“You gotta’ set the hook!” Anyone who ever goes fishing learns at the outset that catching a fish requires more than just getting it to swallow the bait. It requires a good yank on the line to get the barb of the hook set in the fish’s mouth so you can reel it in. For sport fishermen it’s often the fun part of the challenge. For the fish it can be a life or death struggle. Once the hook’s properly set the fish is caught and on its way to the frying pan, unless the line breaks or the fisherman is just there for the challenge and lets it go.

Today’s Morning Minutes in the Bible on An American Missionary returns to the Old Testament prophet Amos with a head spinning switch of metaphors. Previously we noted how he called the women of Samaria “fat cows” because of how they treated the poor and needy (Amos 4:1). Apparently their mistreatment of others was so bad that God went way past calling them insulting, derogatory names to warning about the coming judgment for their sins. His warning begins in Amos 4:2. Listen to His words.

“The Lord God has sworn by His holiness, ‘Behold the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with meat hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks’”

Wow, talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Well, in this case to carry the analogy, out of their ivory houses into the frying pan. Like animals hung on a hook to be butchered or fish caught on a hook to be carried away, the ungodly uncaring women of Samaria were going to be dragged away into captivity. Dragged away. Literally. In a few years the Assyrians would come, break down the city walls, and drag them and their children out with hooks to disappear into oblivion (Amos 4:3). History tells us (and shows us with drawings) how Assyria would hook captives through the lip or nose, or other tender parts of the body to drag away into short brutal lives as slaves those who weren’t lucky enough to die in the battle.

Since this was written about 20 years before the actual fall of Samaria they had plenty of time to repent and turn to God for divine rescue. The fact that they didn’t is clear from the total destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC.

This should serve as a warning to us as well. Just because Jesus demonstrated the mercy of God by dying on the cross for us doesn’t mean we can live like fat cows without any concern for the poor and needy. We may not be dragged away like fish on hooks, but that doesn’t mean we can escape judgment. We don’t know how long we have so don’t wait until it’s too late. Repent and turn to God now while there is time and opportunity.