Amos 5:5: Worship is about God
For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Amos 5:4-5.
Hundreds of years earlier something amazing had happened. The Hebrews had crossed over the Jordan River on completely dry land. It was a momentous occasion, with the priests holding the ark of the covenant in the middle of the river bed, allowing everyone to pass through. Waters were stopped, pulled apart, dried up, and kept that way for an entire nation to cross a river. If you were a Hebrew, this was a big part of your story. God had promised a land, and this was the moment when your people first went into it. The moment. The moment of promise-made-true.
God acknowledged the moment, too. He asked the Hebrews to set up a memorial so that they would remember it. The memorial was put together by all twelve tribes, bringing unity in history to the Hebrews. God wanted this moment to be remembered. He wanted it to be passed down through generations. In particular, he instructed them, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:19-24.
A memorial. A moment to remember. This was Gilgal.
Yet now God is telling his people to not enter into Gilgal. Don’t go there. Don’t be around it. Don’t entertain the thought of it. It is almost as though he is telling them to forget about it.
Why? How did such a place full of such history turn into a place God told his people to avoid? This is where Israelites should take their children for field trips or history lessons. This is where they go back to see what God did and how God miraculously fulfilled his promise. This is the story that grandpas were supposed to tell grandkids. So why, now, is God telling them to not go near it?
I will venture a guess. God is instructing his people to not go into Gilgal because the place that was meant to be about worshipping God became a place that was about worship itself. The act of worship was more important than the object of worship. The trip down to Gilgal, the routine of the story, the experience of the place – all of that had replaced the point of the story. The story itself had surpassed the point of the story.
Amos 5:1-9: Crush-able
The past week I turned my attention back to Amos with the hopes of tracking through the rest of the book in the next few months. It has been way too long since I immersed myself in Amos, and I quit midway. I am hoping for grace to finish it this time.
God begins Amos 5 with a lamentation. He calls in the mourners and wailers and sets them to singing a sad song. The song is all about the fall of Israel. The emotion is so strong that the lamentation reads, “Fallen no more to rise is the virgin Israel.” She is forsaken and there isn’t anyone around to help her up. They have been wiped out in battle. One city sent out 1,000 of their best fighters, but only 100 came back. Another city sent out 100 of their best fighters, but only 10 came back. That’s a 90% drop in able-bodied, fighting men available to a nation. Not a good percentage.
It is important to remember that throughout most of Amos’ messages God has been rebuking Israel for oppressing the poor. The poor are those people around us who are without resources and without someone to help them get back up. In these first 2 verses of Amos 5, God reveals that he has made his own people into the poor. He has taken away their resources (Amos 4:6-13), and now he has removed their help, too. Basically, God has given them a taste of their own medicine.
Later in Amos 5:8-9, God reveals himself again to his people after calling them to return to Him. And he reveals himself as the strong, mighty, able-to-crush God of the universe. In other parts of Scripture God reveals himself as patient, or as comforting, or as tender, or as helpful. Not here. Not now. God speaks of himself in this way:
He who made the Pleiades and Orion and turns deep darkness into morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth. God just declared his sovereign power over and through most every aspect of the physical universe. The heavens and the stars? God controls them. Darkness? Controlled by God. The light of day? Does God’s bidding. The expanse of the oceans? God controls them, too. The process of precipitation? Governed by God. Where it rains and when it rains? Ruled by God. The heavens, the atmosphere, the air we live in, the light we use to see, all of it belongs to God and does his bidding.
But what does any of this have to do with Israel’s just retribution for oppressing the poor? Sure God is strong and in charge. But what we really need here is some help for the poor it seems. Which leads to the next way God reveals himself to the poor-oppressing people of Israel:
Who makes destruction flash forth against the strong so that destruction comes upon the fortress. Essentially what God just did was put Israel in her place. The same way the strong relate to the weak, the same way the rich relate to the poor, is precisely the same way God could relate to Israel. The strong have the power to ruin the weak simply by being stronger (whether their strength is physical, mental, political, whatever). And the rich have the power to destroy the poor simply by being richer. It is incredibly easy for the strong and the rich to oppress the weak and the poor. It just is! By the nature of the situation, it is incredibly easy!
