Amos 4:13: You Didn't Come Back To Me

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.”

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name. - Amos 4:12-13

What is God like? This is a question which has dominated the thinking of people for most of recorded history. Maybe there was one god in their thinking, maybe there were many. Whichever, the question as to the nature of God (or gods) and what he/they require has skewed nearly every field of human endeavor in one direction or another-art, government, religion, music, architecture, and festivals. Only in recent years has the notion of God has receded from the popular imagination.

God is not silent. We are not listening. In the book written by the prophet Amos, God has tried nearly every possible means of communication to get through to the people he loves, to warn them about the direction they're headed, to save them from self-destructive behavior, to cry and weep the type of people they have become, to find a way of forgiveness and reconciliation. But the refrain from Amos, chapter 4-five times-is "yet you have not returned to me."

Let's not rush over that phrase. Some people look at the prophets and they see an angry God. Always "you did this, therefore I'm going to bop you on the head." Cosmic little bunny foo foo. But that misses the point. At the heart of the message of every prophet is a God who is heart-broken over men and women--his people--who have forgotten the special relationship they have with God.

You can't just put the God relationship on maintenance mode. You can't do that with your spouse. You can't do that with your kids. You can't do that with your close friends. And you certainly can't do it with God. He notices. He is hurt. He is not some spiritual force, a law of nature or a principle--he is a person. And because of who God is, neglect in that relationship hurts us, because our DNA was designed to thrive in an environment of loving interaction with God.

Someone once said that there are two types of people: those who believe in the power of words and those who don't. If God wants the relationship with you so bad, what language is he going to have to speak in order to communicate the urgency and necessity of fixing things up with him? Well, he has the prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all those other weird short books at the end of the first half of the Bible--the Old Testament.

Then, if words don't work for you--if actions speak louder than words--he will switch to a language you do understand: your bottom line, your health, your family, your business. Amos, in the 4th chapter, lists a scenario where, literally, one farmer is getting rain for his crops and just over the fence line, another farmer is experiencing drought. The whole thing is set up to remind the farmer of that story they used to learn back in Sabbath school about the plagues in Egypt.

God is not silent. We are not listening. He continues to "reveal his thoughts" by any means necessary because there is nothing more important for you-as a person-than to be restored to a life-fulfilling relationship with God.

Now this raises a whole boat-load of questions: Who does God think he is? What right does he have to do this kind of thing? How can God claim to be good and still allow all of the stuff that's listed in this chapter?

That's good. Keep those questions coming. Because it comes back to the fundamental question I asked at the beginning of this article: What is God like? Much of the Bible is written to give us a no-holds barred answer to this question: Is God good? That is the question, isn't it? From the serpent in the garden until the end of Revelation, the Bible records incident after incident of God's dealings with us. It doesn't try to sugar coat anything with an "life with God is gravy" message, but still the Bible's answer is a resounding, "Yes"

It is not enough for the Bible to say it. We must say it. God is good. We trust-that relationship word-a good God. God is a whatever-it-takes God. Amos calls him Lord God Almighty-the one who can and will do what he wants. And what he wants-more than his son's life-is for you to be close to him. It is a dangerous presumption for you to ask God to prove himself to you, and then do nothing when he reveals himself. Stripping away every excuse, our heart is revealed--either barren stubbornness or else brokenness.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18 

Exodus 31: Novelty Is Revealing The Temporarily Hidden

But there's no such thing as the unknown-- only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. - James T. Kirk, The Corbomite Maneuver

For my company, I regularly put on a half-day workshop on the topics of patents because of my experience. One of the key requirements for an invention is that it must be novel. It must not be obvious. Someone from my field (a "man of the art") must look at the existing materials or components and look at the resulting invention and agree that it is new.

Now, as an apprentice of Jesus, this seems a bit ironic because I am sure that God is not surprised by what I've invented. At no point did God look at my finished work and scratch his head and say, "Gee, I wish I'd thought of that." No, God is the engineer and he invites me to delight in discovering what he already knows. I am following after Him.

There are two aspects the creative work product where we are invited to enjoy beauty. I call these the craft and the art. These may not be the right technical terms, but I use them because they are broad enough to include many fields of endeavor which are not traditionally thought of in terms of beauty.

The first is craft. That is, there is a beauty that is found in a work crafted or put together. The brush stroke or well-honed line of prose or the arched span of a bridge or portal. Or even an elegant line of code, a well-arranged interior or beautifully integrated garden. One of my favorite books is Beautiful Code. Software may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is a definite appreciation-programmer to programmer-for the way lines of code come together to implement an algorithm with no more lines and no fewer lines than necessary.

The second is art. Art is something that creates an environment in which others can thrive. Good paintings or photographs draw you in and view the world from a new, enriching perspective. Good books or theater or movies lead you to truth through the drama of the characters. Good software lets you interact with data seamlessly.

Let me give you an example from the Bible.

See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts - Exodus 31:2-5

God picked out Bezalel because he was an excellent craftsman. He was recognized as skilled and artistic. Other craftsmen saw what he did and could recognize the beauty of the designs in metal, precious stones and wood. This is craft.

Then the Bible continues:

Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent...and also the woven garments...and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. - Exodus 31:6b-11a.

Notice the environment that their craft was creating: an environment for worship-in the architecture, in accessories, in the clothing, and even in the smell. This is the art. It can also be found in a palace (1 Kings 7), in words of wisdom (Proverbs 1; Psalm 119), in the human body (Psalm 139) and the stars (Psalm 19), of which is put into place as an environment for thriving.

I still try to be novel and create new things--at least new to me. Often I ask God for help in the craft and art of computer programming, because I know he enjoys my delight in what I find after him, in both the art and the craft.