𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
Chapter 8 from the book of Amos keeps popping up in my morning devotion and in my evening reading from the Word. The thing that strikes me the most every time I read it is right at the end - God's ultimate punishment is His silence. How heartbreaking and how insightful is that! I'm posting the chapter here for your easy access. I welcome you to share your thoughts on reading it. What's your take-away?
𝘈𝘮𝘰𝘴 8 (𝘕𝘐𝘝)
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘈𝘮𝘰𝘴?" 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥, "𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵."
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵! 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯!"
𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭:
"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦; 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
"𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺," 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, "𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 - 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦!
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨," 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, "𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 - 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 - 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘣𝘢 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."