And it would be incredibly easy, too, for God to relate to me the same way. He just could! By the nature of who He is, it would be incredibly easy for him to destroy me. He just could! And that is what He is making clear to his beloved people, Israel. They thought they were strong. They thought they were rich. They thought they were inpenetrable, unbreakable, unbeatable, and unstoppable. But now, after a few messages from Amos, they find themselves penetrated, broken, beat-up, and stuck. They have lost 90% of their warrior fighters. Their defenses are down, and they are fallen. If that we not enough, there is no one around who can help them out! By all definitions they are poor.
God didn’t just say it, but he proved it to them that the same way the strong relate to the weak, the same way the rich relate to the poor, is precisely the same way that God could relate to Israel. He said it, and now He has done it.
Now, thousands of years later, how amazing is the Gospel! I thought I was strong and rich. I thought I would be inpenetrable, unbreakable, unbeatable, and unstoppable. And, yet, I found myself weak and poor. I found myself penetrated, broken, beaten up, and stuck. And just like I feel towards my friends in poverty, God felt towards me. I was crush-able. I was destroy-able. I was an easy target to leave all alone to waste away in misery. That’s how I was. And, yet – amazing! – while I was still the weak, poor, arrogant, penetrated, broken, beat up, stuck sinner Jesus died for me. And God issued a clarion called to, “Seek me and live” (Amons 5:4), brought me to life, and gave me the grace to surrender.
Oh, my, how stupid I am to pick up the sword and try to find my own strength again. How stupid of me to think I am rich again. On my own I am the opposite. My strength is Christ. My wealth is Christ. The God who saved me is the same God who fights for me still.
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.
Amos 4:1: when God called women cows
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ Amos 4:1.
I know the title of this post might be shocking, but that is kind of what happened to me when I first read this verse. I must admit that when I was in high school and I came across this particular verse, I was first amused. I laughed. I told my friends about how God called some women cows. I thought it was interesting, entertaining, and cool. Yes, cool. Back then, I sunk my teeth into any sort of goofball, sarcastic passages of Scripture as though they were the hope of the world. You, too, would have to admit that this passage is funny, especially for a 16 year old.
In the first 3 chapters of Amos, it is already clear that God is upset, angry, and demanding repentance. There is no question about that. The sins of the nations have disgusted him, and the sins of his own people have disgusted him. His disgust is so strong that he has used sarcasm before, pointing out the blatant obvious in a pointed way so that his people might get a clue of what they are doing. God’s disgust is so strong that he has even used unconventional methods, such as bringing in unholy nations to confirm his judgment of his own people. God’s disgust has led him to paint word pictures that would shock the Israelite of the day.
But this one still stands out.
God just called the wives of Israel cows. What is going on with that? The specific Hebrew word refers to a young, female cow before she has had any calves – basically, a virgin cow. This really is shocking. The only other time God comes close to such a statement is Hosea 4:16, when he says, “Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?” (Interestingly, Hosea was a contemporary of Amos.) The type of cow God refers to are those that are raised in the mountains of Samaria where they get really fat eating off of the land. They were big, strong, and stubborn. Really big. Really fat.
Furthermore, they were unruly and wouldn’t stay in their own field. They would break over hedges and fences to get food from others. To get really big, really fat. They weren’t like sheep who – though unintelligient – could be led and kept within boundaries. They were big, stubborn, fat cows who ran around eating everyone else’s food.
And that is why God calls them cows. Not because they are literally fat, but because they are oppressing the poor, crushing the needy, and demand that their husbands get them some more beer. They are getting bigger by squelching others. Whether they are physically obese or not, they are acting like cows who just eat everybody else’s food all the time. So God calls them on it using stark language: Hear this word, you cows of Bashan. And they would do well to hear.
Amos 3:13-15: what God punishes
“Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts, “that on the day I punish israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great house shall come to an end.” Amos 3:13-15
God calls Egypt and Philistia once again to testify against Israel. God’s witnesses to Israel’s crimes are stubborn, rebelious nations, but they can point out the crimes of Israel well. God tells his witnesses what he will punish. Of all the mistakes Israel has made, of all the ways they have lived, of all the deeds they have done, what is God going to make sure he punishes?
