Amos – “Yet you have not returned to me.”

The book of Amos in the Bible is a book of warning from God to Israel through the prophet Amos. In the time of Amos, Israel was not the entire Jewish nation, but was the northern kingdom, with Judah as the southern kingdom after the split following Solomon’s reign. Israel had largely turned away from the Lord. Though it still claimed allegiance to him, Israel had set up golden calves in the cities of Bethel and Dan as the gods of Israel, and there was much worship of the Baals, gods of the Canaanites.

In this religious climate God sent Amos to prophesy to Israel. In chapters four and five there is a telling series of statements, each ending with the words, “Yet you have not returned to me.” In this series the Lord tells of judgments on Israel that were a warning of worse judgment to come if there were not repentance. The first judgment was a shortage of food, picturesquely described as “I also have given you cleanness of teeth.” “Yet you have not returned to me.”

The next judgment is a lack of rain. “Yet you have not returned to me.”

The destruction of crops. “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Plagues such as those in Egypt. “Yet you have not returned to me.”

The destruction in warfare of some cities as thoroughly as were Sodom and Gomorrah, with the nation barely surviving as a firebrand snatched from the fire. “Yet you have not returned to me.”

Then comes the dreaded “Therefore,” the final judgment. Therefore, God says, “Prepare to meet your God…. Hear this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, house of Israel. The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will no more rise: she is cast down on her land; there is none to raise her up.”

This is exactly what happened. God gave a series of warning judgments, but when none of these were heeded, he brought final destruction. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., and the people were deported and never returned. “There is none to raise her up.” That kingdom was never recovered.

I think that these Old Testament warnings of judgment are still relevant today, and in our case, to our nation. America was raised up by God for his purposes and was founded on Judeo-Christian biblical principles. We have never been a perfect nation with everyone following the Lord, but that was the foundation and there was respect for God and the Bible and its teachings. That respect for God and biblical values have obviously eroded seriously. There is even much denial of God’s existence, hatred of God, and especially of the Lord Jesus, and plain old turning away from God. Our nation is soaked in immorality, hedonism, materialism, relativism, and so on. I am not a prophet, but I am a student of the Bible and a believer in it. I believe that we have come to a point in our country where we deserve serious judgment from God. It may be that the coronavirus that is plaguing our land is a warning judgment from God. Not being a prophet I cannot say that with certainty, but I believe we had better listen up. The Lord may be saying to our country that the neglect of warning judgments will lead to final judgment with “none to raise her up.”

Wake up, America! Listen up, America! And you who know the Lord, join the millions who are praying for our country, not so that we may personally continue to enjoy our peaceful and prosperous way of life, but so that our Lord may receive the respect, worship, and obedience that he deserves. May he have his rightful place in our country.