Amos 4: Enemies and Helps of Returning to God
Yesterday morning I was struck by the sheer other-ness of Amos 4. I was reading through the chapter during a time of prayer, and I felt like I finally saw the chapter in outline form. The short of it would be:
I. Enemies of returning to God…
- rebellion, as pictured by the women in 4:1-3.
- religion, as expressed in God’s sarcasm in 4:4-5.
II. Helps to returning to God…
- hunger and starving: I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me (v. 6).
- thirst and forced moving: I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain and the field on which it did not rain would wither; so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me (v. 7-8).
- no productivity in labor: I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me (v. 9).
- death and weakened defenses: I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me (v. 10).
- destruction and danger: I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me (v. 11).
III. The God to Whom we return: He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name (v. 13).
In each of the 5 “helps” God’s desire was ultimately for his people to return to Him. But they would not. Their rebellion and their religion had become their comfort and solace, even through times of famine, drought, economic depression, death, and destruction.
My natural mind would think nearly opposite of Amos 4 (except maybe for the rebellion part). I would think that religion would be a help to returning to God. But it wasn’t. Religion replaced God and led to all kinds of false worship and false security. Furthermore, I would naturally think that famine and drought and depression and death and destruction would be hindrances to returning to God. And, yet, these were given by God to his people for the purpose of them returning to Him.
Father, help me to despise false religion like you do. And help me to return to You. Grant me the grace to cast off all substitutes, all functional saviors, all false security. And please help me to learn well when you lead me into suffering for Your Name’s sake. Amen.
