I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. – Amos 9:1

Today's Scripture Reading (April 4, 2026): Amos 9

On Mount Carmel, Elijah proposed a battle between him and the prophets of Ba'al. The idea was to bring two bulls to the mountain. The prophets of Ba'al would choose a bull, and Elijah would take the other. They would build an altar, then cut the bull into pieces and place the pieces on top of the wood of the altar. What they wouldn't do was light the fire; that task would be left to God.

The prophets of Ba'al would go first. They chose their bull, built the altar, and placed its pieces on it. And then they began to pray to Ba'al. They danced in front of the altar, asking Ba'al to send his fire down onto the altar and consume the sacrifice. The contest was well chosen for the priests of Ba'al; after all, Ba'al was the God of Thunder and Lightning. Consuming the sacrifice should have been an easy task for such a god. However, on this day, the God of Thunder seemed hesitant to respond with his namesake power.

After a few hours, Elijah decided to get into the act. "Shout louder," Elijah cries. "Maybe he can't hear you." He continued his taunts with, "Surely, he is a God?" You can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice. Maybe he is deep in thought or busy. Maybe he is traveling. Yell louder so that he can hear you. He might be asleep and needs to be awakened."

The prophets of Ba'al danced and yelled even louder. But nothing happened. Ba'al didn't come and consume the sacrifice. Finally, after these prophets had worn themselves out, Elijah stepped up and built his altar. He poured water on the wood of the altar until the water filled a trench that he had constructed around the altar.

Then he prayed a simple prayer; no dancing was necessary, and God sent fire to consume the altar. Where Ba'al might have been on vacation or at least far from the scene of the battle, God was present and stood at the ready for Elijah to make the ask.

Amos makes the same point. Regardless of what is happening, God is ready to act. Whether the action is positive or negative. Amos sees a vision of an event that has not yet happened and seems almost unimaginable; he stands at the altar of the Temple and watches as it collapses all around him. But there is another message that his audience needed to understand. On the day that the Temple fell down, it would not fall because God was somehow absent. The destruction of the Temple would not take place because God had fallen asleep or was on vacation, visiting far-flung places in his universe. God would be present at the destruction of the Temple. And he would orchestrate the destruction because of his people's sin. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 & 2

Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land. – Amos 8:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 3, 2026): Amos 8

On March 4, 2026, Pope Leo XIV gave a lengthy interview to Vatican News. The subject was, at least partially, the strikes of the United States and Israel against Iran. Nobody was really surprised that the Pope would express his opinion to the press; he had been outspoken in the past, and why bother being Pope if you don’t articulate what you see as the moral imperatives in the world around you. That was one of the complaints historically leveled against Pope Pius XII (his Papacy lasted from March 2, 1939, until his death on October 9, 1958) during World War II.

Pope Leo XIV gave an interview to Vatican News, warning that strikes against Iran had weakened international law. The Pope argued that “might has replaced justice; the force of law has been replaced by the law of force.” The Pope called the war with Iran “preventable,” and that it risks “the whole world being set ablaze.” The Pope’s words are a reminder that this conflict with Iran has moved us another step closer to a third World War. What is surprising is that, in the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential Election, Vice President J.D. Vance consistently argued that a vote for Trump was a vote against war. A President Donald Trump would move the world away from war. But instead, he has moved the world toward war. And that is a huge problem for all of us.

But there has been another reaction to this move, one that we maybe should have predicted. A movement has begun calling for Baron Trump, the President’s youngest son, to be drafted into the army. I don’t think anyone actually wants to see Baron Trump in army fatigues. The truth is that if Baron actually was drafted, he would likely be given a commission as an officer and kept out of harm’s way. After all, isn’t that exactly what happens to every prince who joins the army in other countries? The movement to draft Baron into the military is a recognition that it is often the rich and powerful who bring the nations into war, but it is the poor and weak who fight the wars. If you want to do away with people experiencing poverty, a war is often one way to lessen their presence in our society.

A war in Iran is actually a continuation of a policy that the U.S. government seems to be implementing within the nation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been persecuting not just people who are in the country illegally, but also anyone who is from a visible minority or poor in the land. A war would take care of more like them.

Amos warns Israel about any practices that are intended to harm the poor of the land. When we refuse to honor those experiencing poverty and care for the needy among us, we lose the humanity God has placed within us. We become weaker for our loss, not stronger, regardless of what we might believe.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 9

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. – Amos 7:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 2, 2026): Amos 7

It is an old story. The commoner who becomes the princess. The musician who gets a chance to play with their favorite band. The beer league goalie who gets called up to the big leagues in an emergency.

