AMOS 1:1-2 TOO GOOD TO BE SAFE

1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 2 He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.”

Twenty-one centuries of Christianity have taught us to think of God in Jesus Christ as the Lamb, and a silent and slaughtered lamb at that. But our God is greater than any single metaphor. Amos the shepherd introduces us to the reality of God as a roaring lion. A reading of Amos will cure us of any of our misconceptions of the nature of God. He is no doting and senile old duffer, or Santa Claus, or even a cosmic kill joy. When God has the prophet name him the Lord roars, he is revealing his nature for all time. God is the sovereign judge and the power with which to be reckoned.

This lion is not confined to the Temple and not speaking idly into the air. His roar is the roar of the hunting lion as he pounces on his prey. But are we his prey? If so, then this is a message of hopelessness and despair. For the prey it is a message of future pain, suffering and a terrible death. Anyone who has been to the zoo at feeding time or watched a hunt in the wild on the Discovery Channel knows the terrible reality of the kill and devouring of the prey. How can this be the nature of the God we are to worship?

As C.S. Lewis puts on the lips of Mrs. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the great Lion is good, but he is not safe. Indeed, it is his perfect goodness that brooks no evil that makes him dangerous. God is merciful and steadfast in is love, but he will ultimately hunt down and exterminate evil. In him the lion and the lamb dwell together. The lamb is our Savior, who died for us, so that through repentance and faith we might be saved. The lion is the judge, who destroys all evil, and therefore, those who are unrepentant are his prey, even among the flock and on the high places.

As in the days of Amos, today we must recognize God as being too good to save us by overlooking evil. In his love and mercy he does not ignore our sins, but he destroys our sin in his crucified Son if we repent of those sins and believe in Christ.

Thank you, Lord for revealing your nature to me through the prophet and teaching me how seriously you take sin and evil. Turn my heart toward you. Teach me to examine myself daily so that I might repent of my sins and continue to live under your mercy. Amen.