Amos 5:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I shall move among you, as though observing your transgressions and not distant from those who tolerate extreme wickedness. Indeed, when God does not enact punishment in this manner, it seems as though He is not present, but when judgment is rendered, it is evident that He is here, meting out retribution. For instance, the angels arrived in Sodom to bring destruction upon the wicked, as if the Lord were absent prior to their judgment. Thus, the phrase I will pass through the midst of thee indicates the coming of divine visitation and the onset of correction.

I have also urged you—so that you may not claim you were warned only once—abhor evil and cherish good, and restore justice at the gates, you who have despised those unjustly treated at the gates, so that the Lord might show mercy to the remnant of Joseph. However, since you have rejected this call and disregarded my commandments, turning away from me as I depart, thus says the Lord God Mighty, the Lord of Hosts: there will be weeping everywhere, and mourning will abound. Farmers will be called to sorrow, and those trained in lamentation will be summoned to bring forth tears, so that in the vineyards, not only in the streets, there shall be weeping and mourning, transforming what once brought joy into a source of sadness. All this will occur, says He, because I will move among you. Whenever it is written, "I will pass through," as expressed in Hebrew, it signifies chastisement in the Scriptures—implying He does not remain with them but passes through, leaving them behind. Similarly, in other passages, when God is angered, His wrath is referred to as urgency. This can also refer to heretics: since they have failed to act righteously in diverse matters, there will be lamentation in all their streets. For wide is the way that leads to destruction, and all heretics and Gentiles have built their roads upon sand. Therefore, it is said, "In every public place, they will say, Woe, woe!" For those within the Church will not hear "Woe," the ultimate punishment, but if they err, they will mourn. Outside the community, however, they will lament, "Woe, woe!" for they lack the one true path leading to life—the path of the King. Instead, they pursue crooked paths that deviate in every direction, ignoring the Lord’s warning, "Do not be overly righteous" and "The paths are corrupt and twisted." They experience sorrow on both fronts: in body and spirit, throughout this age and what is to come. In contrast, the members of the Church hear the call to rejoice, "Rejoice, and again I say, rejoice." The farmer is indeed called to lament (for heretics cultivate their fields with thorns and thistles), just as those who can weep, whether for their own transgressions or the sins of others, are invited to mourn. This can also positively reflect the church member who leads others to repentance, emulating the Lord’s command to "Weep and do not weep," and weeping for heretics, akin to Samuel’s sorrow for Saul, the king of Israel. The apostle similarly expressed grief for those who did not repent. Tears will flow in all the vineyards, for their vineyards resemble those of the Sodomites; instead of producing the wine that rejoices the heart, they yield the bitter wine of dragons and the unhealed wrath of serpents. They will endure all these sorrows because the Lord will pass among them, not to take residence in them, proclaiming, "I will dwell in them and walk among them," and "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."