Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
Amos 4:12-13
The nation of Israel had rejected God over and over again. For generations, they had refused His outstretched hand and for generations had ignored His chastening hand. Because they had refused them over and over again, God had to judge them. It is with this in mind that the Lord tells His people in verse 12, “…prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” For a people who had been given such a great opportunity, this must have been a very fearful saying. Imagine preparing to meet God after a lifetime (and, in their case, several lifetimes) of rejecting Him and His Word. Imagine the horror of standing before the God Who loved you and gave Himself for you. That is exactly what the nation of Israel faced in this passage and that is exactly what many, many people living today face if they continue to reject the Saviour.
After telling them to “prepare to meet thy God,” He reminds them in the next verse exactly Who they are dealing with. They are not going to be dealing with one of their “made-up” “gods.” This is the God that “formeth the mountains, and createth the wind.” This is the God that knows exactly what we are thinking: “…declareth unto man what is his thought.” This is “The LORD, The God of hosts.” That is His name. This is not some little idol made out of silver or gold or wood or stone. This is The LORD, The God of hosts.
Someday we are all going to stand before Him. How are we preparing?
Justified Freely 
Posted by Debbie on July 23, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Very thought and prayer provoking, Ben. You are good at that. And we will hopefully be just as good at preparing for Him too. I don’t know what else to do but what I am! God bless you as you prepare too!
Posted by justifiedfreely on July 24, 2011 at 6:18 am
Thank you. As Jesus said, “occupy till I come…”
Posted by Jess on July 23, 2011 at 8:30 pm
That kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it? Praise the Lord for salvation! Those who are saved don’t have to fear to meet Him. We’re covered by the blood of Christ. The only thing to do now is get busy and live for Him, because we never know when we will meet Him!
Posted by justifiedfreely on July 24, 2011 at 6:21 am
I am so very thankful for that blood! I can not imagine meeting the God of Hosts without the covering of the perfect righteousness of Jesus. These passages give me two reactions, and you hit both of them: thankfulness for salvation and a greater urgency to live for Him.