abstract: According to God's design, the civil ruler should be a terror to evil doers and an encouragement to those who do well. The citizen ought to find the sweetness of justice and protection from the wicked

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by William Einwechter

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.... (Amos 5:15)

The prophet Amos declared the Word of God to the northern kingdom of Israel (760-753 B.C.) during the reign of Jeroboam II. Under Jeroboam II the ten tribes of the northern kingdom realized a "golden age" of prosperity. The nation was free from the threat of enemies, and trade and commerce flourished. However, this prosperity caused the people and their rulers to forget God and His law, and sin and corruption abounded. Materialism, immorality, political corruption, social injustice, and false, hypocritical religious activity were rampant. Israel was marked by a degenerate moral, political, and social climate (sounds a little like America today, doesn't it?). Amos rebuked the people for their sins, and declared to Israel that unless they repented they would face the "day of the Lord," i.e., the day of God's judgment.

The Perversion of Judgment

Of particular interest to us is the reproving of Israel and her rulers for perverting "judgment." In Amos 2:6, we are told that one of the great transgressions of Israel was that "they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes." The word "righteous" in this text is used primarily in a judicial sense, referring to those in Israel who were just in their cause and right in their conduct. However, when the righteous appeared in court to seek justice or defend themselves against false charges, they were denied justice or condemned as evil doers for the price of silver; i.e., their adversaries at law bribed the corrupt judges to secure a verdict against them. Additionally, the text says that the poor who had nothing with which to secure favor from the judges were denied justice for as little as a "pair of shoes" given in bribe by their oppressors.

Further description of the absolute corruption of the political leaders, judges, and the courts is given in Amos 5:7 where the prophet says these are those "who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth" (cf. Amos 6:12). The word "judgment" is a broad term that encompasses all the functions of civil rulers--administrative, legislative, and judicial--and in this verse stands for the whole work of governing in the civil sphere. The term "wormwood" refers to a plant that is very bitter, and was used in the Old Testament in a metaphorical sense of that which is bitter to the soul because it causes sorrow, pain, or grief. Thus, Amos declares that the rulers of Israel have perverted the office of magistrate, and turned what God had intended as a blessing into a curse. According to God's design, the civil ruler should be a terror to evil doers and an encouragement to those who do well. The citizen ought to find the sweetness of justice and protection from the wicked; but in the sorry case of Israel, the citizen found the bitterness of injustice and the protection of the wicked.

Furthermore, these corrupt rulers "leave off righteousness in the earth," meaning, that the administration of justice is cast down or aside in the land. In Scripture, righteousness is the quality of being in conformity to the standard of God's law. The rulers of Israel were to administer justice in the civil sphere according to the law of God. Instead, they cast God's law aside and ruled in accord with their own autonomous standards for their own ends.

Amos continues his depiction of the wicked rulers of Israel by saying, "they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right" (Amos 5:12). In other words, they act in a manner that is completely contrary to the law of God that instructs them to justify the righteous, refuse bribes, and give justice to the poor.

The picture of the corrupt rulers of Israel given to us by Amos immediately strikes us because his description resembles, in one degree or another, the majority of the leaders and the civil governments in the world today, including those of the federal, state, and local governments in the United States.

So many of our political leaders are corrupt, driven by greed and the lust for power and fame. Their goal is not the establishment of justice by upholding the standard of God's law, but with the enactment of their own theories of right and wrong derived from or approved by their puny little minds. Righteousness is cast down by these leaders as the guide to legislation, and in its place is the latest opinion poll trumpeted by the liberal press, the whining of some special interest group (such as the feminists, homosexuals, or the ACLU), or the desire of those individuals or corporations making large campaign contributions.

So, the citizens of this and other unhappy lands find that "judgment" has turned to the bitterness of tyranny, injustice, protection of evil doers, oppressive taxation, unending regulations, and condemnation of the righteous.

The Establishment of Judgment

What is the responsibility of the church and the individual Christian in a land where "judgment" (i.e., the institution of civil government) has turned to "wormwood," and where righteousness has been cast aside by the civil rulers? Some say that the church has no responsibility at all beyond that of evangelism and personal piety.

But the command of Amos to the believers of his day to "establish judgment in the gate" (5:15) cannot be limited to Israel or the Old Testament. God and His moral law have not changed, and neither have His requirements for men (1 Pet. 1:15-16; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Specifically, God's will for magistrates is the same: to be ministers of God who punish evildoers according to the standard of His law and encourage and protect those who do well (Rom. 13:1-6).

