Amos: Seek The Lord and LiveSýnishorn

Amos 5:1 begins the third judgment oracle: ‘Hear this …’ Yet this one begins very differently in tone. It has neither the fierce anger of 3:1–3 nor the biting sarcasm of 4:4–5. Rather here is the Lord lamenting over the judgment that must fall upon Israel. We should imagine 5:1–2 being read out to the soundtrack from Schindler’s List – a sad, lonely violin plays in the background. It’s so sad that young ‘virgin’ Israel, with her whole life ahead of her, is about to fall. She will never rise again and there is no one to lift her up. Not even the Lord will help. Verse 3 reveals that she will be literally decimated. It’s a tragic scenario and one the Lord laments. 

A while back I read of Judge Phillip Wassall. He presided in the trial of a lorry driver who had killed a motorcyclist when he carried out a dangerous U-turn. The judge sentenced the driver to four years in prison for ‘death by dangerous driving’, but as he did so he broke down in tears. He said, ‘I cry chiefly for the two young girls who have been robbed of their father who was killed. Yet I cry also for the stupidity of this lorry driver who has ruined his own life too.’ 

That is a faint echo of our perfect God. He is perfect in His justice, but not dispassionate. He laments over the judgment that must fall. Elsewhere we’re told that judgment is God’s ‘strange work’, His ‘alien task’ (Is. 28:21) and that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11; see also 18:23). We must hold together His overwhelming power in justice with His compassion and love for those He has made. We praise Him for the cross!

Reflection

Do you have the same sense of compassion as the Lord? When you look at the sin of people around you and the corruption of your town, village or city, do you rush to condemn or do you cry over the fate of the lost?