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AMOS: THE “LIBERAL” PROPHET?
(Amos 5:18-24)
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condemned the wealthy.
So I’ve always, foolishly, been a bit afraid of
SUBJECT:
Amos.
I worried that if I ever read it or studied it
F.C.F:
seriously or preached on it, I would end up on the
PROPOSITION:
receiving end of the Gospel Mission instead of the
INTRODUCTION:
A. I have a confession to make. I have been
supporting end.
reluctant to preach on the book of Amos. Having
2. Another favorite text of these liberal,
been part of a liberal denomination for twenty years,
Marxist Christians was Micah 6:8. This one would
where the only sin was intolerance and the only
also be quoted everywhere. “He has told you, O
virtue was social justice and the Marxist
man, what is good; and what does the LORD require
redistribution of wealth, I heard Amos quoted a lot.
of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to
B. I learned a lot about theological liberalism
walk humbly with your God?” Again, “justice” was
in those twenty years as we worked to call the church
interpreted as Marxist redistribution of wealth.
back to the Bible, back to the faith once for all
“Kindness” was taken as condemnation of the U.S.
delivered to the saints. Liberals have a “Bible”
military, and “to walk humbly with your God” meant
within the Bible. They have a very short list of texts
that America was arrogant and should submit to all
from the Bible to which they would constantly refer
the other nations. So I’ve been just a little afraid of
in their preaching and discussions and making their
Micah also, and can’t wait to get there in our study of
case. Amos was among them because Amos says
the Minor Prophets, so we can examine what he
some critical things about rich people. Not that
really said.
liberals believe the Bible, they don’t really believe
3. Another favorite text of liberals is
it’s true. But they do find some texts useful to justify
Matthew 25:37-40: “37 Then the righteous will
their Marxist, social justice agenda, and to make
answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you
those who do believe the Bible squirm.
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome
you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we
I. THE LIBERAL “BIBLE” WITHIN THE
see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the
BIBLE.
King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you
A. So going to Presbytery meetings and
did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did
General Assembly meetings in that liberal
it to me.’” This also was interpreted from a Marxist
denomination for twenty years, I heard certain verses
social justice, redistribution of wealth perspective. If
in the Bible quoted and preached again and again.
you help the poor, you are doing that to Jesus, they
1. One of them was from Amos, Amos 5:24:
said. And this was generally interpreted in terms of
“But let justice roll down like waters, and
politics: supporting government social programs
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” That
paid for by tax increases on the wealthy.
verse was a favorite. Of course “justice” was
You may be wondering what this text has to
interpreted to mean this Marxist, social justice which
do with the government making rich people pay more
meant that rich Americans should feel guilty, should
taxes. Of course, says nothing about this. But it’s at
sell their cars and homes, move into huts, farm with
this point that we see most clearly that the liberals
horses, eat only a handful of rice a day, and send all
were not preaching a portion of Scripture as the Word
their money to Ethiopia.
of God, but had a pre-set agenda, Marxist social
Over twenty years ago, we had a
justice, and were simply attaching that to some Bible
“missionary” couple stay in our home brought in by
verses that seemed to say something similar. This
the denomination, a couple from Sri Lanka. They
was also evident when I and others would point out
were here to explain the situation in Sri Lanka to the
that perhaps unborn children in the womb were
Presbyterian Women who were meeting in our
among the “least of these,” and that by aborting them
church. This couple was probably not Christian.
you were aborting Jesus. That would make liberals
Their religion was Marxism. The man asked if I had
suddenly forget to love kindness and to walk humbly
any commentaries on Amos he could read. He was
with their God (they would get very upset), because
interested in Amos, he said, because Amos
you had turned one of their favorite texts against
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them and criticized another of their core principles:
abortion on demand.
4. Another favorite text (we heard them all
the time) was Galatians 3: 28, “There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.” This text was not used to support Marxist
social justice, but another core principle of liberalism:
namely, radical feminism. Of course Galatians is not
about radical feminism, but about justification by
faith alone through grace alone. It’s interesting that
in twenty years of listening to this liberal preaching, I
never once heard a sermon on justification. But this
one verse was used repeatedly to invalidate
everything else the Bible said about men and women,
including the New Testament’s clear emphasis on
male headship in both the church and home.
