"Woe to you" who seeks the coming day of the Lord is a bleak statement against the worship of Israel. God had set aside a day of rest and the people abused it. The people of Israel were setting themselves up for a rude awakening. God’s day of judgment would be a day of darkness, a time of sorrow, and a time of terror. Brightness would not be a word for that day.
Some will think they are safe but that safety will only lead to other forms of God’s judgment. Looking closely at verse 19, I see hope. God is still trying to get the people of Israel to turn from their path of destruction. He is still giving them time to change. When that day was set in motion, however, there would not be any more chances.
The darkness theme continues in verse 20. On the day of the Lord, His mind would already be set. Last minute reprieves may be good for a death row inmate who is minutes from death – but when the day of death came for Israel, death was certain. All would be affected – spiritual or not.
Verses 21-23 describe the worship practices of Israel and the hatred God has toward those practices. Their religious feasts were a mockery to Him because He was not the reason for their coming together. Their assemblies were not gatherings in His name. Their offerings were worthless because they were for show – not worship. The quality of their offerings was not enough to move God because they were only going through the motions of worship. Their music selections would fall upon deaf ears. Worship is useless when God is not the target of your love!
When Amos says that justice should roll on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream, a picture of God’s judgment becomes clearer. Rushing water is unstoppable and washes away any hope. The closer the flood of judgment approached the least likely God would attempt to stop it. His righteousness has a cleansing power – He makes injustice right even at the cost of His people.
Verse 25 is a question about loyalty. Who did your forefathers worship in the desert? They worshipped God – not a king and not idols. For forty years, God was the center of their worship, and yet they still found a path in time that led them away from God. Years of honoring someone other than God (namely kings) led them to idol worship.
The people of Israel had fallen to idols. Their honor of kings and morphed into a hero worship that replaced the love they should have had for God. I wonder if this is a large part of the problem in the United States. Do we honor the Constitution more than God? Do we honor authority figures more than we honor God? Do we worship “American Idols” more than God? Do we worship our music more than we worship our God?
The final judgment for Israel would be exile. What will our future hold?
- Does the darkness of evil blind societies to the righteousness of God?
- How does injustice affect you? How do you depend on the righteousness of God in those situations?
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