Tuesday, April 14, 2015

God's response to corrupt Leaders

Read Amos 6.

The notables of Israel enjoyed political and social positions (v.1).  They lived in luxury (vv.4-6a).
While these leaders benefited from the nation's blessings, they paid no attention to the nation's spiritual bankruptcy.  Indeed, they were key influencers in the corruption of justice and by their own examples led the people away from doing what was right (v.12).  

In their thinking, success and prosperity came by their own doing (v.13).  The sin was not in their possessions or their power but in their self-centered pride (v.8).  Instead of grieving over the ruin they had caused (v.6), they felt safe and unaccountable.

How would God respond to such attitudes and behaviors?
"You will be the first to go!" (v.7)

They lost sight of the true goal of this nation in being examples of people who lived to please God.  Success and prosperity were results of God's sovereign blessings upon them.  They lived in a land that God gave them.  The people were God's people.  Being such abhorrent managers of God's possessions warranted the Owner to remove them and punish them.  He used the Assyrian Empire to do His work of judgment.  It was a brutal scene as the invaders literally pulverized (v.11) the cities of the northern kingdom.

Popularity, personality, and political party does not a leader make.  Character does.  People tend to overlook broken promises, failures to act, and immorality in order to selfishly keep their favored person in leadership.  God does not overlook such moral and spiritual sins.  A leader's judgment may or may not come in this life.  But be assured that according to the promise of God there is an eternal one waiting for them. "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

It is for this very reason that God in His grace sent the prophets to call the nation to repentance while there was hope.  And, so it is for us.  "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4)

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