AMOS LESSON 5


     We will begin this lesson in Amos 5:1 "Hear ye this word which I
take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel."

     Amos is so sure this is going to happen, that he brings a funeral
message of mourning against the house of Israel.

     Amos 5:2 "The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise:
she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] none to raise her up."

     Israel had been God's love. Israel did not give love in return to
God. Even though God had protected and taken care of all of Israel's
needs, they were not loyal to God. They went after strange gods. This
is as if God has forsaken Israel. This is like a bill of divorcement.
God was the only One for Israel. Now, there is no one to lift her up.

     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."

     Only one out of ten will be saved. The rest are totally
destroyed. It will not matter whether the city is small, or large.
Only 1/10 of those will return.

     Amos 5:4  "For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek
ye me, and ye shall live:"

     We see one more plea for them to repent and turn to God. If they
would heed the warning and turn to God, even now, they would live.

     Amos 5:5 "But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass
not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and
Beth-el shall come to nought."

     In a previous lesson, we saw these cities mentioned, here, were
changed into evil cities, where worship of their false gods was
practiced. Both Gilgal and Beth-el are already condemned of God.

     Amos 5:6 "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 Beth-el."

     The false gods of Beth-el would not be able to help them. Hebrews
12:29 "For our God [is] a consuming fire."  Deuteronomy 9:3
"Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God [is] he which
goeth over before thee; [as] a consuming fire he shall destroy them,
and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them
out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee."  God
needs no assistance. He can destroy by fire whatever He chooses. God
was always fond of Joseph, but even Joseph's descendents could not get
away with worship of false gods.

     Amos 5:7 "Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off
righteousness in the earth,"

     The word "wormwood" means bad water. Even their judgement was
corrupted. The wormwood plant gave a terribly bitter taste. Their
judgement, then, was bitter, instead of being righteous.

     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:"

     The seven stars are, possibly, the constellation of the Pleiades.
I really believe the number seven is not to be taken literally, but
speaks of the completeness of the stars that God created. Probably,
this shepherd was used to seeing the ones mentioned here. The mention
of "death turning into the morning" has to do with darkness being
turned into the Light that God provides. We are all condemned to
death, until the Light of God shines into our lives and brings us
everlasting life. We remember, that God turned the day into darkness
at the crucifixion of Jesus. God can bring a flood, or a drought, at
His call. The LORD is Ruler of it all.

     Amos 5:9 "That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so
that the spoiled shall come against the fortress."

     God can stop the strong, and give them over to the spoiled in the
fraction of a second. He speaks, and it becomes. God caused a little
shepherd boy to kill the giant, Goliath. It is nothing for God to
cause the oppressed to win over the oppressor.

     Amos 5:10 "They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they
abhor him that speaketh uprightly."

     The one who rebuketh in the gate was, probably, the prophet. They
did not want to hear his message, so they hated him. They felt they
were above rebuke.

     Amos 5:11 "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."

     They had no compassion for the poor, so God had no compassion on
them. They had literally robbed from the poor, by the tribute they
required them to pay. Stone houses were the sign of wealth. They had
lived in luxury, and took no thought for the poor. God will take it
away from them. They will not have a chance to live in those houses.

     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]."

     Their sins were against their fellowman, as well as against God.
They were not honest. They took bribes, and had their judgement
tainted by those bribes. They oppressed the poor every chance they
had.  They were respecters of those who could bribe them.

     Amos 5:13 "Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time;
for it [is] an evil time."

     This is a time of such moral decay, that even the prophets could
not sway them away from their sins. It was no use to try to warn them.
It was wise to just say nothing.

     Amos 5:14 "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."

     Amos did not take his own advice. He kept trying to reach all
that he could. He continued to tell them to seek good, and not evil.
He was warning them, so they could save their own lives. They thought,
because of their covenant relationship with God, they could do
whatever they wanted to do, and get away with it.

     Amos 5:15 "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."

     Hate for evil, and love for good, was a condition of their
hearts. This would be having your heart right with God. Their
judgement should be based upon truth. The descendents of Joseph were
Ephraim and Manassah, or the 10 tribes of Israel. Acts 8:22 "Repent
therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought
of thine heart may be forgiven thee."  Hebrews 1:9 "Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."

     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."

     The LORD prefers to bless them. They will not do as Amos has told
them from God, and therefore, God has no choice but to punish them.
God has punished them in several ways to get them to repent. They
repented not. God has no choice, but to allow His judgement to come
upon them. They will feel great sorrow and despair, but they have gone
too far.

     Amos 5:17 "And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will
pass through thee, saith the LORD."

     Generally, the vineyard brought great joy to the owner of the
vineyard. Now, there is great despair. They will weep for the failure
of the vineyard.

     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."

