Proper 27A 1st Reading
Amos 5:18-24
Kelvin St. John
The Day of the Lord: Not What We Expected
Take a moment and let’s imagine that you were growing up as an Israelite. Once the day’s work is done and supper had been eaten, you sit by the fire and ask your dad to tell you again the story of God choosing Abram and Sarai. Your dad rehearses once again how Abram and the men born in his household were victorious over 5 kings and their armies. He tells you that you and all the Hebrew people were chosen to be the people of Yahweh.
Then, you ask to hear other stories of how God delivered his people from their enemies. And dad tells you how Moses, with Yahweh and the ten plagues defeat the Egyptians. He tells you of those incredible freedom fighters, called judges, who won surprising victories over their oppressive neighboring nations. And he tells you of how David defeated Goliath and eventually conquered the Philistines. You know that Yahweh is the God who is on the side of his chosen people, the Israelites…your people.
And now there are super-power nations on the horizon who will become a threat to you and your nation. It is time once again for Yahweh to come to the aid of his people. A time for what people began referring to as “The Day of the Lord!” You know that it is to be a day of punishment for the “outsiders” and a day of reward for “insiders” (Green, 283). And then along comes a prophet named Amos.
We can park our imaginations, now that they’ve put us in the mindset of the 8th century Israelites, and study our passage.
Amos was a prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah, who answered God’s call on this life to travel to the northern kingdom of Israel and speak an unpopular and unexpected message – from Yahweh – of coming judgment upon Amos’ distant relatives, the northern Israelites. Timothy Green observes:
Prophets who speak the truth with conviction seldom receive any respect or welcome among any nation that claims a ‘God on our side’ theology and political ideology. Amos in many respects was a forerunner of many who followed him including Jeremiah and Jesus, who courageously confronted popular theological ideas and self-serving political ideologies. Amos models for us what truly constitutes “prophetic preaching” in our day. (283)”
In our passage, Amos listens to God and kicks things into reverse.[1] In vv. 18-20 we hear Amos speaking to God’s people. In vv. 21-27 the Lord is talking. These Northern Israelites figured that their military prowess and economic prosperity was due to the fact that, “God is on our side!” Then along comes Amos with a brand-new phrase, “Day of the Lord,” which no one else used up until he started talking about it. In fact, the phrase, “Day of the Lord,” is almost exclusively used by the prophets.[2]
Don’t be misled by the word “day.” This time frame has more to do with a period or a season rather than a 24-hour day. This is a time when the Israelites expected God to destroy their enemies and apply his judgment. The Northerners understood this would be a time when their enemies would get what they deserved and set things right once again for Israel.
Amos agrees that the Day of the Lord will be a time of judgement. But, he stands the concept on its head when, instead of focusing judgement on their enemies, he shifts the focus to the Israelites themselves. Instead of Israel winning a victory over their enemies, they will find themselves being the ones who are punished and defeated by their own God. What the Northerners failed to understand was that God’s focus is always to judge sin. The fact that God had a special relationship with their ancestor, Abraham, did not exempt them from God’s judgement. Yes, they were God’s chosen people, but they were not living as God’s chosen people. They were as deep in sinful practices as their neighbors were. In effect, God’s people, the 8th century Israelites, and God’s enemies were on the same side…living a life style that did not please or reflect God. (Stuart, 353)
“Woe” is the first word in this passage. Mourners used this word as they struggled with their grief. It was also uttered when a judgment resulted in deep anguish (Green 282). Douglas Stuart calls this a “woe oracle, which in essence means, “You are in trouble. Here’s why and here’s what will happen to you” (353).
Next, the prophet raises a hypothetical question: “Why do you long for the day of the Lord?” Perhaps there was a bit of irony or incredulity in Amos’ voice as he said this. It is as if he were saying, “Are you sure you want this? I’m not sure that you can handle such a day. Bring in professional mourners because punishment is coming.”
Amos grabs the Northerner’s attention by addressing them directly as “you.” They were expecting him to talk about “them” – their enemies. Next, Amos turns off the light. The Israelites viewed the Day of the Lord as a bright time of celebration for victory over their enemies. Instead, Amos declares it will be a time of darkness as Israel is judged by God.
