You cows of Bashan!

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”  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 4v1-2

These are mighty harsh words with which God’s prophet addressed God’s people. It sounds even harsher in the KJV with ‘Ye kine of Bashan!’

What is it that deserves such harsh words? God tells them – ‘You oppress the poor and crush the needy and continue to party on.’

God has always cared for the poor and needy and He has always expected His people to care for them. The problem with these ‘fat cows of Bashan’ is that they knew the poor were suffering, they knew they could do something about it, and they simply said ‘pass the wine.’

It is that utter disregard for the poor and the laissez-faire attitude towards them that God condemns. We can do the same thing. We see pain and suffering around the world or in our own town and we walk on by like nothing is wrong. It is the ‘pass the wine’ attitude that we need to examine.

Jesus speaks of the poor often. He tells us that the way we treat the poor indicates how we would treat Him. The rest of the New Testament also instructs us that we are to take every opportunity to help the helpless.

At yet, the church carries on with all of her activities. We focus on our properties and facilities and how nice we can make things. We have coffee shops and cafes in our church buildings while simple illnesses strike down the weak all around the world. We have fellowships where massive amounts of food are brought and consumed while the poor are starving right outside our doors and around the world.

If Amos were right today would he write, ‘You fat cows in the church. You ignore the poor. You crush the needy. And all the while you pass the cappuccino’?