Thursday, April 10, 2014

Amos 5



Such sweeping imagery in Amos 5, it's no surprise that Martin Luther King, along with many others, have been mesmerized with the power of this chapter:
"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing streams."  Amos 5:21-24
From Constable's Notes:
"Instead of feasts and fasts, instead of offerings and sacrifices, instead of singing and playing musical instruments, the Lord said He wanted justice and righteousness (cf. v. 7). Instead of a constant stream of blood flowing from sacrifices, and an endless torrent of verbal and ritual praise from His people, He wanted these ethical qualities to flow without ceasing from them. The Israelites were inundating Him with rivers of religiosity, but He wanted rivers of righteousness.
“Only when the personal concern of the law is incorporated into their social structure and ‘rightness’ characterizes their dealings with others will their worship be acceptable. A token practice of justice and righteousness will not do.” [82]
This is the key verse in the book since it expresses so clearly what God wanted from His people. It is a clear statement of the importance of moral and ethical righteousness over mere ritual worship."

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