Destruction
In this last chapter of Amos, we start with a prophecy of
destruction. Amos sees the Lord standing
at His altar. But He is not here to
embrace it. Nor is He here to accept the
offerings. Instead, the Lord is here
ready to destroy the altar.
I can’t help but pause here for a moment. What does God think of religious practices
that are not sincere? I know I’ve made
this point many times this year as we’ve dived into the Major and Minor
Prophets. This is one of the major
points of these books. Just because we
say a space is holy or consecrated doesn’t mean that God sees it the same
way. The name and designation that we
give to a space is nothing when compared to the manner in which we use the
space. A space is not holy because we
say it is. A space is holy because the
things of God happen there.
So we return to Amos. The
altar that Amos envisions is to be destroyed.
In the vision, God tells Amos to smash the top (capitals) until the
threshold shakes. He wants to bring the
temple down upon the heads of the people!
{I’m having a serious flashback to
a Solomon-in-the-midst-of-the-Philistines moment.} To those who escape, God commands that they
be killed with the sword. Judgment is
quick and thorough when it does eventually come from the Lord. This is historically true. Once the Assyrians come, they don’t take long
in overtaking Israel and swallowing them into captivity.
Furthermore, there is no escape from God. Who can dig deeper than God can reach? Who can rise above God’s reach? Who can hide where God cannot find them? When God determines something to happen to
us, which of us has the power to avoid it?
It is best to repent now while the offer is on the table than when the
inevitability of God’s judgment is upon us.
Who is this God?
I love the middle section of this last chapter. Just in case the Hebrew people think that
they can escape the grip of God, Amos is mindful of whom it is that is
speaking. God touches the earth and it
melts. The whole land undulates like the
Nile at the presence of the Lord. The
Lord builds into the heavens and into the deep.
The Lord calls upon the water and it rains. This is God.
And who are the Hebrew people?
They are slaves that God brought out of Egypt. They were nothing until God showed interest
in them. They were oppressed and unable
to save themselves. They were no
different than the Philistines until the Lord gave His Word to them. So when they reject His Word, why shouldn’t
they be destroyed and sent into captivity.
If they scorn that very thing that makes them different than the world,
why shouldn’t they be treated as the world?
This is a powerful section because of the truth it can speak into
our lives as a people. What has God
given to us? What hasn’t God given to
us? What incredible blessings God has laid
upon our lives! God has called us to a
different life – a holy life. As I
finish Amos, I find myself asking how it is that I will respond to the
generosity of God.
Restoration
Amos really does end well.
He moves quickly from judgment to wrath to restoration. In reality for the Hebrew people of Israel,
the space between verses 10 and 11 is roughly 200 years. But the point is not how long it takes people
to get there. The point is that the
people will get there. There will be a
remnant. There will be a time when God’s
people rebuild. There will be faithful
ones.
I know what I’m thinking in the back of my mind. In looking to the future, I’m skipping over
200 years of unfaithfulness. It’s like
looking to the Hebrew people who were wandering through the wilderness after
the exodus and were just waiting to die so the faithful generation could enter
the Promised Land. Yes, there will be a
time – even generations – of unfaithfulness.
But Amos’ promise is that one day the land will be restored.
I love this analogy into our life as well. Yes, there are going to be seasons in our life
where faithfulness just doesn’t seem to be happening around us. There will be times when we are dealing with
sin – either our own or other peoples.
There will be times when we’ll feel like we’re in captivity.
But there will be restoration.
One day, God will remake this life.
He will create a new heaven and a new earth that is free from the
corruption of human sinfulness. And that
day, all of the struggles of this age will be worth it – for we shall dwell
with God, in His land, as He intends it.
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