“Keep silent!”
(Amos 8:3c)
“…and they will
never be uprooted again.”
(Amos 9:15)
Keep silent! Last
time I was reflecting on the fascinating question of who was actually speaking
in the Bible, especially when it was supposed to be God. But now, I am wondering: Who is being spoken to? The other morning, sitting on the porch with
my coffee and my Bible, waving to the few people who walk by at 6:45 in the
morning, listening to the cars pass on the distant tollway, and wondering what
will be for breakfast, I was reading this section of Amos and getting kind of
lulled into a scriptural stupor by all the woes and unto yous and
thus says the Lords –as often happens when I am reading—my mind began to
wonder. I probably was starting to drift off into a daydream of famine and
drought, locust and destruction when all of a sudden I read:
That day, the
palace songs
will turn to
howls,
--declares the
Lord, Your God—
the corpses will
be many
that are thrown
down everywhere.
Keep silent!
And I was startled out of my drowsing. I was stunned by how direct that final
command felt. And my immediate thought was: who is God talking to?
Was He talking to the Israelites who are howling in their
palaces and throwing bodies everywhere? Telling
them to hold it down; what did they expect after all their sin and
betrayal? Was He talking to Amos? Telling the prophet to keep this horrible
secret to himself; i.e. Keep this between us! Don’t speak a word! Don’t
tell the Israelites what is in store for them! Let it be a surprise.
A little research and I soon discovered that other
translations have interpreted that “Keep silent” as a description of how the
bodies of the slaughtered will be disposed: “Many shall be the bodies. They
shall cast them forth in silence.” (NASB)
But I was still struck by that “Keep silent.” It sat there
in front of me; a directive, a command even.
And I couldn’t help but wonder, if this is God’s word, in the end isn’t God
really talking to me? I was the one
reading it? I was the one whose mind was wandering. Whose head was full of blue
jays and car sounds and strollers and scrambled eggs. I was the one who was drifting
aimlessly through God’s word, watching only for some new phrase to hang another
essay on. I wasn’t really paying attention.
I was too busy being distracted by all the voices in my head…
Keep silent.
And from that moment on, I was focused. The voices inside
me, the distracted anxious voices telling me I was wasting my time stopped. They
were quiet. Even that voice that kept asking about those dishes in the sink
from last night. Shouldn’t I get to those first. After I finished those dishes
and made another pot of coffee, then I’d be able to give the Word of God the
attention it deserved! Then… then… then… For the moment, they were all still.
Silent. And I read on.
Toward the end of Amos there is a beautiful simple
statement:
“…and they will
never be uprooted again.” (9:15)
Reading that I began to ponder anew: In hindsight what does
a statement like that mean to a people who were to see their temple destroyed, their
kingdom conquered, and so many dragged off into exile? A people who have (it
seems) never really known the kind of stability it seems to promise; at least
not for over 2500 years?
It comes at the end of a prophecy of destruction; God’s
wrath unleashed. And yet God promises to
plant them in their own soil and “they will never be uprooted again.” It
seems to be a promise of peace and harmony, of permanence and stability in
Israel. And yet, reading this promise 2500+ years later, one has to ask: Is it just some words in a story? Is it a
fairy tale? Some kind of magical thinking? Or worse, a lie?
If it is a prophecy of God’s chosen people finding permanence
and stability in the Promised Land, then it seems like foolishness. Historically
the Jews have been displaced time and again.
But, as I sat –being silent—quietly contemplating this
phrase, I began to wonder: is it possible God means something else entirely? Is
it possible God is speaking not to a limited group of people here, but to all
of His people everywhere. Is it possible
that this promise, though made specifically through the prophet Amos to the
people of Israel, was actually meant to transcend that time and place; was
meant not for a specific tribe or race, but for all God’s children? It is a promise
to all of us, from God, that we can never again be uprooted; because He has
planted us beyond the reach of the one who would uproot us.
The LOVE of God became flesh, became a gardener (cf. John 20:15), a gardener who plants the
seed so deep and so true it can never be uprooted. And His plow, His shovel,
His spade, is the Cross. By His plow He opens the universe, opens eternity, opens
even His own heart, and plants us so deeply within His love that we can never
again be uprooted.
It is not by our efforts that we are saved, not by our lack
of sin, but simply by His love, His grace, His Cross. The peace, the harmony, the stability comes
not from our prayers, not from our fasting or sacrifices, not from any
restraint or self-control on our part, but from God’s love.
However, teaching our ears to hear and appreciate the
harmony and beauty in God’s love takes some effort, at least for some of us. We can’t find peace in it while we are
letting our ego wnder, our eyes wander, our desires wander freely, and so we
may find ourselves tugging at our own roots, agitated by wants and old nurtured
longings. And so, in such cases, we may
find that prayer and fasting make good choir masters for the soul. They can
help us train our ear to hear in God’s mysterious melody a beauty and glory we
could never imagine on our own. All our desires are fulfilled in it, this
endless glorious song of permanence and peace, if only we allow ourselves to hear
it.
If only we “keep silent” and listen.
