Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!
Why would you have the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, and not light,
as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
(Amos 5:18-24 ESV)
Nobody likes a rude awakening. Surprise’s evil twin: all the shock, none of the joy; to expect the party but to get the empty house. To expect a joyful homecoming, only to be greeted on the front porch with a 12 gauge and a scowl. How did this turn out so much differently than we had imagined?
For a good many people - I dare say the vast majority, in fact - coming into the unveiled presence of God in eternity will be a much different experience than we have imagined. The Apostle Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face… then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” ( 1 Cor 13:12 ) A terrifying prospect, in truth. This is a holiness not to be trifled with, and we are so often triflers, you and I.
What is the answer to this dilemma? To seek to know the Lord as he actually reveals himself to be, not merely as we might like to imagine him.
