John Calvin Commentary Amos 5:18

"Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light." — Amos 5:18 (ASV)

The Prophet expresses here more fully what he briefly and obscurely touched upon regarding God's passing through the land. For he shows that the Israelites acted strangely in setting up the name of God as their shield, as though they were under His protection, and in still entertaining a hope, though oppressed with many evils, because God had promised that they would be the objects of His care. He says that this was an extremely vain pretense.

He then more sharply reproves their presumption by saying, “Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah!” This appears, even at first view, to be very severe. But we need not wonder that the Prophet burns with such indignation towards hypocrites, from whom that security, through which they became ferocious against God, could hardly be shaken off.

And we see that the Holy Spirit treats hypocrites everywhere with much more severity than those who are openly impious and wicked. For the despisers of God, however stupid they may be, still do not excuse their vices; but hypocrites always seek to draw God into the quarrel, and they have their veils to cover their depravity. It was therefore necessary to treat them, as the Prophet does here, with sharpness and severity.

Woe, he says, to those who desire the day of Jehovah! Some interpret this “day of Jehovah” as the day of death and pervert the meaning of the Prophet. For they think that the Prophet speaks here of desperate men who seek self-destruction or lay violent hands on themselves. Woe, then, to those who desire the day of Jehovah—that is, who resort to hanging or to poison, as no other remedy appears to them.

But the Prophet, as I have already reminded you, here, on the contrary, rouses hypocrites. Others think that the contempt which Amos has previously noted is reproved here; and this is partly true. But they do not sufficiently grasp the Prophet’s purpose, for they do not observe what is special in this place—that hypocrites flattered themselves, falsely assuming it to be true that they were the people of God and that God was bound to them.

So, even though the Israelites had been perfidious a hundred times, they still continued arrogantly to boast of their circumcision. The law, the sacrifices, and all their ceremonies were like banners to them, as they proclaimed: “Oh! We are a holy nation and God’s heritage; we are the children of Abraham and the redeemed of the Lord; we are a priestly kingdom.”

Since these things were on everyone’s lips, the Prophet says, “Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah!” Indeed, when the Lord had begun to punish them for their sins, they still said, “The Lord, perhaps, intends to try our constancy. But how can He destroy us? For He would then be false; His covenant cannot be made void. It is then certain that we shall be saved, and that He will soon be reconciled to us.”

They did not indeed expect that God would be favorable to them; but as they were overwhelmed with many evils, they sought to soothe their sorrows with such a deceptive comfort.

When therefore the Prophet saw that the Israelites so waywardly flattered themselves, and so foolishly and wickedly laid claim to the name of God, he says, Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah! What will this be, he says, to you? The day of Jehovah will be darkness and not light;

It is as though he said, “God is an enemy to you, and the nearer He comes to you, the more grievously you must be afflicted. He will bring nothing to you but devastation, for He will come armed to destroy you.

“There is therefore no reason for you to boast that you are a chosen people, that you are a priestly kingdom, for you have fallen away from the favor of God; and this is to be imputed to your own misconduct.

“God then is armed for your destruction; and whenever He appears, He will at the same time pursue you with cruelty and violence. It will be for your destruction that God will come thus armed to you.

“Whenever, then, the Lord comes, your evils must necessarily be increased. The day of Jehovah will then be darkness and not light.” He afterward confirms this truth—