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?
