Chiasm
A chiasm is a linguistic style of structuring an argument. Essentially, you list your points with an
increasingly narrow perspective until you get to the heart of the
conversation. Then, you list your points
in reverse order. Essentially, it looks
like this: A, B, C, D, E, D, C, B, A. Of
course, you can have as many or as few points as necessary for the argument to
be complete. What chiasms allow orators
and speech writers to do is to go from the broad to the specific in order to
find the “root.” Once the “root” is
found, they can then go back to the broad point to show relationship to the
root. {If you think back to the study of Lamentations we did a few months ago
you will see that the whole book of Lamentations is one big chiasm!}
In the first 17 verses of Amos 5 we have a chiasm. Here is the pattern: Description of Judgment,
Call for Individual Repentance, Accusation of Legal Injustice, Portrayal of a Sovereign
God, Accusation of a Legal Injustice, Call for Individual Repentance, and
Description of Judgment. Amos goes
through this pattern to make a point about judgment and how judgment is
deserved from a sovereign God.
Flow of the Chiasm
Verses 2-3 make up the description of judgment. Israel will fall. In Biblical poetry, it is proper to assume
the words “by the sword” after hearing the word “fallen.” It is simply a linguistic assumption the
reader is allowed to make. Israel will fall
by the sword of the Assyrians. In fact,
they will fall so horribly that only a tenth of their soldiers will survive the
Assyrian onslaught. It makes me wonder
if this means that the only time God’s judgment gets our attention is when it
comes through a violence that leads to captivity. If so, oh how we are to be pitied as people.
Verses 4-6 make up the call for repentance. Notice the famous call: seek the Lord and
live! However, also notice that Amos
tells us to not seek the Lord at Bethel or Gilgal. We cannot seek the Lord through some
nationalistic movement. We don’t ride
into God’s presence on the coattails of others.
No, we are to each seek the Lord.
Yes, we can seek the Lord together, but we must each actively participate
in seeking the Lord. Repentance is first
and foremost a movement begun in the heart of the individual.
Verse 7 is the accusation.
The people have scorned righteousness and justice. They have cast them off. In their greed, they have turned instead to “bitterness”
or “wormwood.” They have adopted
societal poison instead of drinking from the living waters of righteousness.
Verses 8-9 compose the middle of the chiasm. In here we find a description of the sovereign
God. He made the heavens. He knows the deep. He turns darkness to night. He brings the rain. He is also the one in charge of destruction.
Verses 10-13 bring us back to legal accusation. In the face of this sovereign God the people
act deceitfully. They extort. They ignore the ones who reprove. They abhor truth-speakers. They trample over the poor. They take bribes. They turn their back upon the needy. They have no regard for the sovereign Lord or
His ways for living. But God knows their
sinfulness and will take matters into His hands.
Verses 14-15 bring us back to the call for individual
repentance. Again notice the call to seek
the Lord and live. Note how the call is
to the individual once more. But now we
hear specifically what repentance looks like.
Hate evil. Love good. Establish justice. Repentance is not just a feeling; it is a
changed life.
Verses 16-17 bring us all the way back to the beginning as we end
on a description of judgment. The people
will wail. There is a call for
repentance, but most do not heed it.
They will enter into judgment blind with respect to God’s grace. Instead of repenting and finding grace, their
stubborn clutch upon their sin plunges them headlong into judgment. Rather than turn to the sovereign God, they
continue to turn away.
Let Justice Roll
I love this passage of Amos.
The day of a Lord is like a man who fled a lion and met a bear. It is like a man who goes into his house and
gets bit by a serpent. There is no
safety on the day of Lord. Judgment will
come upon all.
This speaks volume into today’s culture. How many people today clamor for the Day of
the Lord? How many people today
earnestly pray for Christ’s return? That
is a short-sighted prayer. Yes, it will
be great to dwell with God eternally.
That will be awesome. But the
transition from this existence to the next will be difficult. There will be judgment upon the living in the
form of geologic distress, pestilence, famine, hunger, violence, etc. There will then be judgment for all of us
before the judgment seat of God. That
will be a judgment that only a few of us will escape barely via the blood of
Christ. It will be a dark and difficult
day. Sure, eternity will be bliss. But the Day of the Lord? Dark and foreboding.
No, rather than praying for the coming of the Day of the Lord we
should work towards righteousness now.
The Day of the Lord will come soon enough; we have a job to
accomplish. We are to be about justice
and righteousness. Letting it roll down
from heaven. Living a life so that God
finds us pleasing and not detestable as He found the sacrifices of old.
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