The challenge to confront our false cultural beliefs
Amos 5:18-27
A commonly raised objection to the Christian faith is, ‘If God is love, how can He judge and condemn people?’ Behind the question are a host of cultural assumptions. For instance, God’s love is taken as self-evident even though other religions do not teach it.[1] Non-Christians, in fact, get it from the Bible but then define it according to how our culture understands love: non-judgmental, tolerant and always forgiving. Condemnation – even by God – is deemed offensive because of the conviction that there are no moral absolutes and everyone has the right to decide how they want to live (so long as they do not harm others). Only as we deconstruct the assumptions behind the question and see what God requires in Scripture that we understand what God’s love means and why He may judge us.
False beliefs in the ancient world
The issue Israelites have here is similar in that they fuse cultural beliefs about what God requires with what He has revealed about His love and choice of Israel. The prevalent cultural assumption of the ancient world is that there are many gods and their worship is not at all mutually exclusive. The way to please the gods is to ‘feed’ them by offering sacrifices.[2] Morality and ethical living simply have nothing to do with it. Given Israel’s fervent worship (Amos 4:4-5), they are convinced that God loves them as His people and will protect them from all harm (e.g. Jer 7:8-10; 23:16-17; Isa 30:10). The popular belief at this time is that one day God will deal with all Israel’s enemies and usher in a time of peace and prosperity (the day of the LORD). However, Amos and other prophets state that the long awaited ‘day’ will not be of salvation but darkness and inescapable ruin (Amos 5:18-20, cf. Joel 2:1-2; Zeph 1:14-17; Mal 3:1-2) – unless Israel repents.
God confronts with what pleases Him
That Israel has bought into the ancient cultures’ beliefs is implicit in God’s condemnation. They may be fervent in their worship, but God rejects their feasts, sacrifices and enthusiastic music because they have neglected personal integrity and not treated each other fairly (Amos 5:21-24).[3] Such attitudes must be demonstrated consistently as a constant flow (v.24) rather than a seasonal stream that dries up in the summer heat. If they needed proof that God’s priority is not sacrifice, they should have remembered their wilderness wanderings. Although we read elsewhere of some sacrifices offered during this time (e.g. Exod 24:5; 40:29), God’s rhetorical question suggests that this was not a regular occurrence (Amos 5:25). Despite besetting sins and problems, the desert experience was remembered as a time of great intimacy with the Lord (e.g. Hos 2:14-15) – even without much sacrifice! Additionally, Israelites see no conflict between their worship of the Lord (Amos 5:22) and carrying around the images of other gods. Not only does this show divided loyalty but it also involves the worship of images; two issues that the ten commandments warn against (Exod 20:3-4). Israel’s wake-up call will be their exile beyond Damascus (i.e. to Assyria; Amos 5:27).
What cultural beliefs deceive us?
What cultural beliefs deceive us today into thinking that we are doing the right thing while we disregard what God is teaching in His Word? This is a hard question because, immersed in our culture, we take many of its assumptions for granted. We may be inclined to think that God’s love is primarily about ensuring our happiness. Faced with hardship, we can feel angry or hurt that God treats us unfairly. Since the West is so permissive about acceptable lifestyles, it can be hard to acknowledge and avoid what the Bible calls sin. In musical worship we may prefer songs that cater to our emotional needs rather than those that focus on the Lord. Of course, the latter feeds our heart too, but this is the byproduct of worshipping Him not the priority. Since our culture considers religion a private matter, Sunday worship may become compartmentalised from our life during the week, so that what centres us is ‘God plus something’. May we become so immersed in Scripture and in learning what pleases God that we subordinate all to Him.
[1] The exceptions are Judaism, which derives its concepts of God from the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament), and to some degree Islam, which also relies on the above for some of its ideas.
[2] While evidence for ancient Near Eastern prophecies is somewhat limited, what documents are available suggest that if the gods were displeased, it was mainly to do with the king not bringing them sacrifices as was their due. Below is a short excerpt from the Nineveh oracles, from the goddess Ishtar to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (Martti Nissinen, Prophets and Prophecy in the ANE [Atlanta: SBL, 2003], 122-23).
As if I had not done or given to you anything! Did I not bend and give to you the four doorjambs of Assyria [four major cities]? Did I not vanquish your enemy? Did I not gather your foes and adversaries like butterflies? What have you, in turn, given to me? The food for the banquet is not there, as if there were no temple at all! My food is withheld from me, my drink is withheld from me! I am longing for them, I have fixed my eyes upon them. Verily, see to it that there is a bowl of one seah of food and a pitcher of one seah of best beer! Then I will take and put vegetables and soup in my mouth, fill the cup and drink from it. I want to restore my charms!
[3] It is a mistake, however, to assume that the prophets advocated against sacrifices. This cannot be because God Himself required these in the Law He had given. At this time, sacrifices were an important means to teach Israel the principles about cleansing from sin, forgiveness, how one could come into God’s presence and have fellowship. What Amos and others are saying about sacrifices and ethical living is not an either-or but a both-and statement. Worshipping God should involve not only sacrifices but also living with integrity.
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