I lived in eastern Iowa for a decade. Every Wednesday a tornado warning siren would blare over the air. My family and I quickly learned that this was only a test, and we grew to ignore them. But occasionally the siren would blare at a different time, and we would scramble to the basement in haste. The siren was calling us to take immediate action so we would live!

The prophets of Israel are often characterized as full of judgment and destruction. But we can also look at them as God’s warning sirens. During the days of Amos, Israel was not living according to the covenant, so God sent the prophet with a warning. “Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel” (v. 4). By inviting the people to seek Him, God was sounding the alarm.

This alarm also warned them where not to go. Bethel was an infamous city in Israel. Generations before, a king named Jeroboam had built a temple to a false god there (1 Kings 12:29). As a result, he led the nation into idolatrous worship and away from the Lord. Years later, Bethel continued to be a place where people went to sacrifice and pray to a pagan deity. Like a family fleeing from a tornado to the second story of their home, Israel was turning to false gods for help. They needed to be told where to go, but they also needed to be told where not to go! The other cities, Gilgal and Beersheba, also had associations with wickedness.

Far more than just judgment and destruction, the prophet Amos was calling Israel to change their ways while there was still time. Eventually God would lose patience, but until that moment there was a chance to escape punishment. All they needed to do was seek Him, and they would live.

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