The End for Summer Fruit

  • April 24, 2024
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  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Amos 8.2, 11
 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
     “when I will send a famine through the land—
 not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
     but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Reflection: The End for Summer Fruit
By Erin Newton

Summer approaches. The fruit has started to ripen. Nothing sounds more delightful than a basket of ripe fruit—ready to eat, refreshing and nourishing for the body. But the image in Amos is drastically upturned. As pleasing as the idea of fresh fruit sounds, God compares it to Israel—ready for judgment.

When God answers, he doesn’t say exactly, “the time is ripe.” The translators have done a good job here to try and reveal the play on words in the verse.  The Hebrew word for “summer fruit” is pronounced qayits. And the “ripe time” that God says is the word for “the end”—pronounced qets. It would be similar to us saying, “I see the berries over there!” To which God responds, “I see the buried over there.”

There is no more time left on the vine for the fruit and no more time left for the people in the land. It is a dire situation and the turning of an image that should bring joy (fruit gathered for eating) to a scene of hopelessness (people gathered for judgment).

The image of food is recalled with the proclamation that a famine is coming. The basket of fruit will be taken away—but in this message, it’s not really food he’s talking about. It will be a famine of divine communication. A lack of prophecy. A silence over the people.

Starvation is one of the harshest sufferings. It is slow and debilitating. The body attempts to scream out in every way possible, “Feed me!” When wars break out, starvation becomes a key humanitarian crisis. Efforts to prevent it often reach across political or ethnic borders. Throughout history, it has been a threat.

A famine of God’s words is meant to strike equal fear into the hearts of his people. They have lived through droughts and short-term famines. They have felt their bellies ache for food and have seen their neighbors recklessly desperate to get something, anything, to eat.

Without food, we die. Without the word from God, we also die. Spiritual starvation is equally slow and painful.

We are not accustomed to valuing divine communication like we value nourishment. But here in Amos the two are set side-by-side. Jesus preached the same message, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Are we serving ourselves a healthy portion of Scripture?


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
The Lord is near to those who call upon him, to all who call upon him faithfully. — Psalm 145.19

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Amos 8 (Listen 2:16)
Matthew 28 (Listen 2:39)

Read more about Better Things to be Doing
If we don’t value worshiping God, the punishment is a famine—not a famine of profit, or water, or food, but a famine of the Word of God.

Better Things to be Doing

Read more about God of the Weak and Doubtful
He accepts and encourages you today. You who doubt his presence with you. You who doubt that you are loveable

God of the Weak and Doubtful

Judgment, The Great Equalizer

  • April 17, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Amos 1:3
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins … even for four, I will not relent.

Reflection: Judgment, The Great Equalizer
By Erin Newton

Is there escape from God’s judgment? The prophets seem to declare escape impossible. Amos uses formulaic language—for three sins, even for four. It is not a mathematical theology of sin as if to say, “God spares two sins but three is too far.” No, this is a poetic (and memorable) way to speak about the surety of judgment against sinful people.

The “three-four” punch is also an equalizer. The numerical description does not increase or decrease between the places. (In fact, Judah is included in the same language and foreboding promise of judgment in the next chapter.)  

The cities listed in chapter 1 create a perimeter. Damascus was northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Gaza was on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. Tyre was a northern coastal town. The region of Ammon was centrally located east of the Jordan River. This perimeter was a way to show that universal judgment was coming.

I need to pause here for a moment. Considering the ongoing and escalating war between Israel and Gaza—we must remain steadfast to read the Bible in its context. Nowadays, we will watch people take a word or two that has meaning today and infer that meaning back onto books like Amos. Let us pause to read more carefully.

Yes, there is an ancient town of Gaza and a present-day Gaza. But thousands of years have passed; worldviews and populations have changed. If Amos condemns an ancient town, it is a message about the civilians’ hearts, not the dirt under their feet. And that is how God deals with us today. It is the stance of our hearts, not the land we stand on, that determines God’s judgment or mercy.

This is why the repeated introductory phrase is necessary. It levels the playing field. The message is not “God will save me because I am a citizen of _____,” but “God will judge sin unbiasedly.”

Judgment is universal. According to Amos, not even Judah escapes. But with Jesus, the formula changes from “for three sins, even for four” to “leave the ninety-nine for the one.”

