Prophecy – Amos 5-9

In trying to put a newsletter together, there are primarily two concerns.  One is what it says: factual content, proper vocabulary, grammar and punctuation are the issue here.  The other is how it looks: this concerns position of the type on the page, size of font, consistency in format and the like.  Sometimes, in order to make a page “look right”, the wordings have to be changed slightly.  At times, paragraphs have to be edited or even deleted.

And as I do it, I do feel guilty and wonder, “Am I sacrificing the content for the form?”.  The goal is to make form and content come together as a unit, but achieving that goal is never easy.

And as I read Amos today, I realise that the same balance is also critical in our worship and service of God.  So much time and effort is given to the proper form for worship and service that sometimes I wonder – has the contents of worship and service been t forgotten; or at least, been given second place?

This is what happened to the Israelites.  And the same could be happening to us if we are not aware…

Bible Passage:  Amos 5-9

I think it is helpful to remind all of us that when Amos was preaching, it was during a period of prosperity for the northern kingdom of Israel.  Everything was going well… materially but their spiritual lives leave much to be desired.

One can’t help seeing parallels between the lives of the Israelites and our lives today.  And it is a good and timely reminder to myself and I would like to share a few parts of today’s passage that ‘shouted’ out at me.

The Day of the Lord

We are often reminded that we have to prepare for the Day of the Lord.  And this is supposed to be a joyous day when we welcome His returning.  This is the day when all the enemies of God (and our enemies presumably) will be judged and we will be victorious and reign together with Jesus.

But the picture of the “Day of the Lord” in Amos is quite different and not quite what we would expect…

No Light

Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!
For what good is the day of the LORD to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.

Amos 5:18

Like us, those whom Amos preached to believed that such a day was coming – they even longed for it.

The problem was that they did not see this as a day of judgement against them.

Amos made it clear that a time of judgement was coming to the people of Israel.  Clearly God was not pleased with them.  But their prosperity had blinded them to spiritual realities.  With times so good (so they thought) and everything seemingly great, how could the day of the Lord possibly be a day of darkness, not light?

Are we in any way like these ancient Israelites?  Is our measure of contentmemt based on how well we are doing materially?  Every day that passes brings us one day closer to the time that we will be called to stand before the judgement throne of Christ (Rom 14:10).

What are doing to truly prepare ourselves for that day?

No Escape

It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!

Amos 5:19

If this was not something very serious, the picture Amos painted here is quite funny.  A man is running for his life to escapte from a lion.  He reaches a point where he figures he can finally relax, only to see a bear coming!  He flees from the bear and eventually comes to his house, thinking that surely he will be safe there.  Feeling at ease, he leans his hand against the wall  – and a snake bites him!

The point is pretty obvious – there is no escaping of the wrath of God on the day of the Lord!

Only Darkness

Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Amos 5:20

Darkness is often associated with God’s judgement or with that which is evil or undesirable.  Jesus speaks of those who on the day of judgement will be cast “outside, into darkness” (Matt 8:12; 25:30).  Whether that day will be one of light and darkness is up to us and is determined by our relationship with Jesus.

What Is Our Worship and Service Like?

Quite a number of us attend Church regularly and even do different things in Church.

But when I read Amos 5:21-24, it serves as a grave warning for me to consider what is my worship and service to God like?

Read this passage in The Message translation and see if you can feel the impact of what Amos is saying (emphasis mine)…

“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

Amos 5:21-24

How do you feel?

Quite disconcerting isn’t it?  Can my worship and service to God be something that God is so unhappy with?

Just consider…

When God gave instructions in the law of Moses concerning sacrifices, He had described “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” that would rise from them (Lev 1:9, 13, 17).  But God had also warned that if His people rebelled against Him, dire consequences would follow:  “I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings” (Lev 26:31).

While Amos was announcing the sorry state of Israel, we should also consider our ways and whether our religious meetings, convocations etc has also deteriorated to a sorry state that God is not pleased with.

And in our singing of praises to Him in congregational worship.  Why do we sing?  Our attitudes need examination all the time.  Unless we come before God with humble hearts, what the Israelites did at that time was merely for personal pleasure and glorification.  It was not true worship.

God’s desire is for justice and righteousness to govern the people’s relationship with one another.

Of course, this relationship is not possible without a proper relationship with God.  And once again, Amos used a vivid word picture again.

Amos pleaded with the people to allow justice and righteousnes to flood the land like a never-failing stream.  He puctured the change as something that would be ongoing – not like a desert wadi (where water ran after a sudden rain only to dry up later), but like a perenniel stream that issued life giving water throughout the year.

The Plumb Line

There are so many more things we can learn from the book of Amos that is worthy for us to reflect on ourselves and where we stand in our faith.

But I would just end with the vision of a plumb line.

Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.  And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”    And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:

“ Behold, I am setting a plumb line
In the midst of My people Israel;
I will not pass by them anymore.

Amos 7:7-8

Do you know what a plumb line is?

It is a string with a weight on the end, so that it will hang straight down.  Bricklayers use such a line to be sure that the wall they are building is perfectly vertical.

In this vision, the Lord stood ready to test a wall that is already built.

The wall to be tested was Israel.  God’s plumb line will show whether it was spiritually “straight” or not.

If it was not, God would no longer spare the nation.

We must be aware that God is constantly measuring us as well.  The standard is the Bible and we must constantly check that we are spiritually “straight” and right with God.  Or else, whatever we do right now will be in vain.

And when we meet our Master in the future, He will no know us.