I remember a version of the last one. Decades ago, I was settling in to watch a hockey game. The Calgary Flames were playing; I forget who their opponent was. But one of their goaltenders had been injured during the pregame warm-up. The commentators opened the broadcast, setting up the game about to be played. But before the game was discussed, they had a message. The Flames had asked the broadcasters to send a message to a minor league goalie named Mike Vernon. They needed Vernon to come to the arena to back up the goaltender on this night. Apparently, Vernon was watching the game with some friends when he heard the message. By the end of the first period, a young Mike Vernon came out of the locker room and sat on the bench with the rest of the Flames. I have often wondered what it felt like to hear your name called out on television and have your plans for the evening blown up in that way.

Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, is upset with Amos. It is important to note that Amaziah was compromised long before Amos began his prophesies. Being a priest at Bethel meant he had left the faith represented by the Temple in Jerusalem, exchanging it for the faith represented by the Golden Calves set up at Bethel and Dan in the northern Kingdom of Israel. Amaziah was concerned about his own position and likely felt that Amos was threatening his job. As a result, Amaziah sent a message to King Jeroboam II, accusing Amos of attempting to raise an army to oppose the King’s purposes. Amaziah tells the Prophet that he was not wanted in Israel. If he wanted to cause trouble, he was welcome to cause it back home in Judah, but not here.

Amos responds that he is not a prophet. He had no desire to prophesy in either Israel or Judah. He was not a prophet, nor was he the son of a prophet. He was a shepherd and would love to return to tending his sheep and the sycamore trees back home. But God had called his name and given him a message for Israel, even though he was just an amateur, and not a trained theologian. Amos would not stop prophesying because a professional priest didn’t like the message. As long as God was giving him a message, he would continue to speak it, despite the opinions of the professional religious leaders of his day.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 8

You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. – Amos 6:3

Today's Scripture Reading (April 1, 2026): Amos 6

His name was Joseph. The boy was just one of Jacob's twelve sons, the same Jacob who would be renamed Israel. Joseph was a spoiled child. He was the son of his father's favorite wife and was treated as such. Until the day that dad gave him a beautiful multicolored coat, and his brothers decided that they had had enough. A plan was developed by the brothers to kill Joseph, but they instead decided to sell him into slavery. For the next portion of his life, that was Joseph's reality. He was sold and resold. He eventually became the property of an Egyptian official. Then Joseph was accused of raping his boss's wife, and spent the next few years in jail.

One of Joseph's talents was interpreting dreams with God's help. He had interpreted dreams when he was back home with his brothers, and he did so while in prison. Eventually, the Pharaoh had a dream, and Joseph was brought from prison to interpret it. The Pharaoh might have been Amenemhat III (1860 – 1814 B.C.E.). What makes Amenemhat III a good candidate for Joseph's unnamed Pharaoh is that improvements in agricultural practices and administration occurred during this time, changes that correspond well with the story of Joseph.

Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams and warned of a time of surplus and a time of famine that was in Egypt's near future. Joseph's advice to the Pharaoh was to save grain during the time of plenty so that there would be food for the people during the coming famine. It was good advice then, and it is good advice now.

Amos prophesies during a time of economic plenty in Israel. But the prophet sees a time of famine approaching, much as Joseph did in his day. Maybe that is not much of a surprise. The ancient world experienced predictable periods of plenty and famine. And, much like Joseph taught in Egypt centuries earlier, the expectation was that people would save during times of plenty so they could survive times of famine.

However, that wasn't what Amos's Israel was doing. Instead, they were spending in the time of plenty as if the time of famine would never come. Amos felt he needed to remind them of the principle of plenty and famine so they would be prepared for the approaching time of scarcity. And it is advice that I think we all need to take seriously. The wise person puts away for times of famine and is prepared for sickness, job loss, and even retirement. I know, it is hard, but life comes with the good and the bad, and if we understand this principle, we will be ready when the day of scarcity arrives in our lives. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Amos 7

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out over the face of the land—the LORD is his name. – Amos 5:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2026): Amos 5

We have watched the heavens from almost the very beginning of time. We noticed that when the sun, the greater light, was in the sky, our world was illuminated. When the moon shone, the lesser light, it was darker. If both great lights were absent from the sky, it would be even darker, though the stars would still give us some light. While there was one greater light and one lesser light, there were many stars. And so we looked and began to see patterns in the sky: the constellations. The stars began to tell us stories.

Ever since my early morning paper deliveries, Orion the Hunter has been one of my favorites. As I began my route, I loved looking up at the sky and seeing Orion above my head, imagining that the sword hanging from his belt could be drawn in times of danger.

