"Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan on the Mountain of Samaria. You take things from the poor and crush people who are in need. Then you command your husbands, ‘Bring us something to drink!’ The Lord God has promised this: ‘Just as surely as I am a holy God, the time will come when you will be taken away by hooks, and what is left of you with fishhooks. You will go straight out of the city through holes in the walls, and you will be thrown on the garbage dump,’ says the Lord." (NCV)
The cows of Bashan (or in the NKJV, the "kine" of Bashan) were a type of cattle. Being a sheepherder, Amos was familiar with animal stock and their behavior. This is a description of the "kine of Bashan:"
"The kine of Bashan . . . were a breed of cattle very large and strong, especially if, though bred there, they were fed upon the mountain of Samaria, where the pastures were extraordinarily fat. Amos had been a herdsman, and he speaks in a dialect of his calling, comparing the rich and great people, that lived in luxury and wantonness, to the kine of Bashan, which were wanton and unruly, would not be kept within the bounds of their own pasture, but broke through the hedges, broke down all the fences, and trespassed upon the neighboring grounds; and not only so, but pushed and gored the smaller cattle that were not a match for them." (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible).
The analogy here—the word picture—is about people who demand their rights, who not only demand their rights, but who make sure that they get what they need and what they want. These are not people who were content with what God provided or content where God had placed them, but made sure that they got everything that they felt they deserved.
Rights are not in the Bible. Rights are not what Christians are about.
"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away" (Matthew 5:38-42 NKJV).
We either believe God or we don’t. Unfortunately, I think that most in the American Church don’t really believe God. We don’t believe that He will provide for us. We don’t believe that He is making good out of all circumstances. We still believe that we have to push and shove our way through life, getting what we and our family "should" have. We have yet to truly come to believe—to truly realize—that for Christians life is always about win-win. WE CANNOT LOSE! And yet, we don’t live that way. We live as if we had to grasp everything close to us, never letting go, rarely sharing.
Look at what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew. "I tell you not to resist an evil person." Give, give, and give some more. Will we be taken advantage of? Yes! Who cares? We serve the God Who owns everything! What does it matter if we are "taken advantage of?" Our Lord Jesus was unjustly and cruelly executed and He went to that execution without a protest. Why? Because He knew the Father was in control.
The people Amos describes in chapter 4 are people who were demanding their rights. They were, in essence, bullies. Now, not one of us wants to be considered a bully, but the fact is that every time we insist on our rights, we are shoving and bullying our way through life rather than trusting the Lord to take care of us. We don’t need to demand our rights. Our Father in totally in control. We simply need to live obedient to His will. We simply need to give, give, and give some more to everyone around us. We are blessed so that we can give to those God places in our path. We are blessed so that we don’t have to worry about our rights or even our needs. As we take care of others, God will take care of us. He rained down manna on the Israelites in the desert. He is fully able to take care of my needs today!
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
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