"Go to Bethel and sin... bring your sacrifices every morning" (Amos 4:4). Bethel was an important place of worship for Israelites after Israel and Judah divided. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah, so Israelites were often forbidden from going there to worship in fear that they would stay. So they went to worship at this shrines in Bethel and Gilgal.
Unfortunately, those shrines would be populated with idols and people would go to worship there after committing the same injustices that Amos describes in the previous chapters. They would sell their neighbors and children into slavery and go offer the money at their shrines, boasting about their religious fervor. God sees right through it, though, and prepares a "meeting" with Israel (Amos 4:12).
It's important for us to know that God sees through our masks and disguises. And that's good news. Really? Yes, really. It's good news. We don't need to approach God hiding our baggage. We don't need to pretend to have it all together before God. The Psalms tell us that a broken and contrite spirit will not be rejected by God. So let's come to God with authenticity, seeking to see God as He is as God sees us as we are. Amen.
I could not help but think of the streets of Port Au Prince in this awful description.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Andy and other blog followers!!!!! Andy, this is SUPER.... thanks a lot for your continued focus on helping us become more like Jesus!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me about Amos 4 was:
1. God will sometimes resort to the use of adverse circumstances to get us to return to Him.
2. His efforts to have a relationship with us seem to be continuous, but there seems to be a time, at least for the Israelites in this passage, that His patience is exhausted. Therefore, I don't want to go there, i.e. test His patience.
3. The first part of this chapter also describes His people in a state of luxurious living and bragging about their offerings... sort of full of pride, which might be a trap that we could all easily fall into.
Thanks again for being our pastor, Steve Schwaiger