May 29 ▪ Day 149

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 18:12
Amos 1–3
John 12
Psalms 149

Verse Focus (Proverbs 18:12)

Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
     but humility comes before honor.

Meditation

Today’s verse focus is Proverbs 18:12, which says, “Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” Of course we can’t help but remember similar proverbs, such as Proverbs 16:18 on April 28th (Day 118): “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” There’s also Proverbs 15:33 from April 21st (Day 111): “Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.” So these are familiar themes for us.

However, as I read this proverb today, it seems to me less like a warning and more like a consolation — how you would comfort someone who has had a setback. Psalm 119:67 and Psalm 119:71 both speak of the benefits of affliction. Trouble can teach us God’s ways. In this sense, a downfall may actually be a very good thing. It knocks the pride and arrogance right out of us. It teaches us humility. And humility is a necessary condition before honor.

Humility enables better relationships. If you are humble, it helps to build trust with other people. Pride and arrogance, on the other hand, puts up walls between you and someone else. Humility facilitates learning, while pride dismisses the need to learn. Trust, learning, growth — these are key aspects of personal development. And thus humility is also what makes for good leaders. But before any honors, you must first learn humility and then hold on to that humble spirit.

Father God, help us to understand setbacks as an opportunity to continue learning to become the person you want us to be. May we model humility like Jesus. In his name, Amen.

Today we begin reading the book of Amos. Amos appears third in the Bible’s line-up of minor prophets, but scholars actually believe he was the first prophet to ever record his prophecies. Amos is thus the first prophetic book in the Bible. Amos’ birth and death dates are unknown, but he prophesied during the reigns of King Jeroboam II of Israel and King Uzziah of Judah — probably in about 766 BC, although possibly as late as 750 BC. Using the 766 BC date, Amos would have predated Hosea by about 13 years (which was about 27 years before Isaiah began his ministry). The time of his visions came “two years before the earthquake (v. 1).” There was a massive earthquake that was known to have occurred during King Uzziah’s reign, but the exact date of the earthquake is not known.

Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, which was a small town in Judah, about 6 miles southeast of Bethlehem, and 12 miles away from Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Amos was sent to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel. The first half of the 8th century BC (799 to 750 BC) was perhaps the peak of Israel’s strength as a nation. The northern kingdom enjoyed peace and prosperity, having wealth and military might. But they had drifted away from God’s laws — an earlier king of Israel had deliberately introduced idol worship to stop the people from going to worship at the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem, fearing that if the people worshiped in Judah then they would not support the monarchy in Israel.

So Amos — whose name means “burden” — went to preach to Israel, telling them that God did not approve of their self-indulgent ways. God desires justice for the poor and oppressed. The Day of Judgment would not be a day for God to strike down all of Israel’s enemies and make them the ruler of the entire region; rather, it would be a day of judgment on Israel: a day of darkness. God was actually stirring up a nation to come conquer Israel. The only way to avert disaster would be for the Israelites to repent. This prophecy was given about 44 years before the fall of Israel at the hands of Assyria.

The message did not go over terribly well. As we’ll read in the coming days, Amos gets confronted by the high priest at Bethel, who accuses Amos of treason. Amos is banished from Israel. It is assumed that this is what prompted Amos to write down his prophecies, in an attempt to get the message through to Israel somehow. And as Amos recorded his prophecies, so too did the prophets who followed him.

Amos chapter 1 begins with a number of prophecies against Israel’s neighbors. There are prophecies against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon. Chapter 2 begins with a prophecy against Moab, moves to a prophecy against Judah, and then begins to prophesy against Israel. Chapter 3 continues to speak of Israel’s guilt and punishment.

Each of the prophecies begins with the same pattern of wording:

• “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent (v. 1:3).”
• “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent (v. 1:6).”
• “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent (v. 1:9).”
• “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not relent (v. 1:11).”
• “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent (v. 1:13).”
• “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent (v. 2:1).”
• “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent (v. 2:4).”
• “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent (v. 2:6).”

