The Book Of Amos. Day 13, Cause And Effect

In Tuesday's study the Lord reminded the people that, of all the nations in the world in that era, they had been provided with the most opportunities to know Him and to understand what it means to live godly lives. He then pointed out that, in spite of knowing the difference between right and wrong, they had mostly chosen to do wrong. Today He moves on to a series of questions that are intended to establish cause and effect. Their repeated refusal to repent is the cause; disaster on their nation is the effect if they continue to refuse to repent.

"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing? Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has the Lord not caused it?" (Amos 3:3-6)

I have chosen to title today's study "Cause And Effect" due to this series of questions. They are rhetorical questions because the Lord does not expect an answer. The answer to each of His questions is clear. It's clear that a cause and effect situation is going on here. Two people are walking along together because they want to enjoy each other's fellowship. A lion roars to lay claim to the prey he caught to warn the other members of his tribe to wait their turn to eat after he does. A lion that's lurking to wait for prey passing by is silent because it doesn't want to alert its prey to its presence. A bird swoops down to check out a trap because the trap has food in it. A trap snaps shut because something has triggered its mechanism. The watchman on a city wall sounds an alarm on the trumpet because he sees an enemy army approaching. The people tremble because they know the trumpet blast is a warning that they are in danger.

Because all these things are true, then what the Lord says in verse 6b is also true: If disaster comes on a city, it is because it is His will for the disaster to come. If the Lord doesn't want a city to be attacked, it's not going to be attacked. If the Lord doesn't want a city to fall, the city isn't going to fall. There are examples of this in the Bible where the Lord took care of the enemy all by Himself without any of His people having to shoot a single arrow. There are also examples in the Bible of the Lord allowing a city to come under attack because it was His will to discipline the inhabitants or, in the cases of the heathen nations who inhabited the promised land before Israel did, because it was His will to destroy a city or to remove a pagan nation or tribe from a region.

The Lord has established the relationship between cause and effect by asking His series of questions and He has reminded the people that nothing can happen anywhere unless He allows it to happen. With that in mind, He points them back to the fact that He has been predicting disaster for Israel and Judah unless a widescale turning away from idolatry takes place. He is threatening to send disaster because so many people have forsaken Him and are bowing down to false gods. If disaster comes, it was caused by their sin. He is not making idle threats. He is fully capable of bringing about the effect their sin has caused. The Lord is righteous and He must judge sin but if the people will repent He can withhold the disaster. He wants to withhold the disaster and that is why He keeps calling prophet after prophet to speak His message to the people. Although He would be within His rights to strike suddenly, since it's not as if the people never had a clear understanding of what He requires of them, He is giving them time to think about their ways and repent of them. This is why He says: "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

The Lord is good to us. Even when we deliberately disobey His holy laws and commandments, His heart's desire is to see us repent and get back on the right path. He takes no pleasure in seeing someone ruin their life. His heart breaks when people imperil their eternal souls by rejecting Him as Lord. Discipline is not intended to destroy us but to keep us from destruction. Just as a loving human father would never dream of idly standing still while his toddler wanders into the roadway, our loving heavenly Father isn't going to stand by and do nothing when He sees us walking straight toward danger. He's going to do whatever is necessary to snatch us out of harm's way, and that often means He has to teach us some uncomfortable lessons, but the uncomfortable lessons are the lessons we don't forget.