Amos 5:1-17 It’s Not Too Late
God is famous for the ‘last chance’. He gives His people multiple chances because, until the judgment comes, it’s not too late.
God is ALWAYS ready to welcome His children back into His arms WHEN THEY REPENT. That, is when they TRULY repent. Israel had been playing at repentance for some time. And God was having NONE of it. That’s part of why He is ready to pass judgment on them. But He can’t help but give them ONE MORE CHANCE.
“For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: ‘Seek Me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile and Bethel shall come to nothing’” (verses 4-5). He is giving them one final chance, but even that chance has some conditions on it. The parts of the country that have the greatest sins in them will NOT survive. There is no coming back for Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. It’s too late for them, but not for the people.
God KNOWS that if His people went to these three cities to ‘seek Him’ they would be doing it through their idols. The very things that have drawn them away from Him. God also knows that they aren’t going to avail themselves of this final opportunity. Right after Amos appeals to them to turn back to God, He tells them that they won’t. “Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: ‘In all the squares there shall be wailing and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! Alas!” They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, and in all the vineyards there shall be wailing for I will pass through your midst,’ says the Lord” (verses 16-17). In other words, it’s still coming because they will refuse to repent.
When Amos calls for the people to repent, he reminds them of Who God is. He identifies how POWERFUL God is. “He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the deep darkness into morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the water of the sea and pouts them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is His name” (verse 8).
Amos also focuses on their sins. He highlights MANY of them. Some were spoken of earlier in God’s initial address to Israel. But Amos digs a little deeper. He points out how those who seek truth and speak against wrong are hated. How the poor are trampled and taxed to death. The rulers are getting rich off their backs. They make strong houses for themselves from the gain they have seized from the poor; who have nothing left to care for their own meager needs.
God won’t let them enjoy the ‘fruits of their labor’, the gain they have stolen from the poor. He will not let them live in the houses of hewn stone. He won’t let them enjoy the vineyards. For their sin IS GREAT. And they have yet to repent.
Amos’ final call, in today’s reading, doesn’t point out specific steps for repentance. No ‘three points and a prayer’ recipe. Amos’ call is for a COMPLETE change in thinking. He is telling them to do what they have been claiming they are already doing. “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it MAY BE that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph” (verses 14-15 emphasis added).
This is the absolute root of God’s anger against Israel. They WON’T do good. They want evil at every step. From this attitude springs ALL the rest of their sins. It is also the bottom line for us and our sins. For when we choose evil over good, sin ALWAYS abounds. Our world is chasing after the wrong things. We are seeing the love of evil over good. The people of our times are calling good evil and evil good. And MANY of God’s people are keeping quiet about it.
I have to confess that I’m quiet about what is going on in our world. I have family who vehemently adhere to some of the new ‘trends’ and ‘lifestyles’. I don’t want to hurt them and drive them away, so I keep quiet. I was just reminded of part of Amos’ words from God: “Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time” (verse 19). Is he telling the prudent to keep silent or warning them because they are in sin by not speaking up? We may get more clarification on that in tomorrow’s reading.
Father God, show me when it is time to speak up and when to keep silent and let You do Your work. Give me the words to say that will help draw people back to You instead of drive them away. Let me seek good and not evil at ALL TIMES. Let me be part of the solution of whatever needs ‘mending’ Lord and NOT the one who tears down.
