As we head into the Advent season, my reading takes me, of all places, into Amos. If you have not ventured into that landmine yet, avoid it until after the holidays. You don’t want to get caught up in the pleasures of Black Friday shopping then come home and read diatribes from Amos! Very painful.

The first two chapters are set up as a “gotcha” for Israel. I find it very much in line with how Paul structures the first three chapters of Romans. The opening verses lash out at the pagan nations. They are full of judgment.

³ The LORD proclaims:
For three crimes of Damascus,
and for four,
I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have harvested Gilead
with sharp iron tools.
⁴ I will send down fire
on the house of Hazael;
it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
⁵ I will break the fortified
gates of Damascus,
and eliminate the people
from the Aven Valley,
including the one who rules
from Beth-eden;
the people of Aram will be forced
to live in Kir,
says the LORD. (Amos 1:3-5, CEB)

And it goes on and on. God dresses down the nations.

It’s a set up. (We should be very careful of these types of set ups in our lives, just to warn you.)

God is getting Israel on his side. They are letting loose with the “Amen’s” and the shouts. “Go get them, God! Those evil, pagan nations!”

Then, it turns.

⁴ The LORD proclaims:
For three crimes of Judah,
and for four,
I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have rejected the Instruction of the LORD,
and haven’t kept his laws.
They have been led off the right path by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
⁵ So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it will devour the palaces
of Jerusalem. (Amos 2:4,5, CEB)

All of a sudden, the congregation slows down. They get quiet.

“Hey, wait! He’s talking about us! He’s gone from preaching to meddlin’!”

God pulls this on us from time to time. We are ready to hear God bring down judgment on some other group. We know they’ve sinned! Then, all of a sudden, the gaze of the Lord turns back to us… and that fire in his eyes has not abated… and all of a sudden we’re like David standing there with Nathan when the prophet turns and says, “You are that man!”

So, my opening advice as we enter into Advent is to avoid Amos. Find another Advent reading list at all costs! Please, do not allow the diatribes of this prophet get to you! Only listen to what the retailers want you to know… and enjoy the holiday! 😉