Amos 5:1-6.
Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a]”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
Amos laments for Israel in the first two verses. Then it is the words of the Lord again calling His people to repent, to return not to Bethel which is linked to Jacob, to Gilgal the place where they first camp in the promised land and to Beersheba which features in the accounts of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is to Himself, the Lord alone He wants them to return. The significance of these places had taken on more importance in their identity than God Himself. Though we have just heard in the proceeding passages God’s wrath, we see here His mercy and love. Return to Me and live. My people, He says you don’t need to suffer My wrath, there is another way but My holiness will not allow unrepentant sin to go unpunished. It has felt hard going reading God’s words of wrath, of His part in hard circumstances but that is not all He is. He is just, He is loving and merciful, He is holy and righteous. He is our God. Let it be Him we worship, not the mountain top memories and experience when we have felt close to God in the past. Let us keep our eyes on Him today and worship Him today for who He is. May our lips, our thoughts, our hearts worship You this day. May we lift our eyes from ourselves to You not in self martyrdom but in worship of You who is through, in, and around all the circumstances of our lives.
Father, hallowed be Your name. Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 