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…” 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 was becoming rich at the expense of the poor, stealing even their “smallest crumbs” with taxes, fines, and unjust interest rates. There were 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 chapters 7 and 8 of the book 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 the 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 punishment any longer. The people and the nation of Israel were accountable to God and now it was judgment time.
Fruit
There are a number of reasons why fresh fruit is a part of healthy eating. Fruits are a good source of essential vitamins and nutrients, such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C and people who incorporate fruits as part of a healthy diet tend to reduce their risk of chronic diseases. Some of the benefits include the following:
- Potassium – Potassium helps to maintain healthy blood pressure. It also helps to guard against bone loss and reduces the risk of kidney stones.
Fruit Sources: Include: bananas, prunes, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, orange juice, avocados, figs - Fiber – Fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower the risk of heart disease. It also is important to proper bowel function, reducing constipation and diverticulosis.
Fruit Sources: Include: raspberries, apples (most of the fiber is in the peel); bananas, oranges, strawberries, mangos. Remember, fruit juice contains little or no fiber. - Vitamin C - Important for the growth and repair of body tissues, wound and cut healing care, healthy gums and teeth.
Fruit Sources: Include: citrus sources (e.g. oranges, grapefruit), cantaloupe, pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, mango - Antioxidants – These are substances that fight off free radicals, unstable atoms, that may increase aging, damage healthy cells, and cause cancer. There is also some research that berries high in antioxidants that may benefit the brain.
Fruit Sources: Include: blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and other berry fruits.
See https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120307145825.htm; https://www.creativehealthyfamily.com/top-10-reasons-why-you-need-to-eat-fruit/; https://www.choosemyplate.gov/eathealthy/fruits/fruits-nutrients-health.
If you are diabetic or have other health or digestive concerns, speak with your personal physician about your fruit and fruit juice consumption.
Fruit juice and other sweetened beverage consumption should be particularly monitored in infants and children. In, “Sweetened Drinks Still Top Sellers to Kids,” by Dennis Thompson, it was noted that:
- Drinks marketed to children often contain unhealthy sugars and sweeteners and are delivered in packages containing too-large servings;
- According to researchers at the University of Connecticut, none of the 34 sweetened drinks aimed at the youth market met nutritional recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP;
- Two-Thirds of the sweetened fruit drinks and flavored waters contained no fruit juice at all and those that did have fruit juice contained less than 5% fruit juice;
- Many of the single-serving 100% fruit juices and pouches contained more than 4 ounces, thus exceeding the recommended daily amount for a toddler, making them size unhealthy for them since the serving sizes were bigger than a toddler should be drinking;
- You can’t trust the packaging because 85% of the sweetened drinks contained images of fruit, but only 35% of the drinks had any fruit juice at all;
- Children between the ages of 2 to 11 see more than twice as many ads for sweetened drinks than healthy alternatives.
Researchers found that sweetened drinks are marketed heavily to parents and children and parents need to read the label of the products they buy for their children and monitor their children’s intake carefully. See, “Sweetened Drinks Still Top Sellers to Kids,” by Dennis Thompson, https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20191016/none-of-top-selling-kids-drinks-meet-experts-health-recommendations#1.
Spiritual Fruitful
Not only must we be mindful of the fruit we eat and what we give children, but we must also be mindful of whether we are “spiritually fruitful.”
Galatians 5:22 states:
But 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 pray for the fruit of THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Pray we be spiritually fruitful and BE BLESSED.
