Today's Daily Bread

YET YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED TO ME

Date : Tuesday, April 08, 2025
Passage : Amos 4:1~13
Keyverse : 12b  
1
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!"
2
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.
3
You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD.
4
"Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years.
5
Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings - boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do," declares the Sovereign Lord.
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.
7
"I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.One field had rain; another had none and dried up.
8
People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
9
"Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
10
"I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
11
"I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.
12
"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God."
13
He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth - the LORD God Almighty is his name.
To the women of Israel, Amos had this warning from the Lord: they contributed to the corruption of Israel by pushing their husbands to oppress the poor to feed their lavish lifestyles. If they continued in this way, they would be punished in a most severe and humiliating manner.

The Lord wants his people to come to him and acknowledge hm as their God. He sent many warnings to the people of Israel—hunger, drought, famine, locusts, plagues, and military conquests. All these were sent with the hope that they would return to the Lord. In his mercy, each time he would relent so they could return. But after each, as the Lord said, “…yet you have not returned to me.” (11b) Israel didn’t repent. They kept on sinning, seemingly oblivious to God. So finally, the Lord said, “Prepare to meet your God.” At that time, the people would learn who it was who formed the mountains, who created the winds, and who turns dawn to darkness. The Lord Almighty is his name!

The Lord will meet us one way or another. We either return to the Lord in repentance, or he will meet us in judgment.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you want us to come to you. Help us and raise us up as shepherds who show the way to you.
One Word: Return to the Lord