The Almighty demands strict obedience to His Law/Word/Truth/Gospel/Will.  Time and time again He tells salvation seekers that in order to inherit His promised salvation in the future and to receive His promised blessings in the present one must obey His Law from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.  Such obedience causes Him and His Son to love the obedient one and to perform the blessings He has promised to him/her (Mat. 19:17/ Jn. 15:10).  Such obedience also proves one’s love for the Godhead (Jn. 14:15,23).  For convenience, He condensed His Law into Ten Commandments which cover every aspect of His Genesis to Revelation Law.  He also wrote them in stone and did not allow man to physically touch them, knowing that if allowed to do so, man would take chisel and hammer in hand and change them.  Alas, what man could not do physically, he has done spiritually.  However, his efforts to correct God have no effect on either Him or His Truth.  He is “… the way, the TRUTH, and the life.  He is “… the Lord who CHANGES NOT.”  But are these quotes actually really true?  It depends on whom one asks.  Unanimous Catholic/Protestant consensus holds that the Lord who supposedly has saved them was not being totally honest.  And they have “proof” of that “truth.”  And it involves a passage in the Book of Amos which, along with “human experience,” supposedly “proves” that the God Who supposedly has a mansion awaiting them in heaven is far from honest.

Before moving into the Book of Amos I will speak to those who believe that the Old Testament was nullified some 2000 years ago and therefore plays no part in the life of the New Testament church.  Let us not forget that what was written by the Old Testament prophets was preserved as the Lord’s teaching tool for those living in the end times, meaning “us (the church) upon whom the end of the world has come” (1 Cor. 10:11).  Let us also be reminded that the New Testament Church was founded upon the teachings of the PROPHETS and the apostles (Eph. 2:20).  And let us rest assured that “ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD” (2 Tim. 3:14-16).  With those Godly Truths in mind, let us move on to the book written by the Prophet Amos where we find one of the “contradictions” Bible doubters use to “prove” that their doubts are legitimate.

Admittedly, what Amos has to say does seem to legitimize the doubts of the vast majority of professing Christendom.  In fact, I have heard our focal passage quoted to “prove” that the Old Testament was “nailed to the cross” and is therefore no longer of spiritual significance.  However, as I am prone to point out, the “headline Truth” that is our focal passage can be understood only by consulting the other Truths, which I refer to as God’s “fine print.”  God is in the fine print.  In every case in which church people attempt to edit God’s Word, His “fine print” always proves Old Testament nay-sayers, along with New Testament “sinning saints,” to be wrong.  Now let us turn to Amos 5:21-23,25 to find the popular “headline” that makes Bible doubters giddy with glee.

Here God tells Israel and Judah that He “hates” it when they celebrate their feast days and when they assemble together to worship Him.  He states that He hates their sacrificial meat offerings and peace offerings, that He hates the sounds of their singing and their musical instruments.  ALL OF WHICH HE HAS COMMANDED THEM TO DO.  Why is the unchanging God chastising His chosen people, whom He said were “… the only people I have known of all the families of the earth” (3:1,2)?  Why is He angry with them for doing exactly what He had earlier commanded them to do?  Did He change His mind without telling them?  Had he changed His code of conduct without letting them know?  Was He so unfair as to punish them for doing what they had been commanded to do?  The short answer is: “No.”  The long answer will uncover the Truth behind the Lord’s wrath toward the Israelites.  By consulting the Lord’s “fine print” we will learn why He hated their acts of obedience.

Notice the Lord’s statement in part b of 3:2: “… THEREFORE, I will PUNISH YOU (the only people He has “known”) FOR all of your INIQUITIES” (Lawlessness).  This lets us know that He was not angry at Israel because of their obedience to His commands; He was angry at them because of their breaking of His Law, which is His unchangeable definition of sin which He makes perfectly clear in His Holy Bible.  It reads: “To transgress (break) the Law is sin; for sin is the transgression of the Law” (1 Jn.3:4).  Note that God’s current definition of sin is exactly the same as His ancient definition of sin–THE BREAKING OF HIS LAW–INIQUITY  (see 3:2b).  Note also that those who practice iniquity now in the “Church Age” will be told by Jesus Christ: “I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice INIQUITY” (Mat. 7:22,23).  Note that those people Jesus does not know will call Him their Lord and remind Him of the wonderful works they have done.

By reading the first four chapters of the Book of Amos one will learn that the Lord views church people who do not obey Him the same as non-church people who do not obey Him.  Note that He will punish both groups in the same way and for the same reason–SIN.  Sin is sin, regardless of the religious status of the sinner.  The wages of sin is death for both the churched and the unchurched.

The moral of this posting is that no matter how much we pray, study the Bible, fast, go to church, preach, give, smile, etc., IT IS ALL “IN VAIN” if we do not obey God’s Law (Mat. 15:9).  As He said, He despises/hates our praying, studying, church-going, singing, tithing, good deeds, preaching, baptizing, etc. if those acts are not accompanied by obedience.  I highly recommend that you read First John very carefully.  No one voices the above stated Truths like “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  L.J.