#DailyDevotion Are You Prepared For The LORD’s Day?
Amos 5 16There’s a reason why the LORD, the God of armies, says: “They will weep in all the market places and say in all the streets, ‘Woe! Woe!’ They will call the farmer to weep and tell the skilled mourners, ‘Mourn!’ 17In all the vineyards there will be mourning because I’m going to pass through you,” says the LORD.
The reason is because of what He said in the previous verses: they love lies, they oppress the poor, they hate justice and they refuse correction. This is what we are experiencing in our own day. A country that was once taught the Word of the LORD now despises it. Will we escape destruction anymore than the Israelites did?
So the LORD warns them. He is going to pass through them and they will experience His judgment. He warns them in hopes they may repent. “Woe! Woe!’ the LORD cries. This should have us remember the woes the LORD says will come upon Babylon the Great in Revelation. She traffics in human souls, perverts true religion to serve the cause of business, making money and wealth, traffics in sexual immorality. The LORD accused Israel of these things in their day. The LORD will accuse us, our country of the same things on the Day of the LORD.
18Woe to you who long for the LORD’s day! What good can the LORD’s day bring you? It is darkness and not light. 19It is like a man running away from a lion, and a bear attacks him. Then he comes into the house and leans with his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him. 20Isn’t the LORD’s day dark, not light, gloomy, with nothing bright in it?
Speaking of the LORD’s day, the LORD tells them they should not look forward to it. For they have deceived themselves into thinking the LORD was going to deliver them on that day. But judgment begins with the house of the LORD. He will and did judge them first. We should rightly examine ourselves according to the Word of the LORD and make sure we are truly living repentant lives. Are we rightly accusing ourselves of the evil deeds, thoughts and speech we commit daily? Are we confessing the LORD is right and we are wrong as we judge ourselves according to the Sermon on the Mount or are we trying to justify our sins?
What happened on the LORD’s Day to Israel? They ran from a lion and a bear attacked them. They lean against a wall to catch their breath and a serpent bites them. This is to say they will not escape His judgment no matter how hard they try. It is a day of gloom and doom and not a day of light for them. When He executed judgment upon them there was no escaping it. The Assyrians and Israel’s neighbors all came upon them, destroyed their cities, their sanctuaries, and their towns. They killed the people of Israel and the survivors were exiled and sold into slavery to their enemies.
We, therefore, should make sure we are properly judging ourselves according to the Word of God. We should turn from our sins, confess them and look to Jesus’ blood for our salvation. If we judge ourselves rightly, the LORD will not judge us. When we put our faith in Jesus, His death on the cross is the fulfillment of our punishment we deserve. Living this way, we may indeed look forward to the Day of the LORD trusting in Christ Jesus’ work for us.
Heavenly Father, grant us truly contrite hearts and broken spirits so we may truly look to Christ Jesus alone for our salvation and escape the judgment on His great and terrible day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.