Amos 1:14 "So I will Kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind."

I have written about some of Amos' warnings to the nations surrounding Israel before. In them God is telling the peoples who have abused or taken advantage of Israel that they will be punished. This verse is the warning to the Ammonites, who have "ripped up women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border." (Amos 1:13).

I often get so upset about living in a country that seems to not only think abortion is okay, but has gotten to the point of promoting it and denying the truth of it. The propaganda and lies have been so successful that we have generations of women who do not and will not see what abortion really is. It is harming them and all of us. The current discussion of late stage abortion and how to treat a child who survives it turns my stomach. We are deep in evil, so steeped in it that rational people can condone leaving a brutally injured child alone to die an excruciating pain. I often wonder why God has not done anything, and when He will act to correct this. But I know He is giving us time to repent, and I also know His justice will not be delayed.

The Ammonites were eventually punished as Amos promised, yet the punishment, I'm sure, felt far removed from their crimes to the people who had seen them ripping up pregnant women. Honestly, any punishment that did not come immediately after (or even before!) the first such incident would seem much too delayed to me.

It often seems God is allowing the unjust to "win." He may be, but only if it will help them ultimately learn their lesson and repent. His justice will come, and it will not be delayed. In fact, the fire in the walls of the strongholds of the unjust may already have been kindled, and be burning slowly, ready to burst forth. Unfortunately, we live one of the nations of such strongholds, so we will suffer with everyone else when it does. But remember, if we are destined for martyrdom, God will prepare us, and if we are not, He will see us through.