28 June 2022
I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.
Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
From Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12, NRSV
In today’s reading we hear further words from the prophet Amos addressed to God’s “Chosen People”. Amos had a difficult message to deliver – a threat of punishment. This punishment was to be similar to that visited on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah – that of total destruction. The prophet makes clear that this disaster was of the people’s own making. Time and again they had been given warnings and rescued from impending doom. However, they had not learned from these events but had continued to stray from God and now there are to be no more warnings.
- How do you suppose the people of Israel reacted to these words?
- How does God deal with our sinfulness?
You may like to reflect on what helps or impedes your own readiness to “meet your God”.
