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REFLECTION

“The time is ripe” is the theme for our reflection. A fruit or grain is said to be ripe if it has developed to the point of readiness for harvesting and eating. Ripe also means having arrived at the fitting stage or time for a particular action to be taken. God used the metaphor of ripe fruit to demonstrate that the time of Israel’s judgment or destruction is at hand. “This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ² “What do you see, Amos? ” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” (Amos 8:1-2) Usually, it is a good thing for a fruit to be ripe for harvesting and consumption but in the Book of Amos, a ripe fruit is used to describe the state of decadence and looming calamity or judgement upon the nation Israel for their disobedience, injustice and corruption. Dear friend, what made Israel a riped fruit to be harvested by God? The Lord answered, “Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, ⁵ saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” — skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, ⁶ buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. Amos 8:4-6. It is for these reasons, Amos admonished the people of Israel especially the leaders and people guilty of the things spoken about that “The LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done. (Amos 8:7)

Beloved in the Lord, God hates injustice and corruption because it leads to the oppression of the poor and vulnerable and the impoverishment of the masses. Unfortunately, in the twenty-first century, we are repeating the very evils found in Israel during the time of Prophet Amos. We are also becoming ripe fruits and will soon be harvested by God. In the name of unstable exchange rates and fluctuating inflation, many people who are into business are making unjust gains by unconscionably increasing the prices of goods and services. Some may not increase the price of goods but rather reduce the quantity and repackage the goods at prices not commiserate with the quantity being sold. Life is becoming unbearable for the poor and vulnerable in our society yet we seem to have turned a blind eye to their woes. We have institutionalised corruption at our workplaces and marketplaces to the extent that integrity, truth and obedience to God’s Word are now hard to find in our society. Is it not interesting that on Sundays our chapels are filled to capacity yet from Monday to Saturday we are busy cheating one another, taking bribes and doing the forbidden? In Deuteronomy 25:15-16 we are told that “You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. ¹⁶ For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. Again, Proverb 11:1 admonishes us that The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favour with him“. Some of the people charged with the responsibility of fighting corruption and preventing dishonest gain have rather been blinded by bribes. Prophet Isaiah rightly describes our society when he wrote that “Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.” (Isaiah 1:23). Again, Proverbs 17:23 tells us that “The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice. It is, for this reason, we are warned in Exodus 23:8 that “you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

Beloved in the Lord, when the time is ripe, we shall not be spared! From Amos 8:9-14, the Lord warns us that, He will bring upon us calamity and spiritual famine occasioned by our inability to hear His Word again if we do not repent! Jesus tells us that “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done” (Matthew 16:26-27). May we be ripe in doing the will of God but not towards disobedience of His Word. Shalom.

Holy Spirit, strengthen us to live by the will of God so that we shall not be harvested into the basket of destruction when the time is ripe for God’s judgement. Amen.