An invigorating research

Saturday April 10, 2021

An invigorating research

Look for me, and you will live ! Do not look in Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not go to Beër-Sheba, for Gilgal will be exiled and Bethel will become a ruin. Seek the Lord, and you shall live ! Amos 5:4-6

After sternly denouncing the sins of Judah and Israel, God accurately announces what the punishments will be. Then he reveals to the people the way to escape judgment. Though rightly angered, God does not willingly afflict men (Lamentation 3:33). In the verse quoted, God appeals to the hearts of the Israelites twice : Seek me (v. 4), seek the Lord (v. 6). He wants to re-establish a trusting relationship with the culprits. This is why, in today's verse, God denounces the traditional practices of pilgrimage which do not engage the heart of the one who observes them.

Bethel, the house of God (Genesis 28:19), had been the ark's abode and a place of worship (Judges 20:26-28); Samuel judged Israel there (1 Samuel 7:16). But Jeroboam I made it the center of a sinful idolatry (1 Kings 12:26-33). Also, what God revealed there and the worship he received there has disappeared and there is no point in looking for this place.

Gilgal (meaning rolling) is no longer the place of healing where the humiliation experienced in Egypt was rolled away (Joshua 5:8,9). The memory of the crossing of the Jordan, of the circumcision (Joshua 4:20 ; 5:7-9), all is erased ; all that remains is wickedness and idolatry (Hosea 9:15 ; 12:12). So no need to go there.

At Beër-Sheba (well of the oath)... the trace of the wells of Abraham and Isaac, the revelation of God to Jacob (Genesis 46:1-5) are well forgotten. Why go there ?

All these places are no longer alive in the memory of the Israelites. Their visit no longer corresponds to a search for God, but to the celebration of a simple rite.

Today as yesterday, one can attend a place of worship (Bethel), but if it is not to seek the presence of our Lord there, what fruit is there for God ? We can also claim to be dead and resurrected with Christ (Gilgal), but do we see it in our lives ? Do we drink from the source of all blessing (Beër-Sheba) or only from the memory of what it was for our predecessors ?

The Christian life is about cultivating an intimate relationship with God. Let us seek the Lord, that is the only way to live and know life abundantly (John 10:10).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)