The prophet drives his point home with a quick look at the inevitability of judgement. He imagines one poor soul, who runs away from a lion, straight into a bear. He somehow escapes the bear only to be bitten by a snake who had invaded the man’s home.[3] Just as this man was unable to escape, so too, the Israelites will be unable to escape the upcoming Day of the Lord. Shalom M. Paul explains that, for Israel, “Momentary success is only illusionary” (Paul 186). Just like this imaginary man in v. 18, Israel has escaped judgment in the past, but their record will soon be broken when Israel is defeated by the Assyrians, only to be led off into exile, from which they never will return.
It is not enough that Amos twice describes the Day of the Lord as a day of “darkness, and not light” (see vv. 18 & 20), but he intensifies the feeling of that day in v. 20 by describing it as “pitch-dark, without a ray of brilliance.”[4] The CEV translates it: “very dark, without a ray of light.” Timothy Green comments: “Darkness, pitch-dark, and the absence of a ray of brightness indicate the total absence of life for the unjust on the Day of the Lord” (283).
In vv. 21-27 Shalom Paul explains that the Lord was condemning all their “idle worship.” He was rejecting their special annual festivals, their sacrifices, their hymns, and their music (188). The three annual pilgrimage feasts were: Passover & Unleavened Bread, Weeks (this is Pentecost in the New Testament), and Tabernacles, also known as the Booths or Ingathering (Green 284). In v. 23 God tells them to “remove the din of your festivals” and refuses to listen to the melody of their lutes. The Israelites’ worship was no longer pleasing to God, because they had quit worshiping God from their hearts. They were simply going through the motions of worship, something that can happen to any one of us today.
Paul cleverly notes that they were observing the rites of worship, rather than living right before God. They were following the rituals of worship, but worship didn’t affect how they were living their lives in a godly way. Even though they properly completed all the parts of the sacrifice, their offerings were unacceptable to God. Perhaps we need to be more careful in checking our spiritual health before we worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
Why should Yahweh punish rather than rescue his people? Because they were faithful to him only selectively. They observed certain procedural aspects of his covenant, but “neglected the weightier matters of the Law” (Matt 23:23). Intermittent, occasional righteousness (vv 21-24) is really no righteousness at all. Partial, limited righteousness (keeping sacrifices while keeping idols, vv 25, 26) is no true righteousness either. True covenant keeping goes beyond special, discrete acts of devotion to steadfast loyalty (Matt 7:21-23). (Stuart 356)
Since the Northerners are living lives of injustice to those who are their peers or their “lessers,” God is ready for a sea change in the life of the nation of Israel that will allow justice and righteousness to move and flow like a never-ending stream. It is time for the nation to be punished for repeatedly breaking the covenant.
Think of righteousness as living our lives in “right relationship” with God, with our neighbors, with ourselves, and with God’s creation itself. “A society truly in harmony with Yahweh’s will must practice justice and righteousness routinely: always and everywhere” (Stuart 355).
“Amos’ challenge to his audience then and to his readers now is that they become like the God they claim to worship; be self-giving and life-giving in their public and private lives” (Green 287).
Now imagine again that you are that 8th century Israelite child. The Assyrians have taken your family hostage and are marching you north to a new homeland and away from your beloved Promised Land. What story might your father tell you tonight?
Works Consulted:
Green, Timothy Mark. Hosea–Micah: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Kansas City, MO, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2014.
Paul, Shalom M. Amos: A Commentary on the Book of Amos. Edited by Frank Moore. Cross, Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1991.
Smith, Gary V. Amos: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI, Regency Reference Library, 1989.
Stuart, Douglas K. Hosea-Jonah. Vol. 31, Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 2014.
[1] The framework for this paper relies on Shalmon M. Paul’s commentary on Amos in the Hermenia series.
[2] Lam. 2:22 is the only other place in the OT where the phrase is found (Paul, 184).
[3] According to Stuart, “harm from wild animals is a covenant curse” see Ezek. 14:21 ( 354)
[4] Research tip: Look up a single verse in biblegateway.com then click the in all English versions link to do a quick and effective word search.
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