An Entreaty (Amos 5:1-7)
Amos takes up a dirge for Israel. He is mourning its passing, as if it has already happened. This reminds the listener of what he said earlier, how the signs are a assured as cause and effect. Israel’s doom is coming.
And yet, YHWH does call on them to turn, to repent. “Seek Me that you may live.” There is a chance. God’s warning is sure and trustworthy, but it is also a warning. It is an opportunity for repentance. But God also calls on Israel to seek HIM, not their ideas and religious traditions of Him. When He tells them to not seek Him in Bethel and Gilgal, it is an indictment against their religious institutions, that claim to represent Him.
Today we would hear a different version:
In Amos’ day, God demanded worship on His terms, and that involved worship centered in Jerusalem, but also a worship that translated into a life of justice, compassion, and righteousness. Today, God still demands worship on His terms. It is the worship that leads to a life of trust in Jesus only, but that also demands a life following Jesus’ example: justice, compassion, righteousness, self-sacrifice, ministering to the poor and downtrodden.
And yet, YHWH does call on them to turn, to repent. “Seek Me that you may live.” There is a chance. God’s warning is sure and trustworthy, but it is also a warning. It is an opportunity for repentance. But God also calls on Israel to seek HIM, not their ideas and religious traditions of Him. When He tells them to not seek Him in Bethel and Gilgal, it is an indictment against their religious institutions, that claim to represent Him.
Today we would hear a different version:
“Seek Me that you may live.
But do not resort to your Prosperity Gospel.
And do not ‘go to the church’ that you are supposed to BE.
Don’t look to the Moral Majority,
or the political figures who claim to know my will for your country.”
In Amos’ day, God demanded worship on His terms, and that involved worship centered in Jerusalem, but also a worship that translated into a life of justice, compassion, and righteousness. Today, God still demands worship on His terms. It is the worship that leads to a life of trust in Jesus only, but that also demands a life following Jesus’ example: justice, compassion, righteousness, self-sacrifice, ministering to the poor and downtrodden.
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