August 29, Amos 3
”You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?" - Amos 3:2-3
I enjoy an early morning walk. Sometimes I prefer the solitude of walking alone. But through the years, I found that my consistency improved when I arranged to meet a friend to enjoy their company as we walked together.
The picture of two people walking together in the text illustrates much more than a good relationship between exercise partners. I remember hearing preachers use it when I was young to say that people must agree about doctrinal matters to have fellowship. I understand that the verse may have some value in illustrating a point like that about interpersonal relationships. But the real meaning in the context of Amos 3 is that Israel's disobedience and rebellion made it impossible for them to enjoy the blessings of the relationship God wanted with his people.
Chapter 3 is the first of five consecutive appeals God made to Israel to repent and return to him. Each appeal begins with the word "Hear" or "Woe." Then each appeal transitions to a description of what is going to happen to Israel if they persist in their disobedience. Those descriptions are marked with the word "Therefore."
Walking is a Bible-wide figure of speech for a way of life or one's behavior. When the Genesis record tells us that "Enoch walked with God," it means that he lived a righteous life in harmony with God's will for him. When the image includes another person with whom the subject walked, it's about the relationship that exists within that way of life. So John declares in his first epistle, "Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." Our talk (the professions of abiding in Christ) must be supported by our walk (following in the exemplary footsteps of Jesus).
A walk implies ongoing activity and progress along a path. If we profess to follow Christ, his will should direct our lives, and our lives should reflect his holy character and submission to God.
God "met" with Israel through the covenant he made with them at Mt. Sinai that we call the Law of Moses. But Israel abandoned their covenant vows and turned to idols and ungodly living. So despite their previous relationship with God, they could no longer say they walked with him. In fact, their previous relationship and knowledge of God made them more accountable for their hard hearted disobedience.
Our covenant with God that enables us to walk with him is the new covenant, written in the blood of Jesus. His atonement made our reconciliation possible. When he took our sins upon himself, he made us partakers of his righteousness. He saved us from our sinful past to give us new life in Christ. We no longer follow our own flesh and will; we submit to Jesus as Lord of our lives. That is how we agreed to meet and walk with him.
We are pretending and deceiving ourselves if we think we can claim to know the Lord and continue to live ungodly lives. Our profession not only should match our performance; it must agree with our Lord's will for our lives.
When Israel sinned, God sent Amos and other faithful prophets to warn the people and call them to repentance. When they ignored the warning, God punished them. We ought to take warnings that come to us from the word of God or from a faithful teacher of God's word seriously. Israel had reached the sad state where God said, "They do not know how to do right." Their habitual disobedience hardened their hearts and numbed their consciences until they were in a depraved state of not even knowing how to do right.
God's picture of a shepherd retrieving only small pieces of a sheep after a wolf attack described how the invading Assyrians would devastate the people. Perhaps the leg or the ear that the shepherd retrieved alluded to the very small remnant that would survive the attack and return to God.
We fool ourselves when we think that not walking with God here now can result in a joyful eternity in his presence. Israel's persistence in disobedience doomed them to destruction. We do not want that to happen to us or anyone we know. When God’s word convicts us, we ought to repent, agree with God and walk with him.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—August 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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