Amos Bible Study: Chapter 5 Summary and Questions

Summary:

    Chapter 4 ends with verse 12 telling the people to  "prepare to meet their God". Verse 13 describes the power of God. It ends by reminding the people  "The Lord God of hosts is His name."  This leads into the opening of chapter 5. God speaks through Amos to say, with a vehemence that there is lamentation facing the house of Israel. There will be wailing, weeping, grieving, and mourning. Amos portrays Israel as a young woman who has fallen. She is cast aside and has succumbed to the wicked around her. The land had been given to the people of Israel by God, and their faithlessness had turned it into a burial ground. The armies of Israel would go forth to battle and be annihilated. Those that returned from war would be war-ravaged. Only a small percentage would return, and they would be so beaten down that they would easily be defeated in battle. 

    The key to survival was to seek the Lord and live, but this would mean letting go of Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba. It was in these places they had defiled their worship of Jehovah, and corrupted judgment, These places had once been connected to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We can go back to  Jeroboam who created places for the worship of the Egyptian gods to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem to worship. (look back at chapter 3).  They had buried any righteousness that existed. They walked in their own selfish, self-centered way doing what felt good. They prospered off the backs of the poor. "Seek God and live" is repeated. He gives them the solution to their survival. They must return to their God.; 

    Amos reiterates that judgment will be their end if they do not seek God. The all-powerful God who created the constellations and holds them in place. The God that is the All Mighty. "The Lord is His name." He is the God that is powerful enough to save, but He is also powerful enough to bring judgment. Choose life! Amos told them judgment was coming. He told them why it was coming and what they could do to stop the judgment. He also showed them what their judgment would be, but they turned a deaf ear and continued to walk in their sin. All that they had gained through their oppression of the poor, and through corrupt judgments would be lost to them. "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you." They needed to establish justice. 

    The Lord speaks giving a dire prediction. There will be wailing and mourning as the Lord passes through. Their religion was not true worship but had become ritualistic. They mixed their worship of God with that of false gods. The day of the Lord for them would be darkness. and judgment. The illustration Amos gives is devastating. "It is as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him."

    There was no spirituality in their worship. It had become the form and their hearts were far from him. They oppressed the poor and there was no justice or righteousness. God desires worship that comes from a heart. "Let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream." Justice needed to flow naturally through their society and righteousness should be like a mighty stream that sweeps their lives into alignment with God's will which is always for justice and righteousness in our lives. 

    They clung to their false gods. They made them with their own hands and worshipped them. They carried them out of Egypt and continued their worship of them mixing it with their worship of Jehovah. God is a jealous God and He alone must be worshipped. Their oppression and injustice to the poor, their lack of righteousness, and their worship of false gods would cause judgment to rain down on them. Extreme sin brings on extreme judgment, and they would be carried into captivity. 

Questions: 

1. What word does Amos take up against Israel and what does it mean?

2. In verse 2 what word is used to describe Israel? Why do you think this word is used?

3. How is the destruction described in verse 3?

4. In verse 4 what are they told to do to live?

5. Why are they told not to seek Bethel and Gilgal? (Think about the actions of Jeroboam in chapter 3 of the summary).

6. In verse 7 what sins had they committed?

7. What other scriptures in the Bible speak of the importance of justice?

8. In verses 8 and 9 list the things God has the power to do.

9. Why do you think it is stressed that "The Lord is His name"?

10. What does verse 11 say they had done and what would be the result of this?

11. What are their sins in verse 12?

12. How do prudent people in verse 13 respond to this, and is it an appropriate response?

13. What are the people to seek in verses 14-15? What are they to establish?

14. What happens in verses 16-17?

15. Why should they not desire "the day of the Lord" in verses 18-20?

16. In verses21-23 what does God hate, and why do you think he feels so strongly about these things?

17. What should this teach us about our worship and service to God?

18. Verse 24 is quoted often. What does this mean to the people then and to us now?

19. What question does God ask in verse25, and why do you think he asked it?

20, According to verse 26 what had the people done? Where is this quoted in the New Testament?