(1) their false religion. He is going after their altars. Their worship is infuriating to Him (Amos 5:21). It isn’t real worship of the true God. It isn’t birthed out of a passion for the true God. Instead it has been shaped and tweaked to accommodate their own desires, many of which are blatantly sinful. And their worship is another expression of their oppression of the poor. So God is going after their alters. He is going to tear them down. The horns of the altars, which are a symbol of strength and pride, will be smashed and broken, laying on the ground. Their false gods will be proved impotent. Their man-made creations will be put away. God hates this false religion, and he will see to its destruction.
(2) their riches that oppress the poor. He is going after their extra houses. The winter and summer house. One would face one direction to be warmer in winter, and the other would face another direction to be cooler in summer. Israel was beginning to have more of these…by oppressing the poor. They had even built some houses of ivory, which would have been massively expensive…by oppressing the poor. They had sections of great houses, nicer homes, luxurious homes that stood in contrast to the smaller, simpler homes of the poor. These neighborhoods were built by oppressing the poor. In fact, this is an early glimpse of a sociological problem we will fight today. Neighborhoods mainly for the poor and neighborhoods mainly for the rich, with a thick separating wall between them. This leads to resentment, superiority, crime, pain, glass-ceiling upward mobility, and all sorts of other problems. Consider how Israel contributed to this problem:
In the age prior to Jeroboam II, the houses in Israel’s cities were roughly the same size. But archaeologists find a change starting in the eighth century b.c. – ancient cities like Tirzah have a neighborhood of large, expensive houses and another neighborhood of small, crowded structures, smaller than the houses from previous years. The larger houses are filled with the marks of prosperity, and the oppressive rich of Israel thought they could find safety there – but God’s judgment came against those houses as well, just as Amos promised.
Amos 3:12: you get what you asked for
Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and a part of a bed.”
Sarcasm. God Almighty is using sarcasm to make his point. The first time I considered/read this verse I had no idea what was going on. It just sounded bad to me. I had this mental image of a shepherd beating down a lion, yanking his sheep from his jaws, and bringing the sheep to safety. But sometimes the shepherd doesn’t get there in time or someties the shepherd doesn’t win. So he can only manage to rescue the legs of the sheep or the ear of the sheep. That is all that is left of the sheep. And with that mental image in my mind I kept wondering why God would just “pull out” the corner of a couch or a part of a bed. It didn’t make sense to me. What was God saying?
Then I remembered sarcasm. Not make-fun-of-you sarcasm, but you-need-this-to-understand-your-blindness sarcasm. That is what God is doing here. Many of the people in Israel who dwell in Samaria would totally get this when they first hear it. They would have a mental image of a shepherd rescuing the sheep, only to salvage a leg or two. And they would begin to wonder what could be salvaged from their life? What would remain? When it came time to grasp for what was really important, what was really important? When death was on the doorstep, what do you cling to? It is the same decision that evacuees have to face when a hurricane is barreling towards them. What do you grab out of your house that means the most to you?
What is the answer for these Israelites? Luxury. A couch, which was top notch luxury. A place to recline, chill out, talk about how good things are, impress your friends, and forget about the poor who have to sit on the ground. Luxury. An extra bed, which was great luxury. A bed to keep around in case the other bed doesn’t feel so soft tonight. Luxury.
God is saying: “Don’t you get it? The only thing worth saving about you is your luxury goods? And couches and beds don’t impress me one bit!”
But this is what the Israelites want, what they asked for. More than anything else, they want their luxury. So God, quite sarcastically and quite painfully, is telling them, “Well, you get what you asked for.”
Amos 3:9-11: a holy God uses unholy judges
Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst.” “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD, “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “And adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered.” Amos 3:9-11
God sends an invitation out to Ashdod – those hated Philistines – and to Egypt – one of Israel nastiest enemies to come and judge Israel. The Philistines, who inhabited the strongholds of Ashdod, are long-time enemies of Israel, fighting against them, stealing from them, ridiculing them, and being a general pain in the neck. The Philistines are known for their perversion, wickedness, angry might, fury, and injustice. The men and women of Egypt are also long-time enemies of Israel, going all the way back to when they treated the Hebrews unjustly. They, too, are viewed as wicked and cruel. And, yet, God calls these people to be the judges against Israel.