I hope we can read the Old Testament, including stories about similarly named places, and imagine a New Testament perspective. For one repentant sinner, even for ninety-nine, in his mercy, God will relent. 

God judges the heart within us, not the dirt we live on. Judgment equalizes us all, but so does his mercy. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; I call upon you all the day long. — Psalm 86.3


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Amos 1 (Listen 2:38)
Matthew 21 (Listen 7:10)

Read more about Nineveh’s Regression
God’s still in the business of forgiving those we would condemn and having mercy on those we would castigate.

Nineveh’s Regression

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Please consider becoming a donor. Support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

Supporting our Work

Clumsy Doves

  • April 10, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Hosea 11:10-11
10 “They will follow the Lord;
     he will roar like a lion.
 When he roars,
     his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come from Egypt,
     trembling like sparrows,
     from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
 I will settle them in their homes,”
     declares the Lord.

Reflection: Clumsy Doves
By Erin Newton

During the pandemic, we all became amateur birders, right? Confined to our homes when businesses and schools shuttered for a varied amount of time, I think many of us started to look out the window. I was one of those people who moved all the bird feeders to the window with the best sunshine and comfiest chair.

We have a dozen different species of birds nearby. Hawks, crows, and vultures rule the skies. We also have daily visits from cardinals, chickadees, finches, and roaming the ground—doves.

The hawks soar and swoop effortlessly. The cardinals are adept at flying down to the feeder and back up to the limbs ever so quickly. The doves—well they fly down, flapping their wings rather clumsily. When I read about the return of the Israelites fluttering back home, it paints a vivid picture in my mind.

Fluttering sounds nice and soft, like a butterfly landing on a rose. The NIV translation, however, is a bit poetic when describing the “fluttering” of the doves and the “trembling” of the sparrows. The Hebrew text uses only one verb for both birds: “trembling.” It seems that the NIV misses some of the depth of the Hebrew here.

Theological dictionaries point out this word describes someone (or something) that is frightened. In fact, the essence of the word is not fully understood unless the element of panic is also embedded in the image. They are not fluttering like butterflies in a meadow. They are trembling, terrified—wobbling down to the ground in the clumsy flight of a dove.

Why are they so afraid? They are following a roaring lion. Like Aslan in Chronicles of Narnia, he is not “safe,” but he is good. They follow the Almighty God, not the weak gods of their idols.

But I imagine they are also a little traumatized from living in exile and experiencing the previous invasion by the Assyrians or rule by the Egyptians. 

It is no ordinary thing to experience God. We might treat it as common but usually only when life has been “safe.” Pain tends to heighten our spiritual sensitivities. Some of us stumble into the presence of God after the long dark night of the soul. Some emerge from the consequences of sin, only to see God roaring as a lion—not to devour—but to lead us home.

Even in our clumsy, stumbling spiritual journey, we can trust in his promise of compassion.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds. — Psalm 36.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Hosea 11 (Listen 1:53)
Matthew 14 (Listen 4:14)

Read more about Hearts God Moves
May God move in our hearts, as in the hearts of the returning exiles, making his dwelling place with us and shining brightly through us.

Hearts God Moves :: Epiphany

Read more about Beyond Second Chances
Haggai spoke to people returning from exile. They are at home, yet homeless, returning to a flattened, burned, destroyed city.

Beyond Second Chances

The Prodigal Woman

  • April 3, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Hosea 2.7-8
7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
     she will look for them but not find them.
 Then she will say,
     ‘I will go back to my husband as at first,
     for then I was better off than now.’
 8 She has not acknowledged that I was the one
     who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
 who lavished on her the silver and gold—
     which they used for Baal.

Luke 15.17-18
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 

Reflection: The Prodigal Woman
By Erin Newton

As a writer, I struggle with doubt: “How can I say anything that is new?” The teacher in Ecclesiastes would say, “Yeah. There is nothing new under the sun.” Despite this reality, the Bible often reminds me that some good truths are worth repeating.

Many times in the Old Testament we see themes and stories that find a similar counterpart in the New Testament. We see similar tales of watery depths stilled at creation (Genesis 1.2, 9-10) and at the hush of the waves from the voice of Jesus (Luke 8.24-25). There are temptations in the deserts of Egypt and Israel (Exodus 16.1-3; Matthew 4.1-4). In fact, Jesus often responds to questions, “You’ve heard it said…” implying that some truths are worth telling again.