When civil government has turned to "wormwood" the church and individual Christians are still called to "establish judgment in the gate"; and given the political and social circumstances of today, the call is ours. If Christians, by the grace of God, are to understand their call and be successful in it, they must heed the admonitions of Amos 5:15. These admonitions are given directly to Christian magistrates and to Christian citizens who are in a nation where they have the liberty to vote, hold political office, serve in political parties, and influence legislation.

1. Hate the evil. The word "evil" used here indicates that which is wicked and displeasing to the Lord because it is contrary to His moral law. It is descriptive of that which is morally deformed and bad. The word "evil" also carries with it the idea of something that is hurtful or noxious. Hence, those things that are "evil" displease the Lord and destroy the body and soul of man.

   The verb "hate" means to hold in aversion, to have strong dislike towards, or to loathe and despise. Here it is in the imperative, making this a command to hate. The key to understanding this command is that the object of the verb is the word "evil." We are to hate evil. Hate in and of itself is not sin, though it certainly can be. It all depends on the object of our hate. If the object of our hate is worthy of such, i.e., if it is something truly evil, then hatred is a righteous act. God Himself is said to hate sin and wickedness (cf. Prov. 6:16-19; Isa. 61:8; Jer. 44:4; Amos 5:21; Zech. 8:17; Rev. 2:6).

   Hate is a strong emotion, and it usually leads us to act. If our hate is of evil, it will motivate us to act in opposition to that evil. Since evil is that which displeases the Lord and ruins the bodies and souls of men, it is good and righteous to hate it. The problem today is that men do not hate evil; and so evil goes unchecked, destroying lives, families, communities, and nations. Sadly, we Christians have also lost a hatred of evil. We may dislike it, but we don't hate it! Therefore, we can never seem to quite get motivated to do anything about it. If there is to be a true reformation, the church must once again learn to hate evil!

   Amos calls magistrates and citizens to hate that which is contrary to the moral law of God, for all such evil is displeasing to God and destructive to individuals and society. For example: abortion is a great evil that destroys lives and men's souls--we must hate it; government tyranny and injustice are evil--we must hate them; confiscatory taxation is evil--we must hate it; unjust war is evil--we must hate it; crime is evil--we must hate it; sexual immorality and perversion are evil--we must hate them; failure to uphold one's oath of office is evil--we must hate it; bribery is evil--we must hate it, etc. We must hate the works of evil, and seek to deliver men and nations from those works.

2. Love the good. This is the other side of the coin. Those who do not love do not know how to hate, and those who do not hate do not know how to love. Love and hate go hand in hand for we only can hate that which threatens the person or thing that we love. For example, we can only hate tyranny if we first love freedom; we can only hate war if we first love peace; we can only hate abortion if we first love the life of the unborn, etc.

   The command of God is that we "love the good." The word "good" is the opposite of the word "evil" and refers to that which is morally excellent because it is agreeable to the will of God. The word "good" is also used in reference to those things that confer blessing, making one well off, happy, and pleased. All that is "good" is from the Lord. To love "the good" is to love God and the justice and wisdom of His law.

   The Hebrew term for "love" that is employed here means to delight in. Thus, it is the opposite of the previous word for hate which meant to despise. We are commanded to delight in the good things of God and His Word. In Amos 5:15, "the good" has special reference to the moral law of God as it applies to the civil sphere. Magistrates and citizens are called to love God's law because it is only in obedience to that law that blessing, peace, and prosperity can dwell among us.

3. Establish judgment in the gate. If we truly hate the evil and love the good, then we are prepared to heed the command to "establish judgment in the gate." In the context of the book of Amos, where the selfishness and greed of the magistrates had turned the very institution of civil government into "wormwood," this is a call to reform civil government so that righteousness will once again prevail in that sphere.

   The verb "establish" is a vivid and forcible word that means to place, set up, or station. The word "judgment," as was previously explained, is a broad term that refers to all the tasks of governing a people. "Judgment" is closely associated with the word "justice" and is sometimes used as a synonym for it in the Old Testament because justice is the goal of all the magistrate's work. The "gate" was the place where the civil officers sat to conduct the business of governing and to try the cases that were brought before them.

   Therefore, the command is to establish a civil government that is in accord with the law of God. Such a government will require righteous men who fear God, and who govern by the standard of the Word of God.

The duty of establishing judgment in the gate belongs to Gods people in every age and every place. If we deny that fact, then we must be prepared to deny that Christians still have the duty of hating the evil and loving the good because the structure of the Hebrew text ties these two actions in a way that is inseparable from the command to establish judgment in the gate.

May God lead His people to once again hate the evil and love the good, so that they will have the necessary motivation and moral law to accomplish the mandate to establish judgment in the gate.

William Einwechter is vice president of the National Reform Association and editor of The Christian Statesman.

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