God sends fishers of men, but this time, it’s to punish the powerful.
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Under the fig tree
An astute observer of society today may notice how there are the powerful and privileged, whose very success is founded upon poor people’s suffering, even across continents.
Some billionaire bosses bring home profits in the millions while suppressing the wages of the lowest of their employees, who are crushed just trying to keep the lights on.
But God is our witness. He knows the rich who oppress the poor. He will repay them for their deeds.
One of Amos’ warnings was to the rich Israelites who cruelly mistreated the poor.
While they oppressed the needy to the point of them being crushed, the rich had multiple, lavish properties. Their lifestyles were so self-indulgent that Amos even likened them to plump cattle (“cows of Bashan”) (Amos 3:15, 4:1).
To describe their punishment, Amos uses the image of fishers of men.
The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:
“Behold, the days shall come upon you
When He will take you away with fishhooks,
And your posterity with fishhooks.”
(Amos 4:2)
Amos warns rich Israelites here that God will take them away for their sins. This would be painful, just as a fishhook is sharp, piercing through flesh.
Ancient fish hooks discovered in Northern Israel.1
It’s quite the opposite of the fishers of men Jesus calls us to be, where we lovingly snatch souls out of eternal destruction.
These oppressors would be reeled right into punishment. Because they did not repent, God later sent the Assyrian army to haul them away to foreign lands (Isaiah 10:5-6).
Today, we can shine as lights of the world by being generous to the poor, actions of love which God sees as lending to Him (Proverbs 19:17).
Feeling helpless about society’s injustice? Remember that God sees. God is insulted when anyone oppresses the poor, for He is the Maker of the needy too (Proverbs 14:31).
Above all, one who has a heart like God remembers His kindness. He wants no one to perish. He gave even these oppressors many wake-up calls, hoping that they would turn back to Him (Amos 4:6-11).
We die empty-handed, but we can enter into eternal life with treasures in heaven.
By sharing the gospel with everyone, rich or poor, oppressor or oppressed, they have a chance to turn back to Him and come to know true riches: God’s salvation grace (Ephesians 2:7).
1 Pedergnana, Antonella, et al. “Early Line and Hook Fishing at the Epipaleolithic Site of Jordan River Dureijat (Northern Israel).” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 6 Oct. 2021, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0257710.