Matthew Henry Commentary Amos 5:18-27

"Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts." — Amos 5:18-27 (ASV)

Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord's judgments, who wish for times of war and confusion—like some who long for changes, hoping to rise on the ruins of their country! But this will be such a great desolation that nobody could gain by it. The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners.

When God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. Those who are not reformed by the judgments of God will be pursued by them; if they escape one, another stands ready to seize them. A pretense of piety is double iniquity, and so it will be found.

The people of Israel copied the crimes of their forefathers. The law of worshipping the Lord our God is: Him only we must serve. Professing believers thrive so little because they have little or no communion with God in their duties. They were led captive by Satan into idolatry; therefore, God caused them to go into captivity among idolaters.