Amos 5:18-27
Intro Questions (15 min)
What stood out to you as you read Amos 5:18-27? What does it mean when Amos brings up “the day of the Lord”? What are the things Israel is doing that displease the Lord? Why is it displeasing to the Lord? Verse 26 brings up idolatry. What are some idols we tend to have in our cultural Christianity?The Day of the Lord
Let’s dive right in. Remember at this point in history (mid 700’s BC), though Israel and Judah are split, they are living in relative calm and financial prosperity under Jeroboam II (and Uzziah in Judah). Since this section is titled “The Day of the Lord,” it’s important that we try to go back and understand what that terminology would have meant to the people of Israel at that time.
The Day of the Lord is prevalent in Revelation, referring to a day when God will bring his judgment against evil, and allow a new creation to flourish, but its roots go all the way back to Genesis, which is important, because, obviously Israel didn’t have John’s Revelation in hand in 780 BC (since it wasn’t written until the first century AD).
The Day of the Lord, to the Israel of that time, would have harkened back to deliverance from Egypt, and would have been seen as a time of peace, hope, deliverance, and permanent establishment of the nation of Israel (no more challenges from their enemies, etc).
Amos is quickly going to flip this on its head, and show them that their expectations are completely misaligned.
There are 2 keys to understand in Israel’s frame of reference:
- They believed they had the favor of God, so any judgment coming would be a means of provision and protection for them.
- The day of the Lord was viewed as a day of hope and celebrated because they believed #1.
Why should Israel not be looking forward to it?
- The result will be darkness and not light. Why?
- Amos has talked a lot about this in previous verses, but Israel’s worship of God had become complacent. A rhythm of practices without any heart for God behind it. They believed they were in the favor of God, but this was a false hope… a lie.
Do we hold false hopes in our hearts that are actually lies? To better understand it, we need to look at how Israel went so wrong in believing they actually had favor with God. So, where did they go wrong?
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They were complacent.
- They weren’t seeking the Lord to see if what they were doing was right. They were just going through the motions
- This ultimately proves they did not actually care about the Lord. Instead, they cared about continuing a culture and rhythm, not worship.
- “Complacency had been telling the people, with irreproachable logic, that when the Lord comes it will be to side with His people.” (Motyer 122)
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They mistook calm for peace. 4. It is common for people to misunderstand God’s patience with us as God’s acceptance of our actions 5. This, in Israel, is likely due to the people aligning concepts like political strife and financial prosperity with what God wants for them → “Things are going well for me, so God must be happy with what I’m doing.” 6. It’s easy to see “calm” and “peace” as the same things. They are not.
Calm or Peace, You Decide
Example #1
Every holiday, uncle Joe brings up a piping hot political discussion that leaves half the family yelling at each other by dessert time. It particularly bothers your grandmother, who then stews on it for weeks after the holiday. As a result, you and other members of the family decide certain topics are off limits for holiday discussion, and uncle Joe will no longer be invited, unless he agrees to keep these topics off limits. Is this creating peace, or calm?
Example #2
You decide to hold your tongue, and let your child walk through something on their own. You’re intentionally patient, waiting anxiously and hoping that they will recognize what they need to do. Are you at peace? Do things seem calm to your child? Is it possible (maybe even probably) that in your child’s mind that because you are silent, you are in agreement with their actions? In these moments is your relationship with your child calm? Is it at peace?
- They focused on themselves, and not the Lord. 7. Notice what we have not seen about Israel in Amos so far. We have not seen a pursuit of the Lord, a respect of the Kingship of the Lord or an awe at His majesty. 8. The dangerous result here is that they have molded their understanding of who God is to fit what is most convenient for them. 9. A belief that they would be protected always, no matter what they did. This is self-serving. This does not match anything the Lord had told the Israelites for generations. Yet, they still believed it. Why? Because their following the Lord was actually built around themselves and had basically nothing to do with actually knowing the Lord.
These 3 dangers are very present in our own lives, and if we are to not make the same mistakes, we need to be vigilant about addressing them.
- Complacency of faith
- Question: Where am I complacent in my faith?
- Attitude: Lord, show me where I’m living in complacency, so I might not neglect what is right and true.
- _Action: _Regular confession and repentance before the Lord asking Him to reveal your heart to you.
