When People Use Plants to Exploit
Amos 8:1 — 9:10
“Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah smaller and the shekel heavier
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”
– Amos 8:4 – 7, NRSVUE
We human beings depend on plants to survive. We need them for food, for breathable air, and for healthy soil. They are present, living and growing, in our neighborhoods, landscapes, and waterways as well. Just take a moment to think about all the ways that plants have been part of your day or week.
Plants give so much to us. Yet societies past and present have transformed humans’ fundamental relationship with plants into a tool of exploitation. Again and again people have claimed power over both plants and people by using plants to acquire more for themselves at others’ expense.
Amos shows that God does not sanction such exploitation. More than this, though, God vows to remember. What if this vow is about God’s care not only for vulnerable people, but also for plants?
How might God’s vow to “never forget” be good news?
Get the “Advent with the Earth” Devotional PDF
Credits
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version updated edition of the Bible
Image of grain kernels is by Shalitha Dissanayaka on the Unsplash website