I heard a liberal preacher read Ephesians
5:21-33, a text which lays out this position of male
headship in the home perfectly, and yet in his
explanation of it, he said the complete opposite, that
there should be no head in the home and that each
should submit to the other. Please understand that if
you follow that logic a little further into the text, into
Ephesians 6:1-4, you would have fathers submitting
to their little children (happy Father’s Day, by the
way).
5. Selected verses in James, which we are
studying in Sunday School, were also a favorite
among the liberals, although it was a double-edged
sword. James says, “Listen, my beloved brothers,
has not God chosen those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he
has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5)
This was used to romanticize the poor, to praise the
poor, which from one perspective seemed to fit the
Marxist template, “feel guilty you are rich.” But it
would backfire as well. If the poor are rich in faith,
then why should the rich give to them? The only
logical course would be to make everyone poor,
which is largely the legacy of Marxism—to make
everyone poor as witnessed by North Korea and the
bankrupt former Soviet Union.
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by reading Amos. Rather, Marxists read Amos and
think they find support for Marxism. But you can
only do that by reading only selected portions of
Amos (and the whole Bible, for that matter) and
ignoring the rest of the message. And that’s what I
want to demonstrate for you this evening as we take
this little excursus.
B. Let’s revisit that list of sins Amos
mentions in chapter 2 which we touched on briefly
this morning. You recall that Amos begins by
targeting Israel’s enemies and one by one
condemning them for their sins, announcing God’s
coming judgment on them “for three transgressions
and for four.” And the effect would be to draw Israel
in as they would be cheering, “Go get them, God!”
But the circle drew ever tighter, until Amos points
the finger at Israel and says, “For three
transgressions, and for four.”
“6 Thus says the LORD: For three
transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not
revoke the punishment, because they sell the
righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of
sandals— 7 those who trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of
the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same
girl, so that my holy name is profaned; 8 they lay
themselves down beside every altar on garments
taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they
drink the wine of those who have been fined.”
C. So there it is. Does Amos condemn Israel
because Israel is capitalist and not Marxist? What are
the “three transgressions, and for four”?
1. It certainly seems like it at first: “I will not
revoke the punishment, because they sell the
righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of
sandals— 7 those who trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of
the afflicted….” The sin is greed. The wealthy and
influential care nothing for the disadvantaged. They
sell them into slavery for profit and care nothing for
their hardship and plight.
2. What do you make of this? “a man and his
father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is
profaned;….” This is sexual immorality, a violation
of God’s command against adultery. By the way,
II. AMOS AND MARXISM.
liberals do not care at all about sexual immorality.
A. So I apologize for so foolishly being
Whatever consenting adults want to do is fine,
afraid of preaching on Amos, as though it might
according to liberals. “Morality” for liberals never
cause me to become a Marxist instead of a Christian.
refers to sexual morality, but only to social justice,
What I realized is that nobody ever became a Marxist
the Marxist redistribution of wealth.
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This may also refer to ritual prostitution, a
the Bible’s agenda, that is, God’s agenda.
central feature of Canaanite religion. So Amos is
D. But there is still a glaring error in this
also condemning false religion, pagan religion. And
liberal interpretation of Amos that jumps off the
liberals do not care about other religions. For the
page. Anybody know what it its?
liberal, all religions are the same, all are equal. In
Let me give you a hint. To whom did Amos
fact, according to liberals, Bible-believing
write? (Israel.) But when liberal, Marxist Christians
Christianity needs to be more humble and to stop
read Amos, they conclude that Americans need to pay
claiming to be the one, true religion. This would be
more taxes and create more social programs for the
in direct contradiction to what Amos so clearly
poor. What’s wrong with that application?
declares.
