I can almost hear some of you groaning: "The poor, again! When’s Amos going to move on?" But he doesn’t. The first seven chapters dwell on the unjust wickedness, not only of all the other peoples, but Israel also, because God called His people to a higher level and they have failed to respond. The consequences of not responding to God will be terrible. And it was.

I suspect the reason Amos was not a popular prophet in his own day and still stirs discomfort in our own day is because his message attacks our personal and communal sense of relative innocence.

If you can read or hear the Book of Amos and not feel uncomfortable, you haven’t heard or understood his message.

In fact, "injustice" and "the poor" are subjects that will arise again as we continue to study the prophets through July and August. Although Amos returned to these subjects again and again, he had a God-given talent to present the bad news of God’s judgment in a variety of verbal analogies.

For example, in the eighth chapter of the Book of Amos, he begins: "Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, ‘Amos what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A basket of summer fruit’" (8:1,2).

A basket of summer fruit is an appealing image: colorful, luscious, greatly to be desired.

But Amos knew the image and the reality were two very different things.

In the fall, the summer fruit is appealing, but as winter comes on it loses its color, freshness and taste. A basket of summer fruit in the cold of winter is a sad reminder of what it has been.

Israel, God is saying through Amos, is like ruined fruit: Once to be desired, but no longer.

Fresh fruit looks and smells tempting, but rotten fruit has no appeal at all. Israel has become thoroughly rotten, although its people seem not to notice.

The Hebrew word for "summer fruit" is gayits and the term for "end" is "gets."

Probably Amos was making a play on words, suggesting "summer fruits" means "the end." "Then the Lord said to me, ‘The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by.’ The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day, says the Lord God" (8:2,3).

When God has been handing out judgments on the various nations, He has previously not included Israel on His list – but now, he will not anymore "pass them by." Because of God’s judgment on Israel: "The songs in the temple shall become wailings in that day" (8:3).

The days of God’s favor and forbearance were over, at least for the present. And just in case they have failed to comprehend the reason for God’s anger with them, Amos focuses on the causative link: "Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, ‘When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale’" (8:5).

In ancient Israel the Sabbath was sacred day along with several other special days in the year.

But in Amos’ time the merchants were irked that they must close up shop on these days and miss out on possible income.

Many of us can remember when Sunday was a sacred day, but today it obviously is not. Sunday commerce continues to mushroom.

Many stores and businesses no longer close on Sundays. Ironically, Labor Day is a farce; many people have to work on Labor Day. The reason: there’s money to be made!

How often in our society today is that justification offered – because there is "money to be made?" A few years ago in a Sunday School class I was tracing society’s present preoccupation with "profit-above-all."

Challenged with, "What’s wrong with making a profit?" I replied, "Nothing is wrong, so long as profit has not replaced serving God."

Amos is prophesying disaster: "The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast out in silence" (8:3b). The cause of all this? "Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and bring the poor of the land to an end …" (8:4).

Oh, we’re back to that again – "trampling the needy" and "destroying the poor." Do you get sick and tired of all these references to the "needy" and "poor?" People tell me, "All these government programs aren’t going to get rid of poverty!"

That’s right, they won’t – they are just a Band-Aid on a deadly wound in our society. Making progress in eliminating poverty may start with a handout, but it can’t end there.

The galloping growth of poverty in our American society can be stopped and turned around only if we make the same effort we provide to fight our wars, send rockets into space and automate our society. The poor not only need to be fed, clothed and sheltered, but they need to be trained and educated to have the tools to take care of themselves, their families and neighbors.

The irony is although lots of people in our country detest the poor as "lazy, cheating and dependent," the faster they are enabled to climb the educational, social and economic ladder, the better it is for those of us who are not "poor."

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.