I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. – Amos 9:1

Today's Scripture Reading (April 4, 2026): Amos 9

On Mount Carmel, Elijah proposed a battle between him and the prophets of Ba'al. The idea was to bring two bulls to the mountain. The prophets of Ba'al would choose a bull, and Elijah would take the other. They would build an altar, then cut the bull into pieces and place the pieces on top of the wood of the altar. What they wouldn't do was light the fire; that task would be left to God.

The prophets of Ba'al would go first. They chose their bull, built the altar, and placed its pieces on it. And then they began to pray to Ba'al. They danced in front of the altar, asking Ba'al to send his fire down onto the altar and consume the sacrifice. The contest was well chosen for the priests of Ba'al; after all, Ba'al was the God of Thunder and Lightning. Consuming the sacrifice should have been an easy task for such a god. However, on this day, the God of Thunder seemed hesitant to respond with his namesake power.

After a few hours, Elijah decided to get into the act. "Shout louder," Elijah cries. "Maybe he can't hear you." He continued his taunts with, "Surely, he is a God?" You can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice. Maybe he is deep in thought or busy. Maybe he is traveling. Yell louder so that he can hear you. He might be asleep and needs to be awakened."

The prophets of Ba'al danced and yelled even louder. But nothing happened. Ba'al didn't come and consume the sacrifice. Finally, after these prophets had worn themselves out, Elijah stepped up and built his altar. He poured water on the wood of the altar until the water filled a trench that he had constructed around the altar.

Then he prayed a simple prayer; no dancing was necessary, and God sent fire to consume the altar. Where Ba'al might have been on vacation or at least far from the scene of the battle, God was present and stood at the ready for Elijah to make the ask.

Amos makes the same point. Regardless of what is happening, God is ready to act. Whether the action is positive or negative. Amos sees a vision of an event that has not yet happened and seems almost unimaginable; he stands at the altar of the Temple and watches as it collapses all around him. But there is another message that his audience needed to understand. On the day that the Temple fell down, it would not fall because God was somehow absent. The destruction of the Temple would not take place because God had fallen asleep or was on vacation, visiting far-flung places in his universe. God would be present at the destruction of the Temple. And he would orchestrate the destruction because of his people's sin. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 & 2