Seek the Lord and Live
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Amos 5 is the Lord’s attempt to cause a stiff necked and hard hearted people to turn from their sin and seek Him. How do you get a hard hearted person to seek the Lord How does the Lord motivate hard hearted people to seek Him?
Seeking the Lord is not a once and done decision. Seeking the Lord is a lot like dieting. Hear me out. When you loose weight it is not a done deal. In fact many people who go on diets and loose weight, will eventually gain all the weight back and then some. Why? Because they stop being careful and disciplined and they go back to their old eating habits and indulgences and end up right back where they started or worse.
My point is that loosing weight is not a once and done decision. It goes up and down and fluctuates all the time.
Our spiritual lives can be a lot like that! We can have periods of time when we are seeking the Lord, where real spiritual growth is occuring. And then at some point we stop being careful and disciplined and we go back to our old earthly sinful habits and indulgences and we end up right back where we started or worse.
What’s my point? Amos is preaching to whom? Heart-hearted people. People who do not naturally seek the Lord. Friends, at some level, that includes every one of us.
All of us need to seek the Lord more than we currently are seeking. All of us have hard stubborn hearts. All of us, because of our sinful natures, are incurably disinclined to seek the Lord!
Seeking the Lord is not something that you do by coming forward during an invitation and completely surrender. And now that you’ve done that your good. Seeking the Lord is a life-long struggle. And all of us need to seek Him more!
How can we seek Him? What if I am not seeking Him at all right now?
If I am slow to seek the Lord, how can I change?
Amos gives us six ways to seek the Lord.
I. Contemplate sin’s end (vv. 1-3)
I. Contemplate sin’s end (vv. 1-3)
If you are slow to seek the Lord the first way you can change that is by contemplating sin’s end.
Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
The first 17 verses of Amos 5 are written in the form of a lament. What is a lament?
A lament is funeral song or a dirge sung over the deceased.
“It usually consisted of lines set in a three-beat/two-beat pattern. The result was a halting or limping rhythm.”
(Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 97.)
Illustration: In the movie “The Two Towers”, the second of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Éowyn sings the Lament for Théodred. Théodred was the son of King Théoden, Lord of Riddermark. His son was killed by the enemy by means of betrayal.
In the movie Éowyn sings the lament in a different language, but here is the English version:
An evil death has set forth the noble warrior
A song shall sing the sorrowing minstrels of Meduseld
That noble cousin, who always held me dear
Now is held in darkness, enclosed.
This is a lament, a funeral song. And this is what Amos is singing to the nation of Israel.
“Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.”
Now what is so shocking about the lament that Amos sings? Israel is still alive!
How would you feel if someone came to you and sang your funeral song, they sang your a dirge ment to be sung over the deceased, but you weren’t dead yet?
Why would Amos do this? He is trying to get Israel’s attention. He is trying to wake up those who are spiritually asleep, those who are hard-hearted so that they will pay attention.
And why does He choose to sing a funeral song? He is trying to get Israel to understand what will happen to them if they continue down the path they are currently walking. He is trying to get them to contemplate sin’s end!
“Hearing one’s own funeral announcement from the mouth of a prophet should have brought great fear and dread.”
(Fuhr, Al; Yates, Gary. The Message of the Twelve (p. 129). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. )
For thus says the Lord God: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
V. 2 two was the funeral song. V. 3 is a prophecy of what the coming death will look like.
The city that sends out a 1,000 troops in the coming judgment, only 100 will survive. The city that sends out 100, only 10 will be left. So, 90% mortality rate for Israel’s army.
What if tomorrow the USA entered the war with the terrorists in the Middle East and 90% of our forces were decimated by the enemy. How would you feel? The severity of the coming judgement was overwhelming.
This is the what you will always find at the end of sin’s road. The road of sin always ends in death.
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;
Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
Ezekiel 18:20 (ESV)
The soul who sins shall die.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 5:21 (ESV)
so that, as sin reigned in death,
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
For the wages of sin is death,
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Now we say we believe God with our mouths, but our lives are a stark contradiction. We sit in the pew on Sunday and nod our heads in agreement that sin brings death, and then on Monday we make little to no practical change to our lives.
