Amos: Seek The Lord and LiveSample

Let me remind you that in chapters 3–6 Amos is trying to persuade Israel that they are not safe. They may think that a booming economy and dominant military protect them, but within a generation they were to be invaded by Assyria and destroyed. So after the three ‘Hear this …’ oracles, we now have two ‘Woe to you …’ prophecies in 5:18 and 6:1. In the first Amos attacks the idea that religion can protect them. In the second he undermines again their confidence in wealth. Both ‘Woes’ end with warnings: of exile (5:27) and of invasion (6:14). Today we will focus on verse 18–20. Evidently Israel had misunderstood the Day of the Lord. Israel expected a Day when the Lord would judge how everyone had lived and reward or penalise them accordingly. Israel assumed that, as a nation, the Day would be great for them – they would be rewarded and all their enemies destroyed. But Amos warns it will be a day of darkness, not light. Verses 19–20 describe a man desperately fleeing from one danger to another. The Day of the Lord was going to be a day of pitch dark, without a ray of brightness. Frightening. Terrifying. That Day came for Israel in 722 BC. The Bible is clear that history is heading towards one more final Day. On the Day when Jesus will return and judge the world, no one will be worthy of reward; everyone who has lived will deserve judgment – except one man: Jesus Christ. Yet God in His kindness has set in history two days of darkness that matter for you and me. One is the Day of Judgment, but the first was the day of the cross. The day that Jesus died, a surprising darkness fell over the land between midday and 3 p.m. It became a day of darkness, not light, when God’s judgment on all the sins of those trusting in Christ fell instead on Jesus.

Reflection

What will the Day of the Lord look like for you? We either trust that the darkness of judgment fell upon Jesus in our place or we will face it ourselves. Give thanks for the day of the cross!