Love Truth Blog

The Book of Amos is one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament. [1] In the famous “I have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” [2]  These words directly allude to Amos 5:24. Dr. King connects with the manifold application of the prophet for today. The way this is drawn out ultimately comes from understanding the text within context from which the ancient prophet prophesied. Amos was a prophet of Yahweh from a place called Tekoa near Bethlehem in Judah, who made his living as a farmer and shepherd, as opposed to being a prophet-for-hire (7:14). [3]  He prophesied during the middle of the eight century B.C. and was a contemporary of Hosea and Jonah.[4] Scripture indicates he “envisioned ...

These are the days when politick runs thick like a dense fog on a cold night. It is Presidential election time in America, when the politicians present themselves in the best light and their opponents in the worst. One issue often talked about during these times is the faith of the candidate. Does the faith of a Presidential candidate really matter? I believe a popular answer is the politician can leave his personal beliefs out of the policy making equation. In 1960, for example, in an address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, as a response to concerns on the way his Roman Catholic faith would affect important national decisions, President John F. Kennedy offered a clear response affirming the separation of church and state. Much of what he said was understandable; however, there is a point which I have to respectfully disagree. Kennedy said: “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, who happens also to be a...

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God (Ezek. 11:19-20). Ezekiel spoke these words from a Babylonian refugee camp far away from his homeland. Late sixth-century B.C. prophet anticipated a time when the Yahweh would bring back the exiles to the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people had broken their covenant with Yahweh. They had compromised their worship, and defiled their holy temple. The temple that David had conceived and Solomon built. The very temple the very Glory of the Lord had indwelt. When Solomon brought the Ark of the Covenant into the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the place, like a thick cloud, and the priests were unable to stand ministering (1 Kings 8). It was the very same temple that Ezekiel sees in a vision, and in...