoulders they might lay the burden of their national security, just like the nations around them. They tried to treat Yahweh akin to the Jinn of Aladin's lamp, using sacrifice and other modes of worship as a means t ...
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