Read Amos 5:18-27
Questions from the Scripture text: What is Amos 5:18 pronouncing upon whom? How is the Day going to compare to their expectations? What sort of “safety” can they expect to have in that day (Amos 5:19)? What sort of day will it be for them (Amos 5:20)? Why (Amos 5:21)? By what sort of bringings-near (offerings) were they worshiping (Amos 5:22; cf. Leviticus 1–3)? How else were they worshiping (Amos 5:23, cf. 2 Chronicles 5:12–13)? But what was missing (Amos 5:24)? Where else had they mixed God’s true worship with false worship (Amos 5:25-26)? So, what is God doing to them (Amos 5:27, cf. 1 Kings 12:28–33, 1 Kings 13:33–34; 2 Kings 17:22–23)?
What will the day of the Lord be like for those who think God loves whatever worship they decide for Him? Amos 5:18–27 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these ten verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the day of the Lord will be death and darkness for those who think they are coming to God, but are doing so apart from Christ.
From the three “Hear this word” sections of Amos, we come into two woe-pronouncement sections. Often, people who think things are good between them and God are actually under His wrath. They desire the coming of the kingdom, because they think it will be happiness and light for them. That’s what Israel thought in the days of Amos (Amos 5:18). But God has called them to lamentation (cf. Amos 5:16-17) because His day is going to be certain death for them, like those who think they are safe, only to be mauled by a bear or bitten by a venomous snake (Amos 5:19). It will be their darkest day (Amos 5:20).
Israel had sacrifices and offerings (Amos 5:22) like those the Lord commanded in Leviticus 1–3. But they offered them at Bethel (cf. Amos 4:4, Amos 5:5) on a calendar that Jeroboam had invented (cf. 1 Kings 12:28–33). Although their traditional worship (going back to Aaron, at Sinai) “celebrated” redemptive history, God HATED it (Amos 5:21) and exiled them for it (Amos 5:27, cf. 2 Kings 17:22–23). Such manmade worship goes hand-in-hand with injustice (Amos 5:24) and gross idolatry (Amos 5:26), and no amount of “true” worship (Amos 5:25) can make these acceptable. The worship that God has commanded has Christ Himself as its substance; to come in additional ways is to come without Him. Many think that they want an experience of God. If that experience does not include repentance from all sin, including manmade religion, then they are in for a great shock when the Great Day comes.
What are some manmade feast days/holy assemblies that incorporate parts of true biblical worship? How much do people look forward to them? How do they presume that God thinks about them? But what does God think of them?
Sample prayer: Lord, we thank You for providing Christ to be our ascension, our tribute, and our peace. Forgive us for when we give in to the temptation to approach You in ways that we have invented instead. We have seen in Amos that invented worship goes hand-in-hand with invented gods and invented moral values. Grant unto us repentance. Grant that we may come to You only in the manner that You have commanded, so that we would come to You only through Christ, into Whom You have made us believe, and in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!
Suggested Songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the LORD” or TPH440 “Come , Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched”
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