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? 21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! 25 “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? 26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god—which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.
This section speaks of the Day of the Lord which most people in Israel thought meant the day that God would intervene on their behalf and make them victorious militarily against all their enemies. They expect God to keep his part of the covenant even if they don’t keep theirs. Amos turns their expectations upside down and warns them that things will go badly for Israel on that day. He asks a rhetorical question: “why do you long for the day of the Lord” which he answers by saying it will bring darkness not light. He repeats this assertion in verse 20, probably because he felt the people would not believe him. He informs them in verse 19, that the Day of the Lord will bring them disaster. They will find no refuge and will be unable to mount any real defense. They will not be able to escape God’s judgment.
Amos is telling the people of Israel that all their ideas about their relationship with God are completely wrong. From verses 21 to 23, God tells his people that he hates their forms of worship and rejects them totally. He rejects both their feasts (which were probably based on pagan feasts) and their sacrifices. In verse 23, he goes so far as to tell them he does not even want to hear their songs of praise. Perhaps we should all pay attention to this, for we too have a tendency to think of God only on Sundays and to overemphasize going to Mass at the expense of focusing on our behavior. We should make sure we do not offer God what he despises.
The people of Israel have a covenant with God, but they only respect a few parts of it (notably with regard to worship ceremonies) when it pleases them. But a vow cannot be respected only when one feels like it. If one partner does this in a marriage then the marriage is unlikely to last long. Committing adultery only once a week does not make one a faithful spouse. This was the insidious influence of Canaanite religion which had no concern with personal morality. Emphasis was put on placating the gods through worship and sacrifice. But this is not at all what God demands of his people.
In a memorable phrase in verse 24, God states what kind of society he wants. He desires a world in harmony where justice is guaranteed to all and righteousness is general. Justice and righteousness must be permanent parts of society. Paula Gooder explains what is meant here by justice and righteousness: “‘justice’ … is connected to the word ‘judge’ and means to make honorable and trustworthy decisions in all parts of one’s life. The word ‘righteousness’ is harder to define but is most often used to describe actions, and in particular how people act towards those around them.” True worship then flows from our decisions and our actions.
In verse 25, Amos returns again to Israel’s period in the wilderness which was often held up by the prophets as a time when the people’s relationship with God was at its closest. This does not mean that the people never sinned, for the stories of their doubting and worship of false gods are known. However, at that time God provided them with food, and they did not offer sacrifice to him. They couldn’t because they had nothing to offer. Therefore, the people are completely mistaken in focusing so much on ceremonies and sacrifices. Of course, probably the Israelites of Amos’s time thought they were much more sophisticated and evolved than their ancestors. They probably thought their worship was better. But what we believe is progress is not always how God sees it.
Notice how in verse 26, God condemns the people for worship of false gods. In the Hebrew two are named, Sakkuth (your king) and Kaiwan (your idols) were astral gods. They seem to have been introduced by the Assyrians. God points out that these idols are made by people and so it’s silly to worship them. This chapter ends with the announcement of the coming exile. He is clearly implying the Assyrian captivity
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