America is not Israel. They make the same
3. And then verse 8: “they lay themselves
mistake when they quote the Sermon on the Mount
down beside every altar on garments taken in
and suggest that the United States should “turn the
pledge.” In our study of Deuteronomy, we have seen
other cheek” when attacked, as on 911. The Sermon
that God’s people could take a garment in pledge for
on the Mount is addressed to the Christian church,
a loan but had to return it at night so that the poor
not the nation of America or any other nation. A
person would have something to keep them warm.
government would be completely irresponsible and
So there is further exploitation of the poor. But there
would be shirking its God-given duty not to defend
is this mention of “every altar.” So this exploitation
its citizens by “turning the other cheek.” A
of the poor is also mixed with the worship of false
government charged with defending its citizens has
gods, again something about which liberals would
no right to “turn the other cheek,” and Jesus did not
have no concern.
command any government to do so.
4. Also in verse 8: “and in the house of their
E. And, by the way, Amos does not condemn
God they drink the wine of those who have been
Israel because they are not helping the poor in Moab
fined.” So they were misusing religion to confiscate
or Edom or Ammon, only the poor of Israel. God
wine as a penalty, a fine for those who had been
never commanded Israel to go outsider her borders
falsely accused, and then drank the wine themselves.
and give away all their wealth to poor Assyrians or
Amos condemns the religious leaders for misusing
Babylonians or Egyptians.
their religious authority to manipulate the people and
And likewise, the church, God’s people,
make them pay up. I would suggest that Marxist,
should care about the poor in ourr midst, especially in
social justice leaders in the liberal church are doing
the church. If the people of Haiti live off an income
the very same thing, twisting Scripture and
of only $400 a year, the answer is not for me to try to
misquoting texts to make hard working Christians
do the same, to live off $400 a year and to give away
feel guilty about their productivity.
the rest so that we can all be impoverished together,
In the late 1970s, social justice Christian
but to work and to pray spread the Gospel to Haiti,
Ronald Sider wrote the book, Rich Christians in an
and let the Gospel transform the people of Haiti so
Age of Hunger. It followed this Marxist social justice
that they become thrifty and industrious and
line, trying to make American Christians feel guilty
productive as well. The Great Commission is not a
about their prosperity. Someone suggested a title for
Marxist redistribution so that everyone becomes poor
a rebuttal: Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt
together, but sharing the good news so that all are
Manipulators.
reconciled to God and become restored and built up
Now here’s the question: why do Marxist
in Christ, to help everyone to be productive. A rising
Christians read Amos and only camp on one of the
tide lifts all boats.
sins he mentions? Why not also thunder against
And even in the church, our best help for the
sexual immorality and false religion? The reason, of
needy is not to create dependency, but to work to
course, is because these sins do not fit the Marxist
promote independence, helping all people to become
template. For the Marxist Christian, it is not a matter
as productive as possible, so that they can provide for
of reading God’s Word and forming your beliefs and
those who depend on them and have something to
practices from the Word, but of bringing your pre-set
share with those in need.
beliefs to the Bible and using it to support your
agenda. And to do that, you need to ignore most of
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CONCLUSION
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So I’m not afraid of Amos any more. Amos
was no Marxist. He would condemn the empty and
godless philosophy of Marxism.
But I have learned several things.
1. Never be afraid of any text of Scripture.
God’s Word may burn like a fire, but it will only
burn away that which is sick and useless. Our only
fear must be the fear of the Lord as we take up his
Word with great reverence.
2. Never try to make a text say what you
think it should mean. This is to put words in God’s
mouth, to tamper with the Word of God, and God
does not appreciate those who misquote or distort his
Word. And when you do this, the Word ceases to be
your authority, and you become its authority instead.
3. If you are bothered by a text of Scripture,
it is probably a good sign that either you don’t
understand it or that you do, but you are unwilling to
submit to it.
4. Finally, keep reading the text, the whole
counsel of God. It is not only liberals have their
favorite texts and ignore portions of the Word. We
all do it. And the only way we can correct ourselves
is to keep listening to the Word of God, every Word
of the Lord.
So please pardon me for this excursus, and
next week we will be back on track. And rejoice with
me that I am no longer afraid of the book of Amos.

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