This is what the Lord says: ‘For the many crimes of Damascus, I will punish them. They drove over the people of Gilead with threshing boards that had iron teeth. So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael that will destroy the strong towers of Ben-Hadad. I will break down the bar of the gate to Damascus and destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven, as well as the leader of Beth Eden. The people of Aram will be taken captive to the country of Kir,’ says the Lord. (NCB)
Amos begins, in chapters 1 and 2, with the Lord indictment of Israel’s neighbors. God may use unbelievers to correct His children, but He always will have vengeance on those who harm His chosen.
We are always beloved!
Even in the midst of chastening, God loves us. Even when He allows us to be persecuted, we are not abandoned. He walks with us, taking care of those things behind us, and preparing for those things ahead of us.
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you." (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 NKJ)
We are always beloved!
And as the beloved, God is always on our side! Even when we feel He has abandoned us, He hasn’t. He is working everything for our good (Romans 8:28) and will have His vengeance on our enemies at the time of His choosing.
That being said, there are lessons we can learn even from the enemies of God because He is not only concerned with our relationship with Him, but also with our choices, our actions. And when we do that which is displeasing to Him—when we sin—He will deal with us, not in retribution, but in chastisement so that we will make better choices in the future.
The crime of Damascus was anger. They were very angry with Israel and were determined to overcome them, to overpower them, to harm them so much that Israel would have no option except to capitulate. "They drove over the people with threshing boards that had iron teeth."
A threshing board was a farm implement made to help separate the wheat from the straw. It would commonly be a board, or several boards fastened together, possibly with metal teeth underneath that would cut the wheat plants and help release the wheat kernels from the stalks. As you can imagine, if this implement was dragged over a person, it would be torturous.
The implication in Amos isn’t that this literally happened, but that this is a word picture of the extreme torture (either physical or emotional) that Damascus used to try to punish and manipulate Israel. The question then comes to us, have we ever used such tactics with others?
Of course we have. In anger, in frustration, in fear, we have used whatever tactics we thought necessary to escape, to survive, to fight back. We have used harsh, hurtful words. We may have even used physical blows.
Galatians 5 describes the comparisons of the natural or flesh life and the spiritual life:
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." (v. 19-26 NKJ)
Let’s look at several of these in comparison to each other:
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hatred
contentions
outbursts of wrath (anger)
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longsuffering (patience)
kindness
gentleness
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The truth is, there is no middle ground. Either we are living the fruit of the Spirit or we are living the works of the flesh. That’s the one thing that can make living as a Christian easier. We simply have to focus on living the fruit of the Spirit all the time and we will avoid the works of the flesh. While in practicality it’s not necessarily easy, in functionality it is! We simply ask ourselves if we are being patient, kind, and gentle? We know what those things look like. The opposites are hateful, contentious, angry. And while our emotions may pull us into a direction we shouldn’t go, we aren’t animals unable to control our lusts. The Holy Spirit Who lives within us is constantly wanting for us to live out His fruit in our lives. All we have to do is stop, pray, and obey. Let Him take care of those we are hurtful to us. God will have His vengeance! We need to trust Him.
His job is to take care of the circumstances and the people in them. Our job is the live the fruit of the Spirit while we are in those circumstances.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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