Pleiades was another ancient group of stars, though it went by different names at different times around the world. In Japan, the star cluster is historically known as “Mutsuraboshi,” which means “six stars.” Today, it is known as “subaru” which means “to cluster together.” A quick look at the Japanese automotive company’s logo reveals the origin of the name with its familiar six stars clustering together.

Outside of Japan, most onlookers have noticed seven stars in the cluster instead of six. Therefore, the cluster has been known as the Seven Mothers, the Seven Sisters, or simply the seven.

Biblical interpreters have helped us understand what the author is talking about. I am unsure of what Amos would have called these stars, but he uses the word “keseel,” which means any constellation, but especially the burly one we call “Orion,” and “Keemaw,” which simply means “the seven stars.” By pointing to the Pleiades, the translators have helped us distinguish it from the other seven-star clusters that shine above.

Amos’s point is that it is God who has placed these lights in the sky, and so he is the God on whom we can still depend.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 6

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. – Amos 4:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 30, 2026): Amos 4

Have you ever been hungry? I know that after a long day, we often say we are starving, but the truth is, we are not really even hungry, let alone starving. We could go much longer without food; in fact, many do in various parts of the world. But I have been hungry, especially during my college days. There were times when I simply couldn’t afford food, and so I didn’t eat.

I remember a conflict I had with a roommate. In this case, I had been busy and hadn’t gone shopping. My roommate, who had borrowed and even destroyed many of my belongings, had left for a month-long work trip out of town. He left, and I felt I could use some food, so I went to the cupboard to see if there was anything left. I didn’t have anything, at least not anything I felt like eating, but my roommate had left a few tins of canned spaghetti. Not the best meal, but it was easy to make, and my roommate was gone for a month, so I had plenty of time to replace the can. I made myself some lunch, intending to do some grocery shopping that afternoon. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t go shopping, but that my roommate changed his mind and didn’t go away for work. He came home while I was eating his spaghetti, and he was none too pleased with his roommate. I did go shopping that afternoon and bought him a tin of spaghetti.

Amos speaks to the women of Samaria, the Capital City of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And Amos speaks with a theme. The prophet recognizes the trouble the Northern Kingdom has experienced and assures them that the trouble they have gone through had a purpose. Every struggle had been intended to bring the nation back to God. From the moment the divided kingdoms emerged, the north chose to step away from the faith of the people centered on the Temple in Jerusalem.

And so, God had allowed their choice to go it alone without him. He allowed the struggle because he loved them and wanted to bring them back to him. But the people had refused to return to the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and continued to follow the idols that their kings and priests had placed before them. They experienced hunger, but did not recognize it as an invitation to return to the faith of their fathers.

God still invites us back into faith. But we have to hear the invitation, and often we don’t.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 5

When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? – Amos 3:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29, 2026): Amos 3

Why does God allow evil to happen? It is an important question, one that we seem to dance around when people ask it. Usually, I admit, even my answer is that God didn’t choose evil; we did. In every war, someone fires the first shot, and there are reasons why we go to war, some of which those in power seldom want to admit. There is a feeling in World War I that Europe was waiting for a reason to go to war. However, the framers of the conflict couldn’t imagine the devastating trench conflict that terrorized the territory for four years. But God didn’t do that. Kings and political leaders chose that path. I recently read a conversation between two soldiers, one from each side of the First World War, and according to the interview, conducted in the early days of the war, both soldiers felt that their side was on the right side of history, fighting for peace and freedom. That doesn’t surprise me. Defending the (fill in the blank with your country’s demonym here) way of life is the reason we are given whenever we go to war. I was recently reminded of a quote from former American President Jimmy Carter. “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children” (Jimmy Carter).

So, we need to return to our question: why does God allow evil? Right now, several wars are being waged on our blue marble, and according to Carter, wars are always evil. The keyword here is “allow.” I am not saying evil originates with God; it doesn’t, it finds its genesis in us. But God still allows it. The understanding in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is that God could have prevented it, so if he allows it, he caused it by not preventing it.

I am not sure that I know the answer to the question. Sometimes, going through times dominated by evil has caused me to rethink and reaffirm my faith. Sometimes these moments have strengthened me. Often, it has driven me to my knees in prayer for those who are affected. I would prefer to live in a world without an Adolf Hitler or even a Jeffrey Epstein. I dream of a world where we fight wars by exchanging flags and a bottle of liquor on a remote Island, as Canada and Denmark did in their most recent conflict over a piece of land. But I trust that there is a reason, even if it is just a reminder that this world is not my home, and there is something more for me in a place that God has prepared for you and for me.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 4