Amo 5:6 | KingComments | STEP | It is unacceptable to think that you are seeking God and then be told that you are mistaken, that you are seeking wrong. It is to jump out of your skin that that farmer from Tekoa tells you that where you are, you cannot find the LORD because He is not there. Then you have fulfilled your religious obligations all these years for nothing so bravely. Surely that cannot be true, can it? How difficult we too are, to be convinced that tradition has no guarantee whatsoever that we are ‘right’. The fact that the Lord used to work somewhere is no guarantee that we are in right place today. The Lord Himself determines where He is and can be found. That is Jerusalem for Israel ( ) and that is where the church comes together for us ( ). The characteristics for the coming together of the church He indicates in His Word. He will consume a self-willed religion ( ). “Our God is a consuming fire” ( ). Everything can still go according to the rules, but if everything happens to become better ourselves, to feel good about it, then the Lord rejects it and nothing is left of it. His favor is not for sale with a fat cow. His favor cannot be obtained by performing religious acts like baptism and the Lord’s Supper or by giving money to charity. All that matters is what our heart goes out to. Is that to Him or to ourselves? And we can camouflage this ‘ourselves’ very well. We do look for a place of worship, but it must be a pleasant place to be. The sermon should neither be too long nor too direct. Some bells and whistles to liven things up are most welcome. Nice also that tourist church. In the coolness of the evening, after a day of sunbathing on the beach, it’s nice to satisfy your spiritual feelings. We even are willing to drive half an hour for it! Whether God is happy with it? What a question. Of course He is. We don’t forget Him in our vacation, do we? The question is not whether we forget Him or not, but whether He takes first place in all things. Too often He is the last item on our time budget. When we have time left and we have nothing else to do, we also visit a meeting during the week. And we give ourselves a pat on the back that we managed once again to visit a prayer meeting or Bible study of the church. That attitude, that mindset, is increasing hand over hand in our welfare society. We all become victims of it if we do not listen to the words of, among others, a prophet like Amos. The “house of Joseph” is the ten tribes realm of Israel. Among the ten tribes, Ephraim, the son of Joseph, occupies the most important place. Hosea often speaks about Ephraim as an indication for the ten tribes realm. The fire of which Amos speaks here is the fire of which he spoke earlier ( ). It represents the judgment of the imminent scattering. Once again, the people are confronted with the choice. If they seek the LORD, life will be their part with all the blessing and favor that goes with it; if they continue to practice their self-willed religion, the judgment will come on them with all the horror that comes with it. It is hard to imagine how spiritually blinded the people must be to choose the second option.

‏ Amos 5:6

Again: Seek and Live!

It is unacceptable to think that you are seeking God and then be told that you are mistaken, that you are seeking wrong. It is to jump out of your skin that that farmer from Tekoa tells you that where you are, you cannot find the LORD because He is not there. Then you have fulfilled your religious obligations all these years for nothing so bravely. Surely that cannot be true, can it?

How difficult we too are, to be convinced that tradition has no guarantee whatsoever that we are ‘right’. The fact that the Lord used to work somewhere is no guarantee that we are in right place today.

The Lord Himself determines where He is and can be found. That is Jerusalem for Israel (Deu 12:5-12) and that is where the church comes together for us (Mt 18:20). The characteristics for the coming together of the church He indicates in His Word. He will consume a self-willed religion (Lev 10:1-5). “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29).

Everything can still go according to the rules, but if everything happens to become better ourselves, to feel good about it, then the Lord rejects it and nothing is left of it. His favor is not for sale with a fat cow. His favor cannot be obtained by performing religious acts like baptism and the Lord’s Supper or by giving money to charity.

All that matters is what our heart goes out to. Is that to Him or to ourselves? And we can camouflage this ‘ourselves’ very well. We do look for a place of worship, but it must be a pleasant place to be. The sermon should neither be too long nor too direct. Some bells and whistles to liven things up are most welcome. Nice also that tourist church. In the coolness of the evening, after a day of sunbathing on the beach, it’s nice to satisfy your spiritual feelings. We even are willing to drive half an hour for it! Whether God is happy with it? What a question. Of course He is. We don’t forget Him in our vacation, do we?

The question is not whether we forget Him or not, but whether He takes first place in all things. Too often He is the last item on our time budget. When we have time left and we have nothing else to do, we also visit a meeting during the week. And we give ourselves a pat on the back that we managed once again to visit a prayer meeting or Bible study of the church. That attitude, that mindset, is increasing hand over hand in our welfare society. We all become victims of it if we do not listen to the words of, among others, a prophet like Amos.

The “house of Joseph” is the ten tribes realm of Israel. Among the ten tribes, Ephraim, the son of Joseph, occupies the most important place. Hosea often speaks about Ephraim as an indication for the ten tribes realm.

The fire of which Amos speaks here is the fire of which he spoke earlier (Amos 1:4 ; 7 ; 10 ; 12 ; 14 ; Amos 2:2). It represents the judgment of the imminent scattering. Once again, the people are confronted with the choice. If they seek the LORD, life will be their part with all the blessing and favor that goes with it; if they continue to practice their self-willed religion, the judgment will come on them with all the horror that comes with it. It is hard to imagine how spiritually blinded the people must be to choose the second option.