Amos 5:16 - Meaning and Application

Here is a very serious warning of destruction coming close, in Amos 5:16-17. Since the people would not take the right path to gain God’s favor, God would take a sure path to make them feel the weight of his displeasure. The warning comes with unusual solemnity, to impress them with fear. It is not just the prophet speaking, which they might ignore. It is the Lord Jehovah, the God who has eternal existence, the God of hosts, who has unlimited power, and Adonai, the Lord with full authority and rule over all.

He says that the land of Israel will be filled with mourning. It will be true grief, with lamentation in every place because of the disasters coming on them. In the cities, there will be crying in the streets, both the main streets and the side streets. In the countryside, people will cry out in the highways, “Alas, alas, we are ruined!” The mourning will be so great that it cannot stay indoors or remain quiet and orderly. It will be shouted in public places and spread everywhere.

The husbandman, or farmer, will be called away from the plow by the troubles of the land, and he will join in the natural sorrow of the people. Those skilled in mourning will also be called, not because they truly feel the grief as deeply as the others, but to help give voice to it. Even the vineyards, which were once places of joy, will be filled with crying. A foreign army will invade, sweep everything away, and leave no way to resist. Then prayers and tears will be the only weapons left.

The land of Israel will be brought to ruin, and the beginning of that ruin will cause all this wailing. God says, “I will pass through you,” just as the destroying angel passed through Egypt to strike the firstborn, while passing over Israel’s houses. God had often passed by them in judgment before, but now he would pass through them in full force.

The prophet then sharply rebukes those who treated these warnings lightly and dared God’s justice, Amos 5:18. “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord.” Some longed for war and confusion because they had restless hearts, or because they hoped to profit from disorder and build their families on the ruins of their country. But the prophet warns that this day would bring such a ruin that no one could gain from it. Others were speaking from bitter distress, wishing for death and release from their misery, as Job once did in his pain. The prophet shows the foolishness of that desire. Do they know what death is for someone who is not ready for it, and how much worse it is than anything that can happen in this life?

More likely, he is speaking to those who mocked the day of the Lord that the prophet had spoken of so seriously. They challenged it, saying, in effect, “Let God do his worst. Let him hurry up.” That shows they did not really believe the warning. They also did not fear it. Even if they had some belief, they gave it so little thought that they felt no real danger. Their conscience did not dread it, but their curiosity wanted to see it.

In response, the prophet shows the folly of wishing for any of God’s judgments and making fun of the terrors of the Lord. “What good will it do you for the day of the Lord to come?” You will find it certain and sad. It is not something to joke about. It is not a matter of whether it will come, but when. And when it does come, it will be dark, not light, Amos 5:18, Amos 5:20. Their own consciences should tell them this. The day of the Lord will be dark and gloomy for all unrepentant sinners. The day of judgment will be like that, and so will the days of some present troubles. When God makes a day dark, no one can turn it into light.

He also shows the foolishness of those who impatiently wanted one judgment to end so that the next would be easier. They desired the day of the Lord in hopes of improving their condition, even though they had not changed their hearts or lives. Or they wanted at least to know the worst. But the prophet says they do not know what they are asking, Amos 5:19. It is like fleeing from a lion only to meet a bear, a fiercer and more dangerous beast. Or it is like escaping danger outside, going into the house for safety, leaning on the wall to rest, and then being bitten by a snake.

Those who are not changed by God’s judgments will keep being pursued by them. If they escape one, another is ready to seize them. Fear, the pit, and the trap surround them (Isaiah 24:17-18). So it is madness to mock or challenge the day of the Lord.