AMOS 8:1-2 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.” [Revised Standard translation]
Then the Lord said, “This fruit represents my people Israel…”[Living Bible Translation]
Summary
The book of Amos is a book about prophetic justice and judgment. Amos was a prophet---a spokesperson for God, predicting and foretelling God’s plan for the people, including God’s plan to judge and punish Israel for their sin. God was going to punish Israel because the people had disobeyed God. They had broken covenant with God by repeatedly worshipping idols. The wealthy elite were becoming rich at the expense of the poor, stealing even their “smallest crumbs” with taxes, fines and unjust interest rates. There was rampant corruption and social injustice everywhere, even in the courts. Individual pride, the lust for power and self-interest were more important to the people than God or righteousness.
In the 7-8 chapters of the books of Amos, (i.e., The Book of Visions), Amos describes a series of visions from God. In the first two vision narratives (in the 7th chapter), Amos seems to persuade God not to carry out the punishment on Israel that God described to Amos in these two visions. However, in the 8th chapter, God gives Amos a third vision. God shows Amos a basket of summer, ripe fruit. The kind of ripe fruit Amos saw may have included strawberries, peaches, blueberries or cherries. In the hot Middle East sun, this type of ripe summer fruit would not have lasted long. The fruit would turn brown. It would become soft. It would have decayed, spawn mold, began to rot and then smell. Eventually it would have to be “dealt with.” Through this vision, God lets Amos know that, like ripe rotting fruit, Israel’s sin and social injustices had gone unchecked too long. Like molding, ripe summer fruit—the stench of Israel’s sin had become too great. It had to be “dealt with.” God would not defer His punishment any longer. The time was “ripe” for punishment. The people and the nation of Israel were accountable to God and now it was judgment time.
Fruit v. Fruit Juice
Many food guidelines recommend 2-4 servings of fruit per day. Fruits are rich in vitamins and nutrients and daily consumption of fruit is generally considered necessary for a good health. [Note: If you have a medical condition, your doctor may have other dietary recommendations or restrictions.] However, just as there is a difference between eating molding ripe fruit and eating recently picked “fresh fruit,” there is also a vast difference between eating fruit and drinking fruit juice.
While fruit juice contains vitamins and is often “fortified,” the difference in eating a piece of fruit and drinking fruit juice can be striking. In “Calorie Counter: Fruit vs. Fruit Juice”, Laura Blue provides the following information regarding how fruit stacks up against its liquid counterpart:
- ORANGES
One 8-oz. glass of orange juice has close to 2.5 times the sugar and just one-third the fiber of a typical piece of fruit. The stats from caloriecounter.com: the small juice contains 112 calories, 0.1g dietary fiber, and 20.8 g sugar, while the fruit has 45 calories, 2.3 g dietary fiber, and 9 g sugar. - APPLES
An 8-oz. apple juice has roughly twice the sugar but less than one-tenth the fiber of a medium-sized apple. The stats: juice has 120 calories, 0.3 g dietary fiber, and 27.2 g sugar; the fruit has 72 calories, 3.3 g dietary fiber, and 14.3 g sugar. - GRAPES
A glass of grape juice contains — once again — about 2.5 times as much sugar as the same volume of fruit (one cup of grapes), although with about half as much fiber. The stats: juice has 154 calories, 0.3 g dietary fiber, and 37.6 g sugar; a cup of grapes has 62 calories, 0.8 g dietary fi-ber, and 15 g sugar. - PINEAPPLES
An 8-oz. juice has not quite twice the sugar contained in the same volume of fruit (one cup of diced pineapple), with roughly one quarter the fiber. The stats: juice has 140 calories, 0.5 g die-tary fiber, and 34 g sugar; a cup of fruit has 74 calories, 2.2 g dietary fiber, and 14.4 g sugar.
Emphasis added. See, www.healthland.time.com. “Calorie Counter: Fruit vs. Fruit Juice,” by Laura Blue. Many fruit juices sold in stores, even organic juices, contain far more sugar than the amounts cited above. For those who are trying to reduce their sugar intake, eating a piece of fruit and drinking a glass of water is a much healthier alternative and a better choice (espe-cially for weight control) than drinking fruit juice.
Fruit juice consumption should be particularly monitored in infants and children.
Spiritual Fruit
Not only must we be mindful of the fruit we eat (or give our children) and consumption of fruit juice, but we must be mindful of whether we are “spiritually fruitful.” Like the Israelites during the time of the prophet Amos, our choices have consequence. We are accountable.
Galatians 5:22 states “the fruit of the [HOLY] SPIRIT” is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Today, let us pray for wisdom. Let us pray for justice. Let us pray for mercy and humility.
Let us make pray GOD’s HOLY SPIRIT so that we can live spiritually fruitful lives, and
BE BLESSED.
