LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE WATER

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 in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake” (1:1).

During the days of Amos’ ministry, there was a relative degree of peace in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; [5]  however, things were far from perfect. 2 Kings indicates that Israel’s king Jeroboam II “did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin” (2 Kings 14:24). Azariah (Uzziah) did what was right in the sight of the Lord; however, the king’s own pride led him to offer profane incense in the temple, and the Lord struck him with leprosy until the day of his death (2 Kings 15:1-7; 2 Chron. 26:1-5, 16-21).

Amos warns the people of Israel about calamities that will fall upon them on account of the injustices they perpetuated against one another. He said,

Seek the Lord that you may live,
Or He will break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
For those who turn justice into wormwood And cast righteousness down to the earth” (Amos 5:6-7).

In spite of all the injustices being perpetuated, the sinful people of Israel lived with the appearance of being righteous and God fearing. To this hypocrisy, Amos declared:

“I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:21-24).

R.C. Sproul and Robert Wolgemuth offer these insights into the words of Amos:

As with Dr. King’s unbraiding of complacent Americans, Amos got in the faces of the Jews. He warned them that their offerings and sacrifices were a stench to God’s nostrils because while they were outwardly performing their religious duties, they were treating one another with disregard. The poor were “sold for a pair of shoes” while the women had “become like the fatted cows of Bashan.”
Justice did not prevail because, during Amos’s time, it was common for judges to accept bribes, so that the rich would always be declared innocent and the poor would be thrown into prison, or worse. [6]

The words of Amos are relevant today as ever. Dr. King certainly synced into the timeless implications of the ancient prophet in critiquing the injustices perpetuated against people in the turbulent years of the 60s. We all must come to grips in dealing with our sin problem. Just as unrepentant Israel experienced Assyrian exile (2 Kings 17:7-23), there is the warning of ultimate exile from God to those who remain in their sin. Yet, salvation can be found in Jesus Christ.

~ WGN

Notes: 

1. In the English Bible, the Old Testament can be broken down as follows: Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy), History (Joshua to Ester), Poetry and Wisdom (Job to Song of Solomon), Major Prophets (Isaiah to Daniel), and Minor Prophets (Hosea to Malachi). The distinction between “major” and “minor” prophets has to do with the length of the writings as opposed to significance.

2. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream.” Speech March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington D.C. August 28, 1963, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html

3. Hank Hanegraaff, Legacy Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 1070.

4. Ibid., 1070.

5. After the reign of Solomon, there came about a civil war dividing the kingdom in two, with Israel in the North was ruled by Jeroboam, and Judah in the South was ruled by Rehobaom (1 Kings 12). Approximately 200 years after the civil war, Amos began prophesying during the reigns of Jeroboam II, the king of Israel, and Azariah (Uzziah), king of Judah.

6. R.C. Sproul and Robert Wolgemuth, What’s in the Bible: The Story of God through Time and Eternity (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 2000), 159.