Topical Studies
What the Bible says about Moral Integrity
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Israel's religion was going nowhere. The people were not righteous, moral, or just in their dealings with one another, so their playing at religion, though sincere, was despicable to God.
When Noah offered a sacrifice after the Flood, God was pleased with its fragrance (Genesis 8:20-21). But the Israelites made sacrifices that did not please Him. They offered the same sacrifices, but there was a vast difference between the offerors, between Noah and the Israelites of Amos' day. Ezekiel 14:14 lists Noah as one of the most righteous men who ever lived. But these Israelites were corrupt, unjust, merciless, and hypocritical.
In the list of sacrifices in Amos 5:22, the sin offering is not mentioned, suggesting that the Israelites felt they had committed no sin requiring forgiveness. Its absence shows that they were not in contact with God; they had no relationship with Him. If they had, they would have been aware of where they had fallen short and could have repented.
Amos includes three other offerings that the Israelites gave, but God would not accept. Knowing what they represent gives us insight into how the people were falling short in their spiritual lives.
The burnt offering teaches total devotion to the Creator. It was completely burned on the altar, typifying the offeror's complete devotion to God. This offering corresponds to the first four commandments, which show love and devotion toward God.
Similarly, the grain offering, also called the cereal offering, meal offering, or meat offering, teaches total dedication and service to man. It was offered in conjunction with the burnt offering. The grain offering typifies the last six commandments, which regulate our relationships and love toward our fellow man.
The peace offering represents one's fellowship upward to God and outward to man. It was primarily given in thanks for God's blessing. When this offering was made, God, the priest, the offeror, and his family and friends shared a common meal and fellowship, as all these parties ate part of the sacrificed animal.
But from God's reaction to their offerings, it is apparent that the people of ancient Israel were not devoted to God or to their fellow man. Nor were they in true fellowship with either God or man, and therefore they could not see their sins. They did not see the holiness of God and compare themselves to it. If they had, they would have seen that they needed to make changes in their lives, but in judging themselves solely against other men—an unwise thing to do (II Corinthians 10:12)—they felt no need for repentance.
They did not understand what God really wanted of them. They may have appeased their own consciences with their church attendance, hymn-singing, and sacrifices, but they went home and continued to oppress and cheat and lie.
True religion is
A relationship with God (Matthew 22:37). Without a relationship with Him, we cannot know Him or understand His purpose for us.
Submission and obedience to God as our part of the relationship (James 4:7-8). In offering to make the covenant with the children of Israel (Exodus 20-24), He proposed to them. They accepted their obligation—to obey Him—but they were unfaithful in fulfilling it. As the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) and the future Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7-9), the church must not fail as ancient Israel did.
Genuine love for God's truth (II Thessalonians 2:10). Israel neither loved nor sought God's truth.
Moral integrity (I Peter 3:8-12). Living in righteousness and holiness shows love toward God and man.
Social responsibility (James 1:27). Israel, as a nation of this world, had a responsibility to ensure that their care of their fellow Israelites was acceptable in God's eyes. The church, a spiritual organism, is not of this world, and as a body, has no responsibility at this time to change society—only ourselves. We must take care of our brethren within the church now, and we will have our chance to help this world in God's Kingdom.
These five points will not “buy” us into the presence of God; rather, they are five proofs that we follow true religion. Remember Jacob's dream. God chooses us and meets us at the foot of the ladder, making a difference in our lives. He gives us a way of life to follow, and we pledge to follow it. Thus, true religion is not a way to God but a way of living from God.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Five): Religion and HolinessRelated Topics: Burnt Offering | Conscience | Forgiveness | Grain Offering | Israel's Religion | Love of the Truth | Moral Integrity | Morality | Obedience | Peace Offering | Relationship with God | Social Responsibility | Submission | True Religion
Now God exposes the root cause: Their pride produced their self-pleasing religion, their overconfidence in their strength, and their self-indulgent lifestyles. Where were their trust and faith in God? Pride causes people to resist and reject Him.