Curiously, for most of these countries we are only told about one sin — only Edom and Judah have several counts against them. Israel, however, has multiple sins listed. After reading Ezekiel, where God’s charges against the other nations primarily related to their mistreatment of Judah, it is interesting to see here that the charges against Israel’s neighboring countries relate mostly to offenses against other neighboring countries besides Israel and Judah. The sins counted against Judah and Israel, however, relate to their violation of God’s laws and not to their treatment of neighboring nations.

Chapter 3 has a number of interesting verses. Verse 2 makes it clear that God punishes Israel because they are His chosen people. As His representatives, God cannot tolerate their sins. Verses 3 through 6 ask a series of questions to prove the point of the question in verse 6b: “When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” Verses 7 and 8 also strike me. “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared — who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken — who can but prophesy?”

The questions also serve to authenticate Amos as the LORD’s prophet. Some commentators see much deeper meanings in these questions. The lion that roars because of its prey is symbolic of how God’s prophet cries out against Israel, soon to be the object — the prey — of God’s vengeance. Will the people hear the prophecy as a trumpet call in the city and understand the warning that it is? Will they be moved to repent and change their ways?

The chapter ends with very explicit warnings of coming destruction: an enemy will come against them. Israel will be punished, and the altars at Bethel will be torn down.

In John chapter 12, we read of the incident where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet. Although we read of this event in other gospels, only John tells us that Mary is Lazarus’ sister and that this occurred after Lazarus had been raised from the dead. Of course, Lazarus would have been prepared for burial — he was already in the tomb four days before Jesus arrived — so the perfume could not have come from his funeral, but the sisters may have purchased additional perfume when they prepared Lazarus’ body. Or perhaps they had been gifted with the costly perfume, and received more than they needed. Understanding the context of this event — the death and the resurrection — gives more meaning to Mary’s actions. I imagine that she felt ashamed of her prior disappointment in Jesus. She understood the purpose behind Jesus’ delayed arrival; he had a grander plan in mind than to simply save Lazarus from dying. And, as Mary now understands and believes that Jesus is the resurrection, perhaps she no longer saw the need to save the additional perfume for the future funeral of another family member.

John is also the only one who gives the detail that Judas’ objection came “not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief (v. 6).” The other three gospels tell us that the dinner occurred in the house of a Pharisee named Simon, who was a leper. But in the Synoptic gospels we know nothing of the woman’s motives for anointing Jesus’ feet other than that she was a sinner who had been forgiven much.

I was struck by verse 18 as I read this chapter today. John gives us an explanation for the Palm Sunday triumphal entry, saying, “The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.” I hadn’t realized the ripple effects of raising Lazarus from the dead. John tells us that “many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus (v. 11)” because of what happened to Lazarus. So much so, that the chief priests starting making plans to kill Lazarus too (v. 10). Now, I learn that the Lazarus incident was directly responsible for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in his last week of ministry. The Palm Sunday welcome was about the only time when Jesus was really treated the way he should have been treated. It seems very appropriate that this resulted from Jesus’ last sign.

In verse 35 Jesus says, “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.” He repeats this idea in verse 36, saying, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” There are a number of other Scriptural passages that say something similar to this, including Jeremiah 13:16 and Ephesians 5:8. But what comes to mind for me is the Scripture from Psalm 95, verses 7 and 8: “Today, if you hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah.” When it is light out, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency. We assume it will always be light — and so we sometimes put off responding to God. But if we hear the Holy Spirit prompting us, it is crucial that we respond immediately. Otherwise, we start hardening our hearts and closing our ears, to the point that soon we can no longer even recognize those promptings.

Psalm 149 models how a congregation might praise the LORD. Together, the people celebrate and rejoice. They sing a new song. They dance and make music. I love how verse 4 says, “He adorns the humble with salvation.”

The second half of the psalm is a bit disturbing as it speaks of His “godly ones (v. 9)” praising God while carrying a double-edged sword and exacting vengeance and punishment. It is an honor for them to do this. Of course, when I read “double-edged sword,” I think of Scripture rather than a physical weapon — but it seems the psalmist has in mind some kind of military battle. While I’m sure it is an honor to carry out the LORD’s judgments, it is not one that I would wish for myself — so as much as I love the first half of the psalm, I remain a bit uneasy with the second half.

Father God, I thank you that you are just. Thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice. Help us to walk in the light while we have the light. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, and for your word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.