CHAZ Swept Away

Greetings in the Lord~

This past year the Lord has led me to read from the book of Amos so often that it sometimes makes me think that maybe I'm missing something.  But really, it's just because we have moved into a time period of the "plumb line."  That is a time when God says 'enough is enough,' and His presence is a lot more evident as He is measuring and taking note of and "searching people's hearts" to give people what they deserve.  

It is a time of action, when the strong hand of the Lord moves mightily around us, when our inner heart desires and ambitions are laid out for all to see and God metes out His decree of judgment for those who have rejected Him and His ways.  Needless to say, it is a quite volatile time, when the sifting of God's people based on their beliefs, politics, heart conditions and way of life will cause strife and much dissension in society.  This contention goes all the way back to Cain and Abel--where the offering of Cain was rejected by God and Abel's was seen as righteous; it provoked Cain to murder his own brother.  When people decide to reject God and worship a false god, they will begin to cultivate a hatred and envy of the righteous and of the blessings they receive as a result of their faithfulness to God. This envy and hatred is the root of their persecution of the upright, as they know in their hearts that God will never accept their unholy sacrifices and righteousness given on their own terms, their self-righteousness.  They refuse to submit to the will of God for their lives and accept His truth, and instead will promote their own idols and ways of thinking.  But I will save that discussion for another day. 

In general, the book of Amos is about God's social justice.  It is a commentary that exposes the distance between how society and leaders think, act, and live versus how God assesses their lives.  Amos spends much of the book denouncing the ways of the people and their leaders for their spiritual and secular pride, apathy, and obsession with luxury and worldly reputation.  It is interesting to note that Amos is talking to and about the Northern kingdom of Israel, which have a residual understanding of God, but no longer go to Jerusalem to worship and have set up their own idols and system of paganism in the north.  This is a spiritual truth--when people refuse to worship the One, true God, they set up their own idols and self-righteousness and will then call unholy things holy, exchange truth for lies, and turn "justice into poison" and quite often, use persecution to try and elevate their ways and corrupt thinking to the ways of God and His people.  They, like the anarchists, truly believe chaos is better than law and order--delusional.

That is also reflected in the U.S today, where a sizable portion of the country have an understanding of God, but have long since stopped worshiping Him or acknowledging His ways.  They have set up their own idols and pursue life like any other pagan would while taking advantage of the residual blessings of their forefathers.  They also end up persecuting the faithful ones in their arrogance.  

However, at this point in the historical book of Amos, their "blessings" are going to run out and they will be taken into captivity, their cities and wealth stripped away, and the idols in which they trusted will be destroyed, all because they are finally going to reap the corruption of what they've been sowing.  That is the prophetic word for today.  We are and have been in that same time period now where God is sifting and separating societies, especially those with a historically Christian heritage.  It is hallmarked by sometimes violent clashes and much persecution, but at the end of it, the unrighteous will experience the strong hand of the Lord.  Unjust systems will be shaken, antichrist ideals and schools of thought will be torn down, corrupt people will be removed, wealth and reputation gained by unjust means will be exposed and stripped away, and "Jeroboams" will fall.    

It is interesting, too, that in verse 13 it says, "And you brag about your conquest of Lo-Debar. You boast, "Didn't we take Karnaim by our own strength?"  Oh yes, the momentary gains of the unrighteous (CHAZ/Silicon Valley/Hollywood) make them boast and feel smug in false security; those corrupt industry leaders who lie around and take comfort in their wealth gained by oppressing and censoring others; yes, they all brag and act arrogantly in the time before their demise.  Well, I have news for you--it is plumb line time and God will continue to move powerfully in your midst.  In the book of Amos, God sent Assyria to level the northern kingdom of Israel, but "Assyria" can represent many things, like people who are more wicked, legal troubles, or a spiritual foe--like when witchcraft is returned to the senders.  For example, Google is an oppressive monopoly who has been dealing with legal skirmishes because of their immoral business practices, but they also will deal with the witchcraft of their own Youtube/Google employees who target Christians and conservatives online.  In this day and age, spiritually things are no different from the days of Amos, so who knows what kind of "Assyria" the Lord will send to overrun and take down the corrupt not living to God's plumb line.  

Anyway, as always, I pray the Lord's will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Watch the news with anticipation and encouragement, for we are seeing God move mightily in our midst.

~Be blessed and be a blessing.