AMOS

Amos Chapter 5

Seek the Lord and Live

• Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 
• 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 

This is how it looked at that time and season. Some may use this verse to try to say God is done with Israel and will not more raise her up. All we have to do is read history after world war 2. In 1948 Israel became a nation again. Even in chapter 9 of Amos we see God's final promise to Israel. At the time of this writing in Amos 5 though it seems like a hopeless situation. This message was just before the fall of the northern kingdom caused by the invasion of Assyria. It was final for them at that time.

The northern kingdom and the southern kingdom of Israel was divided after Solomon. In the latter days they will be just one nation again. The northern kingdom fell before the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah fell also years later by the invasion of Babylon.

• Amos 5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. 
• 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 

Seek the Lord and you shall live. Those words can apply to anyone who will read and do as it says. We will live, not physically but spiritually forever being in the presence of God after our body dies or is changed by way of rapture. We of course are those that believe and do not forsake God or reject His Son Jesus who came to reverse the curse of death and grant us eternal life.

• Amos 5:5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. 
• 6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. 
• 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 

Many see judgment as a bad thing like wormwood but in reality judgment that brings correction and healing is to be desired, not hated. It is life rather than death.

• Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 
• 9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. 

Seek the one who can change impossible things. He can strengthen the ones that are downcast and defeated and make them mighty and strong.

• Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 
• 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. 

Woe to those that take from the poor and rob them to have riches and comfort. They will reap what they sow.

• Amos 5:12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 
• 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. 
• 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 
• 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. 

Whoever hates evil and loves good will stand before God as righteous. It takes courage when everyone is against the one that does right but it is what we must do. The power to do good is given to us when we come to God through the one He sent to save us from sin. His name is Jesus (Yeshua) in Hebrew. The reason Israel always had trouble is because of forsaking God. Then when God sent His own Son to show them a better way, as a nation He was rejected except for the some that believed like the apostles and other disciples in that day.

• Amos 5:16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 
• 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 
  The Lord passes through with judgment.

Let Justice Roll Down

• Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 

People still today confuse the day of the Lord for the rapture of the church. The day of the Lord means the day of judgment. The day when evil is judged. When we read about the great tribulation in Revelation, that is the day of the Lord.

• Amos 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 
• 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 

The day of the lord is judgment, The rapture will be for those that believe and live for Christ. When we confuse the two, we get into error or misunderstanding.

• Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 
• 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 
• 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 

The Lord through Moses made the feasts days to commemorate what took place at times in Israel's history but they had gotten so that they still celebrated them but their hearts were full of evil so the Lord rejected their feasts days. There are some in modern times that celebrate  Christmas by being merry, getting drunk and giving Santa Claus the glory. Jesus is just a name they use as an excuse to party. Many do not even think of the Lord much. Holidays are an excuse to have parties and exchange presents. The feasts were supposed to remind them of who God is and to enjoy His presence in worship and praise. He is the giver of life. The one that gives us hope and everlasting life.

• Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 
• 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 
• 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 
• 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. 

So there we have it. Idolatry rises up it's evil head and causes them to lose the northern kingdom. Later they lost the southern kingdom to Babylon. We reap what we sow. This never had to happen. -DC

Amos Chapter 6