Amos 6: The Silence of Those Who Cannot Speak His Name
"### Amos 6: The Silence of Those Who Cannot Speak His Name
3 You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, ""Is anyone else with you?"" and he says, ""No,"" then he will go on to say, ""Hush! We must not mention the name of the LORD."" 12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
1. Grand Worship, Empty Lives
At the height of their prosperity, Northern Israel offered magnificent sacrifices to God. The temple would have been thick with the smoke of offerings, and songs of praise would have pierced the heavens. They firmly believed that such religious fervor would shield them from impending disaster (v. 3). Yet the prophet Amos exposed their faith as a fatal delusion. What they were doing—their very way of life—was actually summoning the day of violence upon themselves.
God looked beyond the form of their worship to its substance, beyond the sacrifices on the altar to the fruit in their lives. They were a holy people within the temple walls, but outside in the marketplace and the courts, they turned justice into poison and made the fruit of righteousness bitter as wormwood (v. 12). Worship divorced from life, praise devoid of justice—these were nothing but hypocritical noise before God. Ultimately, they became tragic figures who worshiped grandly yet perished thoroughly.
2. The Breakdown of Relationship: The Terror of an Unspoken Name
The horror of judgment is compressed into the brief description of verse 10: so many dead that normal burial becomes impossible and bodies must be burned; a desperate conversation confirming the last survivor in a household. But the most terrifying moment overshadowing all this tragedy comes in the final words: ""Hush! We must not mention the name of the LORD.""
The name of Yahweh, once the source of salvation and hope, has now become synonymous with terror and wrath. To call upon a name signifies more than a master-servant relationship—it implies personal, intimate connection. But now they dare not speak God's name. Knowing that very name is the cause of the calamity upon them, they fear invoking it might cost them what little life remains. This is destruction beyond the material—it is the annihilation of the soul, the complete severance of relationship with God. Like Adam hiding from God's voice in Eden, crushed under the weight of sin, they have forfeited even the right to call upon their Creator's name.
3. The Root of Judgment and the Hidden Remnant
The cause of catastrophe is clear: they ""turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness"" (v. 12). But did God identify all of Israel with these hypocritical worshipers? Here we encounter a new question about the remnant. Were there not some, hidden behind the temple's splendor, offering true worship in obscurity?
Between ""those who worship ceremonially with grandeur but lack justice and righteousness in life"" and ""those who practice justice and righteousness in life but lack ceremonial worship,"" who stands closer to God? In light of Amos's cry, the answer is unmistakable. The remnant God seeks is not the religiously prominent, but those who quietly love good and hate evil in their daily lives, embodying God's character. Like the seven thousand in Elijah's day who had not bowed to Baal, they remain unseen by the world yet recognized by God as true worshipers.
4. The Altar of Life: Where Is Your Worship?
This realization fundamentally challenges our conception of worship. If worship is not found in ritual and ceremony, where is true worship? In our very lives themselves. As Romans teaches, we present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is our true spiritual worship. Each of us has our own unique place of worship and prayer, our own altar.
For the merchant, the shop counter where honest scales are used is his sanctuary. For the judge, the courtroom where the poor receive justice is his holy place. For the parent, the dinner table where integrity is taught is his altar. For the citizen, the public square where silence is broken against injustice is his prayer closet.
Amos's warning crosses 2,700 years to ask us today: Does your worship end in the pew on Sunday morning? Is your faith confession proven by the fruit of justice and righteousness in your daily life? God is not waiting for your eloquent profession of faith—He is looking for the sacrifice of honesty and love placed upon the altar of your life."