- Confusing “calm” with “peace” 4. Question: Where am I confusing God’s patience with my actions as God’s acceptance of my actions? 5. Attitude: Lord, show me where I am living apart from what You say is right, true and good. Lead me to see your patience, celebrate your patience and respond with repentance. 6. Action: Be intentional about lining up how I live with what God says is right, true and good.
- Seeing the Lord through the lens of what is most comfortable to me. 7. Question: Am I seeking to learn and respond to who God ACTUALLY is or am I focused on my own comfort, and fitting God into that box? 8. Attitude: Lord, help me seek You because You are worthy and help me see You for who You really are. Keep me from seeking to make You in my image. Lord, I submit my feelings to You. Help me follow what is true, more than I seek to follow what I feel. 9. Action: Search the Word regularly and submit to what it says about who God is.
Israel was practicing idolatry. The idols of Sakkuth and Kaiwan were being carried in processions in syncretistic worship, which the prophet condemns. These gods were connected with the planet Saturn.
syncretism (n) - the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
It might be tempting to believe that we’re not subject to idolatry in our own present-day church. This is a mistake.Idolatry is regularly present in the midst of continuing to practice our normal ritualistic religious activities.
- Church attendance - Are we intentionally gathering to worship the Lord together or are we gathering because it’s what we are used to doing?
- Tithes and offerings - Do we give money as a means of a “tip” to the Lord hoping that He will allow our financial security to continue?
- Church hopping - Do we church hop in an effort to find what is most satisfying and comfortable for me? When we are challenged or stretched we tend to move on somewhere else that’s more comfortable for us. (Sometimes being challenged or stretched is what we need)
- We talk about Jesus at Christmas and Easter, but it is out of habit or tradition, and not out of true and pure worship.
- We go through the motions of a religion, but when push comes to shove and things get hard, where do we actually turn? Do we turn to ourselves? Do we turn to other people? Do we view God as a last resort to use in times of desperation, or do we pursue Him first as the God of the universe, worthy of our worship? Is it easier to give God lip service than to actually surrender to Him?
From Curt…
The scariest part is that the people believed they were still in good standing with the Lord. They still looked forward to the day of the Lord. They still expected it to be a day of deliverance. It was not as if they knowingly thought they were playing a joke on God and said, “well...let’s act like we’re worshiping Him, but not actually worship Him.” The idolatry ran so deep, they didn’t know it was there.
This is why we have to keep coming to the Lord and asking Him to reveal our hearts for what they are. This is why confession and repentance must be normal practices in our lives. This is why we need others we trust who can help point us back to the Lord over and over again. Apart from a deep rooted dependence and pattern of living in dependence on the Lord, we will default to idolatry.
We must recognize the frailty of our own hearts and minds along with our natural tendency to move toward idolatry. We must not define success as the activities we are doing, but the heart that is doing it.
This passage shows the Lord is not focused on our simple actions, He is focused on our coming to Him. He knows we are broken. He knows we are idolatrous. He knows we will wander. That’s why what He asks from us is to come to Him.
If we would moment by moment, day by day set a pattern of coming to Him, we would find the Lord graciously opening our eyes to the places of idolatry in our lives. We would experience mercy, grace and compassion.
How do we avoid this same idolatry? We come to the Lord as often as we can.
Let this passage be a warning to all of us, that our religious practices are not going to satisfy the justice of God. We need Him. Not just activities about Him. We need Him.
A Gut Check on Idolatry
It’s SO easy for us to fall into idolatry. Literally the first story in the Bible shows Adam & Eve falling into the idolatry of self: wanting to make themselves like God.
It can be incredibly difficult to see this idolatry in ourselves, so Curt’s recommendation to be constantly seeking the Lord is critical.
There’s also, I think, a good litmus test we can give ourselves for the hold something has on our heart: How often are we focused on it? Think about the things we spend most of our time & worry on:
- Kids
- Finances
- Health & Security
For me, I’ll take each of these things and take the scales of comparison to them. How much time, effort, money, thought am I spending on any one of these things? Then, I’ll compare how much time, effort, etc I’m spending on seeking God and His will for my life.
It’s amazing how often I have to check myself on how I’m idolizing these things, and prioritizing them above God.
Next Week: Read Amos 2:4-16
- Read it several times, slowly
- Don’t hesitate to research & meditate on it