the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 3
Amos 2:13—Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
Behold! This is like the hand which occurs in the margins of old books, to attract the reader’s attention. It is God’s special call to our heed.
Sin is very burdensome to God: especially the sins enumerated in this context. Look at the story of oppression in Amos 2:6; of licentiousness in Amos 2:7; of ingratitude in Amos 2:9; of drunkenness in Amos 2:12. These sins are aggravated when committed by his own people. Just as the groaning wain creaks and cries out under its load, so does the heart of God under our sins. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" Should not we feel more as God does in this respect? Ought not we to bear the burden of sin, as Daniel did for his land and people?
What a fulfillment these words had in the life and death of our blessed Lord! The sheaves of our sins were laid on Him: for the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. As He bore his cross through the streets of Jerusalem; as He lay crushed to the ground in Gethsemane; as He cried, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"—surely He was like a laden wagon, groaning under an almost insupportable load.
The R.V. gives another sense, which is not so true to the Hebrew, but it should be considered: "I will press you, as a cart presseth" and cuts deep ruts in the road. A discovery is announced of a process of turning silver into gold by a pressure of eighty tons on a square inch, and in very low temperature. Yes, pressure and the chilling effects of persecution, difficulty, and disappointment are God’s methods of redeeming us from destruction, and turning our silver into gold. Oh, let us forsake our sins rather than compel Him to employ such an ordeal!
