Interaction

Amos 4:6-13

 So, throughout history, men have attributed certain actions to God.

Amos (speaking as the voice of God): I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town.
                                                             I kept the rain from falling when you needed it the most.
                                                             I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.
                                                             I sent plagues on you.
                                                             I killed your young men in war.
                                                             I destroyed some of your cities.
                                                             Prepare to meet your God as he comes in judgment.

It's no different today. Anytime someone speaks about God, giving a characteristic of how God is, they are attributing something to the divine. Anytime someone says that God does something, they are attributing action to the divine.

But, how do they know?

When we read a book or listen to a lecture, we are reading into and listening into an author or speaker's conception of something. We are opening our minds to somebody else's perception of the world around them, seeing if we can gain anything from what they have to say.

And in this culture, it was common for an author to tell God stories in first person - to take on the voice of God to make it more realistic for the audience. Why? Because when they were first told, it wasn't written.

If your only media outlet is telling and dramatizing stories, then it makes sense to make it seem as real as possible by playing the part of the divine, or, role playing.

So, things like famine, hunger, war, killing young men in battle, destroying cities, and judgment, are things that are not only common to the particular culture, but very much attributed to the gods.

But, to be a really good storyteller and to make the Jerusalem Times Best Seller List, you have to have a story worth listening to. And this is where the author of Amos jumps to the top. If all the gods of the time are attributed with acts of war, judgment, killing, famine, and hunger, then what makes this author's depiction of the gods different?

We find the answer in the last line of each stanza of this passage:

But you didn't return to me. But you didn't return to me. But you didn't return to me. But you didn't return to me. But you didn't return to me.

For the first time in history, there is a God who's not just a czar of the heavens, raining on one field and drying up another. There is a God who's about interacting with humanity. There's a God who's concerned about relationship, and wants humans to stop worrying so much about appeasing, and fearing, and sacrificing. This God wants humans to return to himself - to reunite, come back, sit and chat, and fellowship.

This God wants to build a friendship, and with friendship comes compromise and dependence and trust and communication.