Israel – who has received God’s special revelation, God’s holy prophets, God’s written law – has grown to such a wicked place that unjust nations can call them out on it. Unjust, cruel nations are able to see the wickedness in Israel. That means it’s bad. Israel is so blind to their own wickedness that even terribly unjust nations can see it clearly. God tells these unjust nations to “see the tumults within her.” What are those tumults? Is it an economy in shambles? No. Is it a lack of religious fervor? No. Is it a split people who can’t get along with each other? No. Is it a lack of leaders who are willing to rule them? No. Instead, it is a successful economy built on injustice and oppression. It is surging religious fervor built on self-centered pleasure. It is a well-united people coming together for all the wrong reasons. It is an abundance of leaders who are greedy for gain. The system is based on greed and ignorance.
God’s word, specifically, are: “See the oppressed in her midst. They do not know how to do right.”
Isn’t true that many times we need outside observers to point out to us the oppressed. By our own doing we have mastered the art of neglecting the oppressed – that is how they got to being oppressed. Now God must bring in unjust, unruly, cruel people to even get us to take notice of the oppressed. They can see the oppressed in our midst; certainly we should be able to see them, too.
Israel was guilty of storing up violence and robbery in their strongholds, even in the midst of their successful and surging economic and religious system. Their wealth and prosperity was the death blow to their love for the poor. Their wealth and prospertiy was the death blow to the sense of kindness and patience; they turned to violence and robbery.
God tells the Philistines and the Egyptians and the Israelites what the consequence is for their failure to care for the oppressed. The consequence is that they, as a whole people, will become the oppressed. An enemy will surround their land (on the rim of the mountains of Samaria) and bring down their defenses. Right now Philistia and Egypt are on the rim of the mountains of Samaria, taking notice of the oppression within. But soon it will be Babylon on the rim of the mountains of Samaria, charging down the hills to wipe out the defenses and strongholds of the oppressors. Then the leaders and rulers of Israel will learn, too, what it is like to be oppressed. Just like the last defenses of the poor have been strategically removed, so will it be for the whole nation of Israel. And just like the last strongholds of the poor were plundered (Amos 2:6-8), so will it be for the whole nation of Israel.
Amos 3:7-8: revelation and roars
For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy? Amos 3:7-8.
Israel tried to silence the prophets. Amos 2:11-12 indicted Israel for shutting them up. Now we discover why. At first glance it looks like the prophets are the most important part of this situation. It looks like God really values the prophets, therefore Israel should not shut them up. But there is something more, as this passage shows us. The prophets are, truly, important. But the reason they are important is that they speak the word of God. It is the word of God that must be protected, spoken, and given freedom. God is angry about Israel shutting up his prophets because God is passionate about his word being spoken. Shutting up the prophets wasn’t just a mean thing to do to nice prophets; it was silencing the word of God. Don’t try to do that to God. He doesn’t take well to it. I would do well to remember Psalm 138:2: I bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
God does nothing without using his prophets to speak his word. That is a strong statement. It would have been enough – I would think – for him to say that he usually uses his prophets or that he sometimes uses his prophets. But God clearly says that he always speaks through his prophets. He does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. It is one of those exclusive-type statements, like John 5:19: Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Or the exclusivity of the classic words of Jesus in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” These exclusively worded passages of Scripture are meant to be just that – exclusive, highlighting an essential truth, pointing to a jarring reality, making me stop and really think through the exclusive language. God does nothing without using his prophets to speak his word.
Though God always speaks through his prophets that does not mean that God only speaks to his prophets. Other passages of Scripture make this clear. Proverbs 3:32 says that the upright, the righteous are in his confidence. Those who are righteous get in on some of these secrets; they are in the trusted circle of God’s revelation. Psalm 25:14 is another beautiful passage that says the friendship of the Lord belongs to those who fear him. And friendship includes the secret counsel, the inner thoughts, the plans of God. God says he reveals to them his covenant. Among other things, this means I should highly esteem and value what God speaks through his prophets – like preachers today. But I must not neglect my own personal pursuit of hearing from God.
