What other scriptures warn against ignoring God's standards of righteousness? Setting the Scene in Amos “Indeed, they do not know how to do what is right,” declares the LORD, “those who store up violence and destruction in their citadels.” (Amos 3:10) The words are blunt: when a people cast aside God’s righteousness, corruption fills the vacuum. From Genesis to Revelation, the same warning echoes. Echoes from the Law • Deuteronomy 30:17-18 — “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will surely perish.” • Leviticus 18:24-25 — “Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have been defiled; the land has become defiled, and I am about to punish it for its iniquity.” • Numbers 32:23 — “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Wisdom Literature Speaks • Psalm 50:16-17, 22 — “What right have you to recite My statutes … You hate My instruction and cast My words behind you. … Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with none to rescue you.” • Proverbs 1:24-31 — Because wisdom’s call was ignored, “they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.” • Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 — “Fear God and keep His commandments … For God will bring every deed into judgment.” Prophetic Warnings beyond Amos • Isaiah 5:20-24 — “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil … Therefore, as fire devours stubble, so their root will be as rottenness.” • Jeremiah 6:15 — “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? … Therefore they shall fall among those who fall.” • Ezekiel 18:24 — “When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity … the righteousness he has done will not be remembered.” • Hosea 4:1-6 — “There is no faithfulness or love, and no knowledge of God in the land … My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” • Micah 6:9-13 — “Listen! The LORD calls to the city … I will make you ill and strike you for your sins.” Jesus’ Own Words • Matthew 7:21-23 — “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father … Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!” • Luke 6:46-49 — “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say? … The ruin of that house was great.” Apostolic Reminders • Romans 1:18 — “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth.” • Galatians 6:7-8 — “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. … The one who sows to please his flesh will reap destruction.” • Hebrews 10:26-27 — “If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment.” • James 4:17 — “Whoever knows the right thing to do yet fails to do it is guilty of sin.” • 1 John 3:4 — “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” • Revelation 22:14-15 — Outside the eternal city are “the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” A Clear Takeaway From the Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, the teachings of Jesus, and the apostolic letters, the message is consistent: refusing God’s standards is never a neutral act; it invites sure judgment. The Lord who spoke through Amos still speaks today, urging hearts to embrace righteousness and live. |
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