unless they have agreed to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?”
-Amos 3:3–6
This passage of Scripture, taken from the book of the prophet Amos, speaks to Israel’s guilt and the punishment the Lord was to bring upon them for their apostasy and injustice. While Amos and the other prophets sent during those days are proof that not every Israelite had abandoned the Lord, as a nation the majority of Israel’s and Judah’s people had turned away from their God. They had rejected His Word and so were led astray (Amos 2:4); they cared not for the poor and needy, but pursued licentiousness and luxury (2:6–8). On the whole, the nation of Israel had forsaken their relationship with God and the keeping of His commands and would, in due time, reap the fruits of their wickedness.
Amos asks a series of questions meant to illustrate the sovereignty and providence of God in national judgments. The godless see only cause and effect; they think only in practical terms. But the believer must ever be mindful of the spiritual realities governing the earth—namely, that God sends or allows all circumstances however they may come, and that He always has a purpose in His providential dealings with humanity. It is our duty as believers, therefore, to point people to God in such times in the hopes that they would repent of their sinful deeds and turn to Him for salvation.
Let's look at the first question: “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?” When interpreted in the context of the guilt and judgment of Israel, this verse states that when a nation falls away from God, God cannot be expected to continue to walk with them. As two travelers on a road who have taken to disputing turn aside and go their separate routes, so the Lord leaves the nation who refuses to accept Him to their own perverse paths. He will not go on blessing a country that has forsaken His ways, blasphemed His name and disgraced His holiness. Those who attack and offend God, who attempt to wipe His name from the earth should not wonder when God’s benefits withdraw along with His presence.
Let us consider our own nation: Have there not been sufficient disagreements between the people of the United States and God to draw his anger? Has not enough wickedness occurred within our land to cause God to walk with us no more? What of our propensity for drunkenness and the proffering of consciousness altering drugs as a means of self-medication? What of our country’s pride in sexual perversion and promiscuity? Or the far-reaching acceptance and use of pornography? Would not the nearly 900,000 abortions performed in 2019 alone justify the pouring out of God’s wrath upon this nation?
How about the less obvious sins of greed, pride and “lone ranger” Christianity? Many Americans have forsaken church and claim Christ in name only, their deeds hardly bearing witness to God at all but rather to their chosen idol—the American Dream. And let us not think that God is blind to the infiltration of false teachers and deceptive doctrines into His church. Those who have been given light are all the more responsible for guarding the truth that has been entrusted to them, not bowing to cultural mores, politically correct ideologies or popular opinion. Such things are abhorrent to God and those who subscribe to them cannot, therefore, hope to find themselves within His favor for very long.
Amos’s next two questions, “Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?” and “Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing?” are an observation from nature that lions do not roar without reason. Neither does the Lord “roar from Zion” without cause (Amos 1:2). He is altogether too gracious and wise to allow catastrophe without a purpose. The lion of Judah shall only roar when sin provokes Him, and even then His threatenings are always girded with the merciful plea: “Seek me and live” (5:4).
One cannot look at the state of our nation today and help proclaiming with the prophet, “The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8). For the lost, the thunderings of the Lord strike terror into their hearts. But for the saints we receive them with mingled humility and assurance. We ask ourselves if we have indeed come out from the world and its evil ways; we examine our hearts for any inconsistencies and repent; and we entrust ourselves to God in the midst of our nation’s judgment with gospel confidence. We cannot eliminate our country’s iniquities, but we can look to our own. We can be sober-minded and strive for holiness, faithfulness and purity by the help of God’s grace.
The third set of questions Amos poses is this: “Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing?” In these, the prophet looks to the designs of God in calamity. He reminds us that not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Heavenly Father (Matthew 10:29), and men do not die apart from God’s plan. Death does not come by chance, for the days of every man are numbered. Should God so choose to consign a person to the grave, no means or methods devised by man shall serve to prevent it.
The Lord has set His snare and like the fowler will not remove it until it has served its intended purpose. Whatever God has to say to our nation in sending trial and tribulation upon it shall be heard. The voice of COVID rings out, wakening the apathetic and indifferent among us, reminding men that there is indeed a God in Heaven, a Lord over all the earth, and softening the hardhearted to the message of the gospel. May this pandemic serve to startle the faithless into repentance and drive the faithful to the Lord in prayer. May it goad His followers into earnestness to work while it is called today!
Amos’s final questions look to the Author and His intended results: “Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” Let our souls bow down underneath that final question. Does COVID come to a nation, unless the Lord has done it? COVID is but an instrument in the hands of the Lord intended to awaken a people that have drifted into darkness and are in danger of eternal death.
In cities of old, men were stationed upon watchtowers in order that they might warn the inhabitants of approaching enemies. When they saw the enemy coming, the trumpet sounded and the men rushed to defend the city. COVID is the sounding of the trumpet to a nation that will no longer heed God’s voice. Danger lurks upon the horizon, but it is not disease, nor dictators, nor any other earthly threat; the peril that closes in upon the world is the sweeping wave of God’s judgment, and the plague that even now knocks on the door is the eternal wrath to come!
Beloved, if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, rest assured amidst the chaos and confusion that He will remain faithful. Though a nation be judged, yet those who love and seek the Lord among its inhabitants need not fear! What is intended as judgment for the unrighteous shall prove a loving discipline for God’s children. Let us then seek every opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Christ to those who are perishing, and persevere in the good works the Lord has given us! And, should disease strike and death come, let us remember that the believer may greet it not with fear and foreboding, but as God’s servant sent to bear him to his everlasting home.
*Adapted from Charles Spurgeon's sermon "The Voice of the Cholera."