We say we believe sin brings death, but then we do not go about that vital work of killing sin.
Be killing sin or sin will be killing you!
We say we believe sin brings death, but:
We treat sin lightly- “It’s not that big of a deal.”
Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head.
Sin is “like the grave, that is never satisfied.”
Every little piece of gossip would lead to a blood feud if it could.
Every time we sleep in on a Sunday morning would lead to apostasy if it could.
Every time we refuse to forgive would lead us to become the most bitter person imaginable.
We don’t treat our sin like we really believe that it’s end always, inevitably, unfailingly leads to death.
And so if we would seek the Lord and live, if we would soften our hard-hearts and turn- then firstly we must contemplate sin’s end.
Secondly, if we want to change and turn from sin and instead seek the Lord we must:
II. Reject wordly worship (vv. 4-5)
II. Reject wordly worship (vv. 4-5)
Amos 5:4 (ESV)
For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;
“Either Israel would experience the impending death forecast by her own funeral dirge, or she would seek God and live, an option repeated three times within the call to repentance (5:4, 6, 14).”
but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
We must remember what the prophet has already said about these places of worship.
“that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground.
“Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days;
offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel!” declares the Lord God.
but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
These locations were places of false worship. These are man-made ways and methods of worshiping the Lord. By going to these shrines they were not worshiping the Lord, they were doing what they thought was best.
God is holy and He tells us how He desires to be worshiped. We cannot substitute, add, or subtract from what the Scriptures prescribe for godly worship. That will never work.
Amos 5:5 (ESV)
but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
Gilgal shall surely go into exile is a play on words. The word for exile (gala) sounds like the word for Gilgal.
Now the prophet does this in order to capture the attention of his audience. How does word play accomplish this?
Such an effect was generated by Egyptian Islamists on September 11, 2012, when they marched the streets of Cairo chanting, “Obama, we are all Osama.” Any American hearing that chant immediately understood the chilling effect of wordplay.
Amos 5:5 (ESV)
but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
The Hebrew word for “nothing” is the word aven. This word may mean “evil, trouble, harm or false.”
Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
Here Hosea deliberately changes the name of Bethel to Beth-aven.
Do you know what Bethel means? Beth means house and el is a name for God. So Bethel means house of God. But because of the wordly worship going on at Bethel, Hosea changed the name to Beth-aven or house of evil.
but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
Bethel or Beth-aven shall come to evil for that is what wordly worship leads to. And God hates it.
If you really want to seek the Lord, then must exercise some HUMILITY! Why do I say humility? Why do most people change the way they worship the Lord?
“I don’t like worshiping the Lord this way, so I think I will try something else.”
What is the problem word in that sentence? “I”
What is the problem with that kind of worship? How can it be worship if you are the focus? I don’t get to choose how to worship. Worship is not about what makes me feel good. Worship is not about ME, it’s about God. And seeking the Lord by rejecting wordly worship requires some humility. It requires that I take the back seat. It requires humble obedience to God so that our worship lines up with the way God desires to be worshiped.
So if we really want to seek the Lord, then we must reject wordly worship.
Thirdly, if we want to change and turn from sin and instead seek the Lord we must:
III. Reckon God’s just judgment (vv. 6-9)
III. Reckon God’s just judgment (vv. 6-9)
Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
This is the second time the prophet has implored the people to seek the Lord and live. But, I want to pause here for a moment and point out a very important theological observation. And it has to do with the inspiration of the word of God.
What do we mean when we talk about the inspiration of Scripture?
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
We mean that every word of our Bibles, although they were written by human hands, nevertheless, all of the Bible is God breathed. Scripture is the very words of God. All Scripture is breathed out by God Himself.
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
We have an excellent example of this here in Amos 5.
All we have to do is compare two verses and think a little bit out the difference in word choice by Amos.
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;
Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
Did you spot the difference?
“Seek me and live” / “Seek the LORD and live.”
Why can Amos say in v. 4- Seek me and live, and then in v. 6 say Seek the Lord and live?