God’s prophets are also his servants. They are not merely mouthpieces who live as they wish. Their lives are characterized as lives of servants, slaves, and men under authority. A prophet is a servant of God, speaking what God commands him to speak.
God’s final thrust of duh goes like this: The lion has roared; who will not fear? As Amos shares these very words of God with Israel, he knows that God is highlighting his role as one who speaks the words of God. God is telling Israel that they should listen to Amos and their own prophets. God has spoken! And the language he uses to describe his speaking should make them shudder in fear. He doesn’t say that he encoded the message in a secret script. He doesn’t say he has been giving little hints here and there. He doesn’t say he has been whispering quietly. Instead, he says he has roared his word like a lion sends out his anger. Which immediately sends me back to 3:4:
Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing?
And it hearkens back to how the entirety of Amos’ prophecy began:
The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers. Amos 1:2.
The second line of Amos 3:8 is another “duh” question: The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy? When God speaks, his prophets can’t help by prophesy his words to his people. The roar of the Lord drives them and mandates their speaking. God’s prophets are his servants who do his bidding and speak his words.
Time is up, Israel. That is what God is saying. His last 2 “duh” questions should shake Israel into listening. How tragic that they can not hear even the roar of God. How tragic that they have lost the fear of God so much that they can not recognize his word. How tragic that God must quake their reality so they can return to him. I have a feeling that the next few pages of Amos aren’t going to be pretty. From reading ahead, God’s words get sharper and more pointed. The roar has been loud so far in Amos; now it will get cutting, too.
Amos 3:1-2: Intimacy and Responsibility
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Amos 3:1-2.
The transition into Chapter 3 of Amos is a section transition. Most experts and commentators put a section break between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The reason is that Amos is now getting more and more personal, more and more focused on the nation of Israel. The next few chapters are all words of prophecy for Israel. The first 2 chapters were short words of prophecy for all the nations, including Israel. Now God is zeroing in on his chosen people.
He begins by describing them as “the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt.” God mentioned this in Chapter 2, also (v. 10). Throughout the Old Testament God reminds Israel that He delivered them out of Egypt. The process of living in Egypt, becoming slaves in Egypt, experiencing God’s power through the plagues in Egypt, being delivered from Egypt, and wondering in the desert massively shaped who Israel was and is. God’s main point is for them to know that He did it. He was the one orchestrating the entire sequence of events. He was the one shaping, softening, and hardening the hearts of key leaders in the story. He was the one bringing things about. He did it.
There are certain experiences in life that shape who I am. There’s those snapshots of history from junior high or high school or college that shaped me and changed me. There are seasons of life in ministry and marriage and parenting that had a lasting impact on me. When I look at those snapshots and seasons I can just think about the circumstances, the happenings, what went down. Or I can look to God who orchestrated those circumstances. And he even orchestrated the painful ones. When God tells the Israelites he brought them out of Egypt, he isn’t just talking about sending jet liners in there to sneak them out without a fight. He is talking about a huge process that included pain (increased slave labor), confusion (why isn’t this happening yet?), disappointment (we should have just stayed there!), and even death of all the firstborn who were not covered by the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. In my life, too, God has orchestrated the embarrasing junior high moments, the glorious spiritual victories of late high school, the confusing times of dating and courtship, the beautiful coming-together with Whitney, the painful concussions and broken arms, the taking-forever family decision to move to Omaha. It wasn’t just happenstance; it wasn’t just circumstance. God did this. God did this for our family. God did this to know me and for me to know him. God did this.
God goes on to shock Israel in Chapter 3:2. He says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore…” What an amazing privilege Israel received. Of all the families – the people groups – of the earth, God knew them. Of all the families of the earth that needed deliverance from tyranny, God delivered them. Of all the families of the earth that needed a land to call their own, God gave it to them. In his sovereignty and kindness God knew Israel in a deeper, more loving, more ruling, more intimate way than any other nation.