The prophets’ messages were not random, ground-breaking new realities for the people. They spoke messages that reminded people of the truth they already knew. The call to repentance is an ancient word that still speaks today.

The prophet Hosea uses the image of a wayward spouse to speak about the unfaithfulness of Israel. His message compares the divine-human relationship to a marriage. What is expected in such a relationship? Loyalty, love, commitment, and exclusivity. 

Through this analogy, Israel is revealed as disloyal, unloving, uncommitted, and corrupt. The object of her wayward affection is Baal, the god of her neighbors—a deity depicted as a violent storm god engaged in wars for power. She is compelled by her lust and forgets where her substance and beauty come from.

“Well, good thing I would never be a harlot! Never would I worship an idol!” We convince ourselves that we are too sophisticated to be compared to a scandalous woman involved in idolatry.

But Jesus takes the same message and reconfigures the image. No longer is it a spousal relationship. It is father and son. It is not a woman financially dependent on a man but a son who is already destined to receive a future inheritance. It is not Baal who tempts but greed.

This story hits a little closer to home. It sounds like our own testimonies.

Both the woman and the son follow their passions instead of the Provider. Yet both are received within the arms of the one who has always loved them.

God always loved Israel. The father never stopped loving his son. Christ forever loves you.
There is always room to tell this same story—our story—one more time. 


Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
My soul thirsts for the strong, living God and all that is within me cries out to him. 

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Hosea 2 (Listen 3:48) 
Matthew 7 (Listen 3:31)

Read more about A Chiaroscuro Parable
Like a Rembrandt chiaroscuro painting, with exaggerated lights and darks, Hosea shows the darkness of sin and the bright, hopeful gleams of God’s love

A Chiaroscuro Parable

Read more about Trouble and Hope
How does trouble turn into hope? How does the punishment of disobedience become a beacon of mercy in the wilderness?

Trouble and Hope

The Blood That Speaks

  • March 27, 2024
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Psalm 72:14
He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

Reflection: The Blood That Speaks
By Erin Newton

For the life of a creature is in the blood. (Lev 17:11). Precious is the blood; precious is their life.
The blood of Abel cried out from the ground just beyond the gates of Eden—when brother murdered brother and jealousy marred Cain’s soul.

The blood of the lamb whispered to the angel as it passed by, “This one is mine. Turn aside”—when the messenger of death delivered the final sign.

The blood sprinkled on the altar proclaimed peace and restoration over the crowds—as they waited in the courtyards for the priest to enter the Holy of Holies.

The blood spilled from war and murder, violence and abuse, screams out for retribution—as the king on high listens to his people.

This psalm is a plea for the king to be endowed with wisdom and righteousness. It is a cry to God for the king to be peace and blessing and truth to his people. This is the final prayer of the great king David. It is a prayer of such grand proportions. Only God himself could fulfill it. Only God himself could embody it.

This is the prayer for our Messiah. He is like rain on fresh green grass. He is like the warmth of sunshine after a long winter. He is the light that brings all humankind unto him. He is the king that other kings long to revere.

He holds the pure scales of justice. He helps those who are helpless. He hears those who cry out. He knows every life is precious even as the blood of those who love him calls out in silent pleas.

It is a cry that only God can hear. It is a plea for help straight to the ears of our Lord. It is the groaning that a hopeless soul utters with the smallest breath.

And he hears every drop. Our suffering is seen, our prayers are heard, and our hope is anchored.

Even though the preciousness of his life is more than all the natural wonders and tangible wealth of our world, Christ poured out his own life—his own blood—for us.

What did the blood of Jesus speak from the ground as it poured from his hands, his head, and his side? You are loved. You are precious. You are worth it. You are forgiven.

Precious is each drop of blood that leads us to eternity.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Let them know that this is your hand, that you, O Lord, have done it. — Psalm 109.26

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Song of Songs 3 (Listen 1:148)
Psalm 72 (Listen 2:21)

Read more about Life In The Blood
Blood is the life of victims of every kind of violence whether in distant wars or neighborhood streets, whether in mass shootings or lone suicides.

Life in the Blood

Read more about There is a Fountain Filled with Blood — Lenten Hymns
The season of Lent reminds us that when we are at our lowest of lows, Jesus extends his hand to rescue us.

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood — Lenten Hymns