1 Unacceptable Worship (Amos 5:18-24) Adult Prep Class For Sunday October 12, 2014 I. Brief commentary on Amos 5:18-20 A. Day of Lord (v. 18) 1. This phrase is a common theme used all through the Book of the Twelve (i.e. Hosea through Malachi). The Book of the Twelve highlights the Day of the Lord (Hosea 9:5; Joel 2:31; Obadiah 15; Micah 2:4; Habakkuk 3:16; Zeph. 1:7-16: Hag. 2:23; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:1, 5). 2. That s one of the reasons why many scholars believe that these twelve minor prophets should be read as one book. When the 12 books are put together they are about the same length as Isaiah and the other Major Prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel). 3. The phrase is relatively infrequent in the Major Prophets. 4. The phrase Day of the Lord is repeated three times in Amos 5:18-20. 5. Meaning of The Day of the Lord 1. Sometimes the phrase refers to the day for worship (Hos. 9:5; Zeph. 1:7). 2. Sometimes The Day refers to a new future, a new political leader (Hag. 2:23; Zech. 14:6-7). 3. It is often associated with the military defeat of a nation (Isa.13; 34; Ezek. 30) and an appearance by God. Israel believes the Day of the Lord is going to be a day of deliverance for them. B. Amos describes Israel longing for the coming Day of the Lord (5:18). But it will be a day of darkness. 1. Here is another example of one of many of Amos use of reversals. Other examples include 2:6-16; 3:1-2; 4:4-6; 6:1-7; 8:9-10; 9:11-15. 2. Israel thought the Day a glorious day of victory over enemies. They believed The Day of the Lord is going to be The Day of Israel! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Amos portrays a reversal turning their expectations completely upside down. It would be like condemning the U.S. on July 4 th rather than praising. C. Amos illustrates what the Day of the Lord will be like in v. 19 with rural analogies. 1. One question arises in v. 19, is this a single scenario or does Amos give us two scenarios? Scholars are split over the question. 1. If a single scenario, then it s as if someone fled from a lion only to run into the jaws of a bear then running from the bear into a house for safety only to be bitten by a poisonous snake (In the Hermenia commentary Solomon Paul takes this position, 1991, 186). 2. If it s two scenarios, then the first one is of someone running from a lion only to turn around and run into a bear. The second illustration is of a person coming home after a hard days work to rest only to be bitten by a poisonous snake. 3. The New Living Translation goes with a single scenario: In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house and he s bitten by a snake.
4. Eugene Peterson in The Message goes with two scenarios. In order to distinguish between the two, for the first illustration Peterson uses a man and the second one he uses a woman. This is his interpretation: Here s what it s like: A man runs from a lion right into the jaws of a bear. A woman goes home after a hard day s work and is raped by a neighbor. 5. I think Dorothy (Judy Garland) in Wizard of Oz said it best, Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!! J. 2. Whatever interpretation you choose the message is the same. Israel is completely unaware of its true peril but glides from crisis to crisis, falsely believing that these are just minor predicaments from which a major deliverance will take place shortly (David N. Freedman, 1989, 538). 3. Israel, however, will not be able to escape from God s judgment. 1. As Paul Harvey used to say, You can run but you can t hide. The horrible reality of this day is that it is inescapable (v. 20). 2. Earlier in 4:12 Amos announces to Israel,... prepare to meet your God, O Israel! That is not an invitation to repent as it is sometimes interpreted. The day of repentance is past for Israel. It is an announcement of the inevitable judgment of God coming. 4. Yes the day of the Lord is a day when God will judge his enemies ironically Israel is God s enemy. Where they thought they were most safe, they were not, Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Hosea uses the same rural images in 13:7-8. D. North Israel interpreted their prosperity as God s approval of their lifestyles. 1. Their success and power, however, are only a momentary illusion. 2. Even if Israel has escaped with its life intact in all previous encounters with its enemies, this time deliverance will not be forthcoming (Shalom Paul, p. 186). II. Reflections and Discussion on 5:18-20 A. Amos spoke to Israel at a time when they were seeking to escape God s wrath. 1. Israel tried to escape God s wrath in religious activity. But God s GPS was tracking Israel. The more they tried to run from him, the more they ran into him: From a lion to a bear. In a house of safety... but no, a poisonous snake lurks in the cupboard. 2. When we read 5:21-24 we ll realize that Israel is using worship as a means of hiding from God and from fulfilling the responsibility to love their neighbor. B. We can become master escape artists when it comes to our encountering God and fulfilling our responsibility to others. How do we try to escape from God? 1. One of the most effective ways of hiding from God is in religious activities. Think of Amos 4:4-5 and how they increased their contributions and the frequency of their worship times. They felt safe and secure in their worship. i. Ask the class about their perception of Sunday worship. Is it a place of escape from the world?? 2
