Thursday, July 5

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Thursday

“Dead Religion Destroyed”

The end is in sight for our series of posts on the book of Amos. So far we’ve been introduced to Amos the man, the message of Amos , and yesterday we looked at the picture of dead religion that Amos paints. Today we’ll continue through Amos by looking at the second major theme of the book, dead religion destroyed. Dead religion isn’t just pictured in Amos; it’s judged and ultimately destroyed.

Dead Religion Judged:

As we’ve covered in previous posts throughout Amos it’s made clear that God hates dead religion. Because God hates it Amos promises the Israelites, and us today that God will destroy it. Let’s pick up in Amos 2:13-16 where God shockingly declares, 

¹³ “Now then, I will crush you
    as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
¹⁴ The swift will not escape,
    the strong will not muster their strength,
    and the warrior will not save his life.
¹⁵ The archer will not stand his ground,
    the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
    and the horseman will not save his life.
¹⁶ Even the bravest warriors
    will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.

Let me tell you, when I first read verse 13 “Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.” I stopped reading, sat back in my seat and just said, “Whoa.” I mean it’s not often that you read a sentence like that in the Bible right? God’s message through Amos is clear though; dead religion has one end and one end only, His judgment. I love how detailed Amos’ description of YHWH’s judgment is here. Amos makes it painfully clear that no one practicing dead religion will be able to escape this Day of Judgment. The fastest runners won’t be able to outrun Him, the strongest people won’t be able to fight Him, and the bravest warriors will be so terrified before Him that they’ll run away naked! The battle between dead religion and God isn’t really a battle at all, God wins and there’s no contest. 

Of course God’s judgment isn’t on our timeline, it’s on His. The Bible never promises that the wicked will be judged as soon as they’ve committed their wickedness; it just promises that they will be judged. That judgment we just read in Amos was a judgment that God made in time. It was referring to the coming Assyrian exile where the Israelite’s would be killed or deported as God judged them for their sins against Him. Amos’ covers both these bases though; he delivers promises of judgment to the Israelite’s in the here and now, and in the eschatological future. Amos 5:18-20 gives us an example of the latter as Amos declares, 

¹⁸ Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
    That day will be darkness, not light.
¹⁹ It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.
²⁰ Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

Here Amos is detailing the judgment to come on the Day of the Lord. This judgment will be withheld until the end of all things when Christ returns triumphant. Amos includes both pictures of judgment, judgment now and judgment in eternity to make this truth as clear to the Israelite’s as he can: God hates dead religion, and He is going to destroy it! If you’re a practicer of dead religion, flee from it. There’s no life in dead religion, only death, and the promise of judgment. Make sure you check back in tomorrow as we see book of Amos end with the hopeful picture of true religion restored. 


Grant Diamond