June 21, 2025 -Light and Darkness

AMOS 1:1-6:14

Chronological Bible Readings

Amos 5:18 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.

I didn't find any commentaries to support this but when I read "the day of the Lord" I thought of Jesus coming. They expected the Messiah to be the one to restore them and give them victory over their enemies. To honor them for who they were as God's chosen people. They looked forward to that day because they thought it would be all about them. But in reality, the part that is all about them is the reason it would be a day of darkness not light. The truth about them was that they deserved darkness not light. When Jesus came He turned them on their heads. All the things that they thought they were doing right they found out was wrong. All that they thought He would do He did the opposite. Instead of telling them what a good job they were doing with following all their rules, making all their sacrifices and practicing all the rituals He called them out for their sin and showed them how unworthy they were to be God's people. How else can anyone come to trust Jesus alone for salvation than to recognize the depth of their own sin. The first step in anyone becoming a Christian is for them to realize that they are a hopeless sinner. Otherwise, they will put more faith in the religion than in the relationship. Religion will not save. Only Jesus saves.

Amos 6:4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory

    and lounge on your couches.

You dine on choice lambs

    and fattened calves.

5 You strum away on your harps like David

    and improvise on musical instruments.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful

    and use the finest lotions,

    but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;

    your feasting and lounging will end.

Perhaps they thought that all their riches and comfort were a sign of God's approval. But it was really only a sign of their pride. All the sacrifices and all the religious festivals and songs of praise are meaningless because they were just going through the motions. It is all meaningless without a heart surrendered to God. At The Table on Monday night, we talked about the Scripture for Sunday Matthew 12:1-7

Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

We talked about how God desires a sacrifice of the heart more than any sacrifice or ritual that we can partake in. Going to church, reciting prayers, singing songs, taking communion or any other ritual mean nothing if it's not done with a heart humbled before Jesus. He has come and it is on Him that we should lay the sacrifices of our hearts and will down on. We now look forward to a new Day of the Lord. The Second Coming of Jesus! When that day comes there will be a lot of people who like Israelites thought that they could look forward to it because they believe in their heads and do all the "right" things but have never sacrificed their hearts and will to Jesus. For them it will be a day of darkness and not light. But for those who have surrendered their hearts to Jesus they will be walking in the light because Jesus is the Light.