Year 9, Day 227: Amos 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Amos 5 gives a great dialogue between judgment and appeal.  It reveals the heart of God as He inclines toward us.  He loves us and wants relationship.  Yet He is righteous, and that demands judgment and atonement.

Tis passage starts with a word of judgment.  “Fallen, no more to rise, is virgin Israel.”  That’s a serious word of judgment.  God plans on wiping Israel off of the map.  The will be decimated, not just judged.

To this, God calls out to seek Him and live!  Here is the rebound towards grace.  God doesn’t desire to destroy us; He desires that we repent so He can forgive!  If God can create the universe, He can restore us.  In doing so, He wants us to realize that it is He who can save us.  Our manmade gods, our idols, the desires of our heart cannot save us.  He alone can save.

God then turns again to the sins of humanity.  We pervert justice.  We make fancy dwellings while others dwell in squalor.  The rich tax the poor.  The unrighteous pervert the righteous by tempting them with bribes.  We turn away the needy because we cannot be bothered.

This is why the Lord says to us to seek good and not evil.  Evil will seek us out.  It will come to our doorstep. It will pursue us.  We need to actively seek good and live.

The world will pervert justice.  We need to let justice roll down like water.  We need to pursue what is true and right in the world rather than let the world dictate what is true and right to us.

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