ii. We sometimes see it as a time and place of security. The rest of our week may be total chaos and disorientation. But Sunday is where we find security and orientation. iii. Some years ago I received an attractive brochure from a church in our neighborhood that had on the outside cover the words, It s a Jungle Out There with a picture of a jungle. On the inside was an invitation to escape that jungle and participate in their worship. iv. On another occasion in another church, a city transit bus driver once told me, My days and weeks are so hectic I enjoy coming to church because I can finally sit back and relax and get comfortable. v. What do you think about these perspectives? Here s some Scripture to consider. 1) Isaiah has an extremely uncomfortable experience when he enters the temple to worship. God confronts him (Isaiah 6). 2) Paul speaks of examining ourselves as we participate in the Lord s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28). 3) Paul tells Timothy to proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching (2 Tim. 4:2). 4) Worship does not seem to be a place where we sit back and relax and are immune from a confrontation with God. 2. Another way we might try to escape is that we can hide from God in our busyness! I would say this is the most common way of trying to escape from God. Busyness gives us an excuse for not getting involved in ministries. It also enables us not to have to think about our relationship with and responsibility to God. 3. Another way that people, myself included, might use to escape from ministry responsibilities (teaching, working in the community life center, prison ministry, or specific activities like visiting sick or elderly people, etc.) is that we simply say, "That's not my gift." It is true that we all have been given different gifts. However: i. Sometimes certain ministries and responsibilities have to be done regardless of whether or not we have a particular gift in that area. Someone has to do it, even if he or she is not gifted in that area. ii. To say, that s not my gift can sometimes be a way of sidestepping what we know needs to be done. 4. Another way we try and escape is to run away from a costly commitment. This seems to have been part of the reason Jonah fled from God. C. A popular perspective believes that we are the ones seeking God (e.g., we have seeker services). But Scripture doesn t talk that way as much as it talks about us running away from God and God over and over again seeking us! 1. That God pursues us is the ultimate expression of love and while initially it may not be comforting for some to think that we cannot escape from God, ultimately it is in our best interest and for our spiritual health that God hunts us down. 3
2. If you want to pursue this direction in your class a little more, then here is a link to a 8 minute video by William Willimon entitled, God on the Prowl: http://youtu.be/ptexywtav-4 D. The psalmist discovered he could not escape from God s presence. Psalm 139:1-12 describes God as omnipresent. For this psalmist, God s everpresence was a most comforting and encouraging thought. III. Brief commentary on Amos 8:21-24 (study this passage along with Amos 4:4-5 and 5:5). A. Israel loves to worship! But God does not accept it. Unacceptable worship is not a new theme in Amos (4:4-5; 5:4-7). But this is the most comprehensive text dealing with it. B. What is the relationship between 5:18-20 and 21-24? No direct statement is made regarding the connection between the Day of the Lord and Israel s unacceptable worship but their juxtaposition suggests that Israel s unacceptable worship is a main reason why the people will suffer under God s powerful hand on the Day of the Lord. One of the most effective ways of hiding from, avoiding, or escaping our responsibilities to God is in religious activities (see above comments). C. God is vehemently opposed to what is taking place in worship. D. Notice the strong emotional words: I hate, I despise, I do not accept. 1. In v. 21b Amos says I do not delight in... The literal translation is I do not like the smell of.... a. Same word is used in Lev. 26:31. b. Recall also Noah offering sacrifices to God after the flood. Scripture says the Lord smelled a pleasing odor (same word is used here as well, Gen. 8:21). 2. The oracle describes God shutting down his senses to Israel s worship: smell (he s holding his nose); sight (he s covering his eyes); sound (he s plugging his ears); touch (he s not embracing their worship). To put this in the form of a popular axiom, God sees no worship, hears no worship, smells no worship. E. Seven aspects of Israel s worship are mentioned: feasts, solemn assemblies, burnt offerings, cereal offerings, peace offering, songs, and melody. (Amos likes the number 7. Recall the oracles against the seven nations in chs. 1-2. Seven represents that which is complete or total.) F. Verse 24, Amos concludes with his most well known words, But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream. The same words, justice and righteousness, are used by Amos in 5:7 and 6:12. 1. Isaiah 48:18 uses quite similar language: O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea; 2. The image in both Amos and Isaiah emphasizes the permanence and power as well as reliability of justice and righteousness. This is in contrast to a wadi that is unreliable, full during the wet season but, when water is most needed, empty during the dry season. 3. The terms justice and righteousness are frequently paired together. E.g., in Genesis 18:17-19, The LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? No, for I have 4
chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. G. What does Amos mean by justice? (You may want to read the article again I d included during the first week of this series. I ll attach it to this email again. Specifically look on p. 435 left column halfway down where the paragraph begins second... ) 1. Justice, as Amos uses it here, is not a static blind justice like the statue of Lady Justice. It is dynamic, active, and takes the initiative in making sure the oppressed and the marginal are treated fairly. 2. Justice and righteousness are relational terms. They are synonymous terms used in parallel lines. 3. Justice is like surging water. It is active not passive. It is ongoing and ever moving forward and not intermittent. To practice justice is to respond to what God has done for us. It means to act as an advocate for the powerless. So we re not talking about random acts of kindness, but a way of life, a lifestyle. 4. Justice and righteousness refer to what is expected of Israel in relationship with God (5:7, 15; 6:12). 5. The King James Version translates v. 24 in the following way, But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. What do think about this translation and the use of the word judgment? IV. Reflection and Discussion on Amos 5:21-24 A. Care must be taken in realizing that while Amos and the 8 th century prophets are extremely critical of Israel s worship, they would never say Israel should abolish their worship and sacrifice practices. 1. For example, God tells Israel in Isaiah 1:15 that he will not listen to their many prayers. That does not mean that God wants them to stop praying. 2. Neither does Amos want Israel to completely stop worshipping. B. Why is God rejecting Israel s worship? 1. What Israel is doing in worship is what God asked them to do in Lev. 1-4. 2. It was not their lack of interest in religion. Attendance and contributions were high (4:4). Amos does not criticize them for the frequency of their worship (4:4). C. So why does God reject Israel s worship? 1. In contrast to Hosea s condemnation of what goes on in the assembly, Amos condemns them for what goes on outside the assembly. 2. The point for Amos is not what is wrong with worship, but what is wrong with the worshipers. 3. The irony is that while the sanctuaries were full of worshippers, the problem was that God refused to show up for worship. He was fed up! 4. God wants their worship to further the development of spiritual formation, v. 24. God is looking for changed lives: Ps. 15; Ps. 24:4; Ps. 51:16f; Isa. 1:11-15; Isa. 29:13. But Israel s life is not changing! 5. What God really wants is justice and righteousness. a. Our love for God and our love for neighbor are inseparable. b. First John 4:20 summarizes the message well: Those who say, I love God, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do 5
not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. Read also Mark 12:28-31. D. What might make God angry at the way we worship today? 1. One way might be our selfish attitude in worship. That is, I want to worship in ways that I feel comfortable with, sing the songs that I like, hear sermons that I agree with, and be with people I enjoy being with. a. This selfishness manifests itself in the way we choose where and with whom to worship. We choose a church based on how comfortable we feel. When we don t like what s happening in a church we leave and attend another. b. This selfishness carries over into the rest of the week in terms of the way we interact with others. 2. Another practice that would make God refuse to show up in our worship assemblies is when we show preferential treatment to others in worship. a. Recall what James says about this in James 2:1-6: My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, Have a seat here, please, while to the one who is poor you say, Stand there, or, Sit at my feet, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? b. Recall Paul s rebuke to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 11:17-22: Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord s supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you! E. What would make our worship acceptable to God and cause God to attend? 1. When God sees that our public worship prepares us for daily service. If we do not treat our brothers and sisters with respect, if we do not care for those who are in our assemblies, then how can we expect to practice justice and righteousness during the rest of the week? 2. When God sees us encouraging one another to love and good works in our public assemblies. Paul exhorted the Corinthians as they came 6
together to worship to encourage and build up the body (1 Cor. 14:5, 12, 26, 31). 3. How we act within the community of faith prepares us for interacting with others in the world. 4. The focus on the need to provide dynamic and creative worship experiences only in order to reach new generations can lead to the experience of worship becoming an end in itself. We can end up attracting audiences and performers rather than believers and disciples. Our worship is not an end in itself but leads us to praise God and live for him. 5. As in Amos day, God is more concerned with the worshipper than the worship. 7