     They thought "the day of the LORD" would be a restoration to
them. They thought the punishment would be against their enemies. They
had never imagined the punishment would have been on them, for their
sins. Amos explains to them, here, this judgement is against them. It
is not a day of the Light coming to them, but a day when God withdraws
from them and darkness prevails.  This darkness is a spiritual
darkness, when the Light of the world is gone from them.

     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."

     They felt secure in the fact that they were God's chosen. They
felt sure, they had been freed from all danger, when in fact, the
danger to them had increased. They were like the man, thinking he was
safe from the lion, and was destroyed by the bear. He was, also, like
the man that went into the safety of his house, and then was bitten by
a serpent. There was no safe place to hide from the judgement of God.

     Amos 5:20 "[Shall] not the day of the LORD [be] darkness, and not
light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?"

     Matthew 24:29  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall
be shaken:"  Any time a person, or a nation, has gone completely away
from God, is a day of darkness.

     Amos 5:21  "I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not
smell in your solemn assemblies."

     God was very aware, that their worship of Him had fallen to just
a formality. They were not in love with God at all. The desire of
their hearts was to follow after false gods. God hated their form of
religion. I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great]
delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of
the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken
than the fat of rams."  God did not want their sacrifices, He wanted
their loyalty and love. The fact that he would not smell, meant that
He would not accept their sweet smelling savour. The following
Scripture is what He really wants. Mark 12:33 "And to love him with
all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul,
and with all the strength, and to love [his] neighbour as himself, is
more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

     Amos 5:22 "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."

     They had mixed their idolatry with the worship with sacrifices
and burnt offerings. This was an abomination to God. Luke 16:15 "And
he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men;
but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among
men is abomination in the sight of God."

     Amos 5:23 "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I
will not hear the melody of thy viols."

     Songs which were sung to God were a sweet, sweet sound in His
ear. They were another way of praising God. Songs that did not come
from the heart, were noise to the Lord. A "viol" was like a lyre.

     Amos 5:24 "But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness
as a mighty stream."

     Judgement will come as rain falls from heaven. God's judgement
will be under His control alone. God's judgement is, also, righteous.

     Amos 5:25 "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in
the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?"

     God is showing them, that even from the very beginning, they did
not worship God in sincerity. Their worship, even then, was out of
obligation, instead of because of their pure love for God. They have
never changed.

     Amos 5:26 "But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and
Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves."

     They had worshipped false gods all along. They physically carried
these idols with them wherever they went. God was carried in their
hearts, but they would not accept God as their only Lord. The star is,
possibly, Saturn. There was much worship of false gods associated with
stars. Moloch was, also, a false god, as were these images {chium}. We
have said it over many times, that things you can create with your own
hands are not Gods. God is Spirit. If you can see Him with physical
eyes, it is not God. The True God is Spirit, and is taken on faith.

     Amos 5:27 "Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond
Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name [is] The God of hosts."

     Now, we see the punishment for their unfaithfulness to God for
worshipping false gods. They were taken to Damascus as captives. This
happens, because God has judged them, and found them guilty of
worshipping false gods. God brings the captivity.











                          Amos 5 Questions


1.  What type of message does Amos bring?
2.  Why does he bring this type of message?
3.  Quote Amos chapter 5 verse 2.
4.  What is verse 2 saying?
5.  The city that went in by the thousand shall leave an _________.
6.  What is verse 4 pleading with them to do?
7.  What do Beth-el and Gilgal have in common?
8.  Quote Hebrews chapter 12 verse 29.
9.  What sin had Joseph's descendents committed, that God would not
    overlook?
10. What does "wormwood" mean?
11. The wormwood plant gave off a ________ taste.
12. What are the seven stars, possibly?
13. What does the author believe about the seven stars?
14. What does "death turning into the morning" have to do with?
15. When is a specific time, when God turned the day into darkness?
16. God caused a _________ ____ to kill the giant, Goliath.
17. Who was the one who rebuked in the gate?
18. Who lived in houses of hewn stone?
19. What were some of their transgressions?
20. Why was it wise to just say nothing?
21. Seek _____, and not ______, that ye may live.
22. Hate for evil, and love for good, was a condition of their
    ________.
23. Who were the descendents of Joseph?
24. Quote Acts chapter 8 verse 22.
25. In all the vineyards shall be __________.
26. The day of the Lord is ____________, and not ________.
27. There was no safe place to hide from the _________ of God.
28. What had their worship of God become?
29. Quote 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22.
30. God did not want their sacrifices, He wanted their _______ and
    ________.
31. Quote Mark chapter 12 verse 33.
32. Why would God not accept their offerings?
33. Songs are another way of _____________ God.
34. What is a "viol"?
35. What will God's judgement on them be like?
36. Their worship of God, even in the wilderness, had been out of
    _____________.
37. Things you can create with your own hands are not ______.
38. The True God is _________, and is taken on ________.
39. What will happen to them in punishment for their sins?
40. What was their sin?