Reflections on Amos 5

 Amos 05  (Contemporary English Version)

1. Listen, nation of Israel, to my mournful message:
   
2. You, dearest Israel, have fallen, never to rise again-- you lie deserted in your own land, with no one to help you up.
   
3. The LORD God has warned, "From every ten soldiers only one will be left; from a thousand troops, only a hundred will survive."
   
4. The LORD keeps saying, "Israel, turn back to me and you will live!
   
5. Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel or even to Beersheba. Gilgal will be dragged away, and Bethel will end up as nothing."
   
6. Turn back to the LORD, you descendants of Joseph, and you will live. If you don't, the LORD will attack like fire. Bethel will burn to the ground, and no one can save it.
   
7. You people are doomed! You twist the truth and stomp on justice.
   
8. But the LORD created the stars and put them in place. He turns darkness to dawn and daylight to darkness; he scoops up the ocean and empties it on the earth.
   
9. God destroys mighty soldiers and strong fortresses.
   
10. You people hate judges and honest witnesses;
    
11. you abuse the poor and demand heavy taxes from them. You have built expensive homes, but you won't enjoy them; you have planted vineyards, but you will get no wine.
    
12. I am the LORD, and I know your terrible sins. You cheat honest people and take bribes; you rob the poor of justice.
    
13. Times are so evil that anyone with good sense will keep quiet.
    
14. If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am.
    
15. Choose good instead of evil! See that justice is done. Maybe I, the LORD All-Powerful, will be kind to what's left of your people.
    
16. This is what the LORD has sworn: Noisy crying will be heard in every town and street. Even farmers will be told to mourn for the dead, together with those who are paid to mourn.
    
17. Your vineyards will be filled with crying and weeping, because I will punish you. I, the LORD, have spoken!
    
18. You look forward to the day when the LORD comes to judge. But you are in for trouble! It won't be a time of sunshine; all will be darkness.
    
19. You will run from a lion, only to meet a bear. You will escape to your house, rest your hand on the wall, and be bitten by a snake.
    
20. The day when the LORD judges will be dark, very dark, without a ray of light.
    
21. I, the LORD, hate and despise your religious celebrations and your times of worship.
    
22. I won't accept your offerings or animal sacrifices-- not even your very best.
    
23. No more of your noisy songs! I won't listen when you play your harps.
    
24. But let justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs dry.
    
25. Israel, for forty years you wandered in the desert, without bringing offerings or sacrifices to me.
    
26. Now you will have to carry the two idols you made-- Sakkuth, the one you call king, and Kaiwan, the one you built in the shape of a star.
    
27. I will force you to march as captives beyond Damascus. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, have spoken!

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Amos took up the wail of a death lament, mourning Israel's demise in advance. To a nation at the height of prosperity it must have been like reading one's own obituary. Israel had fallen by the sword and there was no one to "raise her up." Ninety percent of Israel's army would be killed as they went up against the invader, assuring their defeat. The people had abandoned the Lord and now the only One who could help them had abandoned them.

There was an alternative, though. They could yet seek the Lord and live. This statement, "Seek Me and live," is more than a statement of cause and effect, as if saying, "if you will seek me, I will save you and you will live." Instead, it is a statement of what is. Life is found in the Lord. Where He is, there is life. Seek Him, for when you have Him you will have life.

The God of Israel, the One Israel had spurned, the One who was foretelling Israel's destruction, is the One who controls the daily cycle of daylight and dark, and controls seasons of springtime and winter. He controls also the elements of nature, cycling water which evaporates from the sea to form clouds which then drain their water upon the land. This sovereign God was fully aware of Israel's sin and the wise person would offer no defense for his actions, but would instead keep silent. The only appropriate response to the Lord's accusations against Israel was to change one's ways and to "Hate evil and love good." With this response there was yet a chance the Lord would be gracious and withdraw the coming judgment.

It was time Israel corrected her theology. She thought being "religious" was all that was required of her. They thought that as long as they went through the motions of worship, the God of Israel was on their side as their defender. But through Amos God told them that they had always been deficient in their ways. Even when they wandered in the wilderness on their exodus from Egypt, the people had brought their sacrifices and offerings to the Lord, but not their hearts. Often their hearts were with other gods.

A renewal of religious fervor would not forestall the coming judgment. Their feasts and solemn assemblies and offerings were detestable to the Lord. Increasing these observances without turning their hearts to Him would only anger Him more. The path they were on was "exile beyond Damascus."