The Hebrew word for know in this verse is yada. It can convey so many different meanings. God knew the Israelites. He was acquainted with their ways. He perceived, saw, and understood them. He was skillful, wise, and knowledgeable in his relationship with them. And he revealed himself to them. He was known by them, perceived by them, understood by them. It wasn’t a one-way knowing – God only knowing them. It was a two-way knowing – God causing them to know him, too. This word is used to describe how Adam knew Eve and they conceived a child (Genesis 4:1), Cain knew his wife and they conceived a child (Genesis 4:17), and Adam knew Even again and conceived another child (Genesis 4:25). There is a very intimate knowledge being shown here – not only passing knowledge. But just a few chapters later it is used to refer to Noah knowing the flood waters had receded because the dove brought a branch back (Genesis 8:11). This is more of a practical, surface-level knowledge. The point is that yada is a very broad knowledge, both intimate and surface-y, both detailed and general, both deep and wide, both heart-level and cerebral. God knew Israel in this way.
Therefore…
One would first think that since God knows Israel in this way, therefore…he will love them and be patient. Or, therefore…he will let them off the hook because he knows their weaknesses. Or, therefore…he won’t say anything about it because he is so loving and forgiving. Or, therefore…Israel doesn’t need to worry about things because God is on their side. But God says none of that. He says quite the opposite. He says, “Therefore, I will punish you for all your transgressions.” To paraphrase, “Because I know you better than any others, because I love you, because of our intimacy, because of my revelation to you, I will punish you. Because we are intimate, I will hold you responsible. Because we are friends, I will call you out for your sins.” It is not the other way around. To put it in extremely broad terms, “Intimacy leads to responsibility.”
The writer of Hebrews picks this up, saying, “God disciplines those he loves.” The discipline of God in my life shows that I am his son, that he cares for me, that he does know me. For a moment, discipline is painful, but it yields peaceful fruit (Hebrews 12:3-11). As a dad, I hope to do the same thing with my children, as the author of Hebrews points out. An earthly dad – like me – disciplines his children precisely because he loves them. Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, learned this, too. “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Proverbs 13:24). “Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death” (Proverbs 19:18). “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die” (Proverbs 23:13). All of these show that love leads to discipline. All of these show that the state of being a child leads to discipline.
It is not the other way around. I can’t wish that into being as a child of God. And my children can’t wish that into being as my children. But I can be thankful that God has dealt with my sins, disciplined my sins, punished my sins, and and paid for my sins…in Jesus. And God has dealth with me (the sinner!), disciplined me, punished me, and paid for me…in Jesus. The Israel Amos was talking to took a painful beating from the wrath of God because of all their iniquities. A nation destroyed them and their land. By God’s grace, Jesus took my painful beating from the wrath of God for all of my iniquities. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. If I look upon this lightly and treat this kindness of God with fickleness, I better watch out, though. Or I, too, would be proving that I have not understood the grossness of my sin, the depth of my depravity, the height of my rebellion, and the infinitude of God’s grace. The knowledge of the cross of Jesus does not give me license to sin more. Instead, the intimacy that comes from seeing Jesus on the cross, and the relationship that is birthed from seeing Jesus emerge from the dead, should spur on in me more responsibility, more faithfulness, more deep desire for Jesus himself. May it never be the opposite.
against Israel: the consequences
“Behold, I will press you down in your place (OR: Behold, I am pressed under you), as a cart full of sheaves presses down. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life; he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day,” declares the LORD. Amos 2:13-16.
This is only the beginning of the consequences of Israel’s sins. There are 7 more chapters of consequences and dialogue from God after this. But this is God’s first response to their sins. It can be summed up in one word: weakness. The people will be made weak, the swift are made weak, the strong are made weak, the skilled warriors are made weak, the horses are made weak, the courageous are made weak. Weakness.
The very first line of Amos 2:13 can be translated 2 different ways. It can say, “Behold, I [God] will press you [Israel] down in your place as a cart full of sheaves presses down.” The idea is of a very rudimentary cart (maybe like this?) weighed down with stuff. I think of the times when I’ve loaded up a wheel barrow. At first it is light; then it becomes tough to push. Then, after a while, it is downright impossible to make it do anything. Its purpose has been defeated because it is too weighed down. In this sense, God is saying that he will see to it that his full weight is placed on Israel in such a way that they are stuck. They wouldn’t be able to roll away. They wouldn’t be able to escape any impending danger.