God saw this unwarranted pride most acutely in Israel's leadership. As we have seen, most of this chapter is aimed directly at the leaders, upon whose conduct the nation's destiny is largely dependent. God shows in the Bible that the leader of any institution—nation, church, business, family—can make or break it. If a leader, because of righteousness, comes under the blessing of God, then the people are also blessed. But if God curses the leader because of his wickedness, his people likewise come under the curse.
When Judah had a good and righteous king like Josiah (I Chronicles 34-35), the nation prospered, but under evil Manasseh (I Chronicles 33), the nation declined. In this century, England experienced turmoil in 1936 over Edward VIII's determination to marry the American divorcée, Wallis Simpson. Yet his brother, George VI, who refused to leave London during World War II, rallied the nation during its darkest hour. This principle of leadership holds true in any enterprise, from small to large.
We can also see this in the second commandment: “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children” (Exodus 20:5). The fathers—the leaders—and the children both suffer. When the fathers are blessed or cursed by God, so are the children. The difference is only in the measure of responsibility that each bears.
In life, everyone is a leader and a follower, depending on the circumstances. Amos shows that a leader should never be complacent and content with the way things are because pride follows—and shortly after it, a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Leaders of nations bear a great responsibility because, if they allow morals to collapse, all their military prowess and vaunted technology will not save them. Above all else, a leader's first consideration is to be moral.
But the Israelite leaders of Amos' day were people who first considered their own reputation and condition. They compared themselves with others instead of with God (II Corinthians 10:12). By ignoring their spiritual health, they could neither lead and guide the nation nor help and counsel others. Since they had failed so horribly in their duty, God says the leadership would be among the first to be led away as captives.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Six): Complacency and LaodiceanismRelated Topics: Leadership | Moral Integrity | Moral Standards | Morality | Pride | Reputation | Responsibility, Sense of | Self Indulgence
In Amos 4:2, God swore by His holiness, that is, all of His moral integrity, His very nature. He also swore by Himself (Amos 6:8), indicating everything that He is and His sovereignty over all creation. Israel was not impressed. So, God says, “Look, I have sworn by My holiness and by Myself, and that failed to carry any weight with you. So now I will swear by something so great—your own pride—that you cannot refuse!” What irony! God says if He swears by something of theirs, it may mean more to them than if He swears by something of His!
This passage also shows that when man gets out of step with God, then nature, too, begins to suffer. Beauty begins to give way to ugliness. We start to see huge piles of slag, polluted rivers, foul-smelling garbage dumps, expanding deserts, and denuded forests. Finally, when the land begins to vomit the people out (Leviticus 18:24-28), they may show a belated interest in God and His truth, but it will be too late to stop the destruction. The time is right—the fruit is ripe—so God will punish them.
Consider what is currently happening in our Western nations of Israel. God shows a connection between nature and human morality: “Natural” disasters are acts of God in response to the moral condition of the people. If men will treat other men, created in the image of God, in an immoral way, how will they treat the land, forests, rivers, lakes, and oceans? Because these things seem unable to fight back, man will abuse them with no fear of reprisal. But God says that the environment will fight back and vomit them out!
Instead of rain falling in a gentle mist, it will roar like an avalanche until the inhabitants cannot cope with it. The rivers will swell and flood the land in anger, washing the topsoil into the sea. In other areas, fire will sweep over forests and farmlands, destroying everything in its path. Windstorms like hurricanes and tornadoes will devastate the cities and countryside, endangering the lives and livelihoods of the people. Earthquakes will increase in both frequency and power, costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars of damage. These disasters will mount to such an intensity that the people of modern Israel may seek repentance, but it will be too late. God will not pass by anymore.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Seven): The Prophesied Blow FallsRelated Topics: Earthquakes | God's Chastening | God's Punishment | Holiness | Israel, Identity of | Israel, Modern | Moral Decay | Moral Integrity | Natural Disasters | Tornadoes
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