Today’s passage: Amos 5:18-27
Helpful thoughts:
- The people of Israel longed for the Day of the Lord (The day of judgment), assuming it would be their day of glory. God warns them otherwise.
- Doing religious things in order to earn God’s favor without repentance is just more sin. God has strong words against these evil practices.
- Israel was also guilty of pairing symbolic false worship of God with the worship of false gods. (Verse 26)
Questions to consider:
- If these unbelieving Israelites were able to “worship” God along with all the other gods, and if they expected the judgment of the Lord to be a good day for them, what must have been their worldview? What was the purpose of all the gods? If God didn’t “perform” to their expectations, what did they feel free to do?
- How big of a god did Israel treat the one true God like? How far off was their view of God from the truth of who He is? Is He just a national god who makes sure we get all our stuff on time and keep us safe from our neighboring nations?
- What is God right to require of His people? (Verse 24, Micah 6:8, Romans 12:1-2, Joshua 1:8-9, Matthew 18:18-20, etc.)