The first line of Amos 2:13 can also be translated as, “Behold, I [God] am pressed under by you [Israel] as a cart full of sheaves presses down.” This translation is scary – not because it is a wrong translation; it probably is an accurate one. This translation is scary because it portrays the Sovereign King of the world being weighed down by something. God created this world (Genesis 1). God rules this world (Psalm 115:3). God governs this world. God sustains everything in this world by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). He shouldn’t get weary, and he should not feel weighed down. But, for some reason, he expresses himself here in what almost looks like a weakened state. The sins of Israel have become a burden to him, a weight that he must carry, a weight so heavy it is like a wheelbarrow overloaded that can’t roll. In Isaiah 1:14, God says, “Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates (did you see that word? Hates); they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.” God is worn out with their fake religion. He is sick and tired of it. He is weary of putting up with them. The same messages rings out again in Amos 5:21-23 when God says, “I hate, I despise your feasts (there is that word again; hate), and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.”
God’s weariness of Israel’s sins is a death blow to religion. I think I like religion too much. I like Sunday mornings and big crowds and worship experiences a little too much. I like people helping out in the church, pitching in to do their part, bringing their offerings, and making their sacrifices. Yet here is God saying that he is weighed down by these very things. Why is he weighed down? He commanded them to make sacrifices. Why is he now hating the sacrifices they bring? Or, as Isaiah poses the question, “Why have we fasted, and [God] sees it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and [God] takes no knowledge of it?”
Because they neglect justice (Amos 2:6-8; Amos 5:24; Isaiah 1:16-17; Isaiah 58:6-12).
Here, God, is your sacrifice (that I got from the hands of the poor). Here, God, is your tithes and offerings (that I would never hand to the poor). Here, God, is your sacrificial leadership (that is suffocating the weak of our community). Here, God, is your song (as I trample the head of the poor into the dust). Here, God, is my sacrifice (as I secretly love my precious sins).
God would simply say, “Stop trampling the head of the poor into dust. Stop doing evil and learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause. Loose the bonds of wickedness. Undo the straps of the yoke. Let the oppressed go free. Break all of the yokes! Share your bread with the hungry; welcome the homeless into your home. Clothe your naked friends. Let justice roll like a river! Let righeousness flow like a never-ending stream!”
This is hard for me. Really hard. Because church work is a little more natural, a little more cleaned up, a little more organized, or at least a little more something. Justice work is dirty, dangerous, barely rewarding (if at all), hard, wearisome, tiring, and confusing. Justice work demands personal sacrifice. It demands heart sacrifce. But church work often times just demands religious sacrifice (way easier!). And, truly, church work should be justice work. So, may I cling to God’s promise of Isaiah 58:8-12: God will let our light break forth like the dawn. He will sustain us. And he will even satisfy us.
The consequences for Israel beyond these 2 (that is, of them being weighed down and of them seeing their God weighed down by their sins) is weakness, weakness, and more weakness. The swift won’t be able to sneak away. The fast won’t be able to run away. The strong won’t be able to break away. The warrior won’t be able to fight his way out of this one. The horse won’t be able to be mounted and spring away. The courageous won’t be able to find his heart. Weakness. If anybody does manage to leave town before the bad guys show up, they will leave so quickly that they are going to forget their clothes. Weakness.
In conclusion, I thank God for the Gospel of Jesus. The truth is that Jesus was weighed down by my sins. They overwhelmed him. He couldn’t stand up, he couldn’t keep breathing, he couldn’t carry the weight, and he couldn’t keep living. My sins weighed so heavy that he did under the blow. The wrath of God for my sins was so strong that it killed Jesus when he absorbed it. But thanks be to God: Jesus has absorbed the wrath of God on my behalf! He has! He really, really has. And, furthermore, he has risen, resurrected! His light shines forth like the dawn. He was satisfied in the worst of deserts – death. Jesus bore all of my injustice, all of my religious pride, all of my oppression of the poor. And Jesus made many rich that way. Now – oh, please, Jesus – may I make many rich through your Gospel, too. Thank You, Jesus.
