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Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:18-24)
As believers, we’re used to thinking of Jesus’ return as a good thing, as a day of joy and celebration, when God will set everything right again. So why would God say that the day of the Lord is darkness and gloom—something to be afraid of?
I went looking in the book of the prophet Amos to see whom he was talking to, and things got clearer. Because Amos was talking to people who considered themselves believers, who went to worship and brought offerings to the Lord—but the rest of their lives didn’t match that at all. They were exploiting their neighbors and harming the poor. They did business in ways that hurt other people, but it made them rich—and so they figured everything was all right. I mean, if you have a comfortable lifestyle, that means God is blessing you, right?
Amos says no. God cares about where that money came from, and whether we treat the poor decently or not. God cares so much that He’d rather we quit worship altogether than carry on with a life that is Christian on Sunday and just the opposite Monday through Saturday.
Ouch! Because we live in a world where good and evil are so intertwined that we have to think hard about where our goods come from. If we buy that new electronic toy, are we harming children who mined the minerals for it? What about the clothing we buy—who produced it under what circumstances, to make it so cheap for us?
Israel didn’t want to hear it. And perhaps we don’t want to hear it, either. But these people matter to God, just as we do. Jesus suffered and died and rose again for them and for us.
The Day of the Lord is meant to be a blessing, not a curse. And because Jesus gave Himself for us and all people, God forgives us for whatever harm we have done. The Holy Spirit is remaking our hearts, every day, so that we love like Jesus does. He guides us as we try to learn and make good decisions. And as we look forward to the Day of the Lord, we seek out ways to love our neighbors, near and far.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, You know how hard it is for us to do right in this broken world. Forgive us and live through us, so we can bless others. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- If someone is wealthy, does that mean God is happy with them and blessing them?
- How can we find out if the things we buy are hurting people who produced them?
- It’s hard to do right in this complicated world. How does Jesus feel about us, caught in this web? About those who get hurt?
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