Seek the Lord and Live. Amos 5:1-15
“Prepare to Meet thy God, O Israel”
II. THE STATEMENT OF ISRAEL’S ACCUSATION, Amos 3-6
Religious Forms for Righteousness, Amo_5:1-27
PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD
“Therefore this is what I shall do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God [in judgment], O Israel!”
For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes the dawn into darkness And treads on the heights of the earth– The LORD God of hosts is His name. [Psa_139:2; Dan_2:28]
SEEK THE LORD AND LIVE
Amo 5:1 Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral song, O house of Israel:
Amo 5:2 She has fallen, she will not rise again– The virgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; There is no one to raise her up.
Amo 5:3 For thus says the Lord GOD, “The city which goes forth a thousand strong Will have a hundred left, And the one which goes forth a hundred strong Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”
Amo 5:4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, “Seek Me [search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food] so that you may live. [2Ch_15:2; Jer_29:13]
Amo 5:5 “But do not resort to Bethel [to worship the golden calf] Nor enter [idolatrous] Gilgal, Nor cross over to Beersheba [and its idols]; For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile, And Bethel will come to nothing.
Amo 5:6 “Seek the LORD [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live, Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O house of Joseph, And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] Bethel,
Amo 5:7 “For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness) And cast righteousness down to the earth.”
Amo 5:8 He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion, Who turns deep darkness into the morning And darkens the day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The LORD is His name.
Amo 5:9 It is He who causes [sudden] destruction to flash forth on the strong So that destruction comes on the fortress.
Amo 5:10 They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand], And they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty.
Amo 5:11 Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them, Though you have built [luxurious] houses of square stone, You will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.
Amo 5:12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable), You who distress the righteous and take bribes, And turn away from the poor in the [court of the city] gate [depriving them of justice].
Amo 5:13 Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character].
Amo 5:14 Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live; And so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said!
Amo 5:15 Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate. Perhaps the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment].
“PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD”
Worse judgments than those mentioned in the previous verses were in store but before they are inflicted, the entire nation is summoned to the divine bar. Whether we choose or not, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of God.” Prepare, my soul, to meet Him! Note the sublimity of that last verse of Amo_4:1-13. How great is God, who made the mountains! How mysterious, who made the wind! How sublime, who calls to the dawn! How mighty, to whom mountains and peaks are stepping-stones!
But great and holy though God is, we are invited to seek Him. He desires to bless, but He must be sought. Were we more diligent in seeking, as the miner for gold, or the scientific man for nature’s secrets, we should be marvelously repaid. “Eye hath not seen,” etc. Amos speaks as nature’s child. Often as he had tended his flocks, he had watched the Pleiades with their gentle radiance, and Orion, the herald of storm. He had listened to God calling across the waters, and had drawn life from Him. “Seek and live!” O soul, what a God is thine! Thy springs and storms await His word of command. He can turn thy darkness into the morning. Be of good cheer!
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