Amos 4 reminds me of weigh-ins for wrestling. This was the moment before a match when you stood on a scale to confirm you were under the required limit. Hours of sweat and sacrifice lead up to that point, and there was always uncertainty when using the other team’s scale. It is important to remember that the weigh-in was just a formality before the actual competition. Many today think one day God will hold a scale and place all of our good works on one side and place our bad stuff on the other. Then they will watch and hope the needle points just enough toward the good side to “get in”. The result of this kind of faith is that many gestures of kindness are done simply to make sure they are noticed. Please understand that God knows the motivation behind the action. The chapter begins with Amos blasting the heavyweights, “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan… you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, ‘Bring us some drinks!’” These women of leisure are depicted as gluttonous takers. Amos continues, “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks“. These beefy babes will be pulled like beasts into captivity. Amos provides the background, “Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning… and brag about your freewill offerings boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do“. In other words they pig-out all week on sin, and then drop a few coins in the tip jar on Sunday to offset it. Have you been tipping God?
God continues with some familiar descriptions to the lightweights, “I gave you empty stomachs… yet you have not returned to Me“. I know people that are feeling empty inside, but still refuse to change. “I also withheld rain from you… One field had rain; another had none and dried up“, they did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to Me“. Friend, are you thirsty?
The rest of the chapter focuses on the fruitlessness of the middleweights. “I struck your gardens and vineyards… yet you have not returned to Me“. Have your home and leisure activities become unsatisfying? “I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to Me“. There may be no smellier place on the planet than a boy’s high school locker room! Do things at work stink? “You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to Me“. Some of us have even come through some close calls, but still failed to notice the hand of God. To those just worrying about the weigh-in, He reminds them that the scale is not the important thing. “Prepare to meet your God… the Lord God Almighty is His name“. Every other thing will fall away. My friend, if you have been sweating over your own worthiness? Please stop, Jesus Christ is our once and for all sacrifice. He has already won the victory on the cross. Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). Is it time to stop wresting against the enemy’s scale?