21. What will be the consequences of their actions

22. What does he say His name is? Why do you think it differs from verse 8?

   

        

Amos Bible Study: Chapter 4 Summary and Questions

    Amos addresses the ungodly women of Israel as the cows of Bashan. No woman wants to be referred to as a cow, but Amos, being a herder, probably knew all about the cattle raised in that area. That area is called the Golan Heights today. It was a prime grassland known for its wonderful cattle. They were sleek, fat. healthy and desirable for the market.  The women of Israel had become pleasure-seeking, pressuring their husbands to oppress and crush the impoverished. The way it is stated in the Scripture it would appear that they also oppressed the impoverished and were being looked on as guilty by God for the action taken against the poor by their husbands.  Their desire for more affluence escalated the injustice inflicted on the poor and needy. 

    The Lord swears by His Holiness and this is a serious oath. God's holiness will not allow sin to go unpunished. When a statement like this is made the punishment is definitive. God was warning them of what was to come. The Assyrians would come in and take them captive. They would be led through the broken walls of their conquered city with fishhooks in their lips attached to the one ahead of them with string. The Assyrians were cruel and showed no mercy. They would take their captives away and relocate them to Assyria. The area taken would then be repopulated. 

    In chapter one we discussed the actions of Jeroboam to maintain political control of the Northern Kingdom. He convinced the people that they could worship the golden calf as their ancestors had done, and he set up a place of worship in Bethel and Gilgal. He convinced them that traveling to Jerusalem was unnecessary and inconvenient. 2 Kings 17: 21-23 tells us that the people walked in all the sins of Jeroboam. They tried to maintain the worship of Jehovah while also worshiping other Gods. The worship was not done in obedience to the laws set down by God. Their worship was hypocrisy. It was for outward show and they loved their gathering and their feasts. They were done for their pleasure not in obedience to God. They put leaven in their sacrifices which was a sin and made their sacrifice an abomination to God. Their worship was done for outward show not with heartfelt love and worship, to their God Yahweh. 

    Their idolatry brought consequences and yet they refused to return to their God. They felt his corrective power and refused to return to him. There was a lack of food and the rain came here and there and they would have to go to whatever cities were receiving rain to have water. The events showed that they were the act of God, but they would not return to him. He started with a small amount of discipline which showed great restraint and love. The discipline became incrementally more severe to try to bring them back, but they refused to change their ways as rebellious children. 

    God states his intentions and they are told to "Prepare to meet your God." That is a statement that we should all take seriously because we do not know when the moment will come when we will meet our God and hopefully we have received Him as our Savior. He tells them who He is. He created the mountains and the winds, and He knows the thoughts of man and sees his intentions. There is no hiding from God. " The Lord God of hosts is His name." We have free will and have to make the choice of who we will serve. But be assured that you will stand before him and be called into account for your choices, so choose wisely.  

 Questions:

1. Who is Amos calling the cows of Bashan, and what is their sin?

2. What was Bashan known for?

3. What does the Scripture tell us is the danger of desiring wealth and pleasure? (Matt. 13:22; Luke 8:14: Proverbs 11:28)

4. How does the Word teach the poor are to be treated? (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; 1 John 3:17-18; Matthew 25:34-36)

5. What did the " Lord God swear by His holiness"? 

6. Describe the punishment God laid out in verses 2-3?

7. What was God's opinion of their worship?

8. Where were they worshipping?  

9. Where were they supposed to worship? Why was this important?

10. Why was it important to use unleavened bread for the sacrifice?

11. Verses 6-11 gives a list of the punishments for their transgressions. What were they?

12. What is God attempting to teach the people?

13. In verse 12 what is Israel told to prepare for?

14. How is God characterized in verse 13?

15. What is His name?

16. What lessons can we take away from this chapter?