In v. 4 He is quoting the Lord by saying “seek me and live.” And in v. 6 he shifts from the first person to the third person naturally and effortlessly. How can Amos do that? Because every word the prophet speaks, whether in the first or third person are the very words of God. They are all God breathed. Amos spoke the words not be means of his own will, but he spoke from God as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit.
This is a compelling argument for the inspiration of the Scriptures.
Now notice the reasons Amos uses for why the nation of Israel should seek the Lord:
Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
God is a longsuffering God. His patience is austounding. But eventually if you will not turn from your sin and return and seek the Lord then his judgement will break out and it will devour.
It will break out like fire and none will be able to quench it.
And now this destruction is not only prophesied upon the places of false worship, but the entire nothern kingdom of Israel: the entire house of Joseph.
And why would God do such a terrible thing to His people?
O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!
They turn justice to wormwood or bitterness. “Justice” refers to legal matters such as fairness in the courts and more broadly to the divinely given moral principles by which society was to be ordered.
And righteousness is not only turned, but instead cast down or thrown away to the earth! When justice is twisted and perverted and righteousness is cast aside then God’s judgement must quickly follow to set things in order.
And God is able to do exactly that!
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and 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;
While Isreal turned justice into wormwood or bitterness God turns morning into night in judgment over sin. This description of God should cause the Israelites to fear the awesome power of the One who would bring judgement.
The key phrase in this whole text is perhaps the last few words of v. 8.
“The Lord is his name.”
Explain Chiastic Structure: Important point is at its epicenter.
Epicenter: YAHWEH is His name! Yahweh brings to mind the idea of the covenant keeping nature of God. Israel was in a covenant relationship with God. They were violating that covenant, so God being a faithful covenant keeping God, would bring about the curses he had warned them about. He would bring about Israel’s exile.
who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
God absolutely has the power to do this and He has the right to do it. He is perfectly just in all His judgments! And friends if we continue in our sin God will be perfectly just to bring about his judgement in our life.
So we can turn to God and live, or He will turn the the darkness into morning and the daylight into night in judgment.
If we are to seek God then we must reckon God’s just judgment for our sin.
Fourthly, if we want to change and turn from sin and instead seek the Lord we must:
IV. Admit our inability to conceal sin (vv. 10-13)
IV. Admit our inability to conceal sin (vv. 10-13)
They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
Here Amos is describing what happens on the rare occasion when someone tries to do right within the cities of Israel. Those seeking justice ran up against a system corrupted by the wealthy.
They hate him who reproves in the gate. The gate was the place in the city where court proceedings took place.
They abhor him who speaks truth. If this is still in connection with the courtroom or the gate of the city then perhaps instead of finding truthful witnesses with integrity to ensure justice was done, they abhorred that kind of witness, one who would speak the truth, and instead found those who could be corrupted with bribes and intimidation.
Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
Because of these wealthy elite hating justice and silencing truth, because they, by corrupting the court system, trampled on the poor and exacted unjust taxes to fund their luxurious lifestyle God would bring judgement.
Amos condemns the extraction of “grain taxes” from the sustenance farmer. The law did not provide for such taxation, and the injustice of farmers starving because of the extraction of their harvests strikes to the core of abusive power.
Because of this God’s judgment would be just. The houses built of hewn stone by unjust means would be taken away and the vineyards harvested by crushing the poor they would not enjoy.
What would happen to them? The Assyrians would come in and conquer them and enjoy these luxuries instead.
Amos 5:12 (ESV)
For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins—
Here is a statement that we don’t ponder enough. We know God knows all things. But, we seldom apply that to our sin. God not only know the number of hairs upon your head, or the days you have left on this earth, God also know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins. If we really believed that would it not give us pause the next time we were tempted to commit sin?
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
This incredible statement is sandwiched in between the listing of Israel’s sins.
For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate.
Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
“So prevalent was this culture of corruption that the few voices of justice are described as keeping silent for their own good and safety.”
Fuhr, Al; Yates, Gary. The Message of the Twelve (p. 131). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
If we are to seek God then we must admit our inability to conceal our sin.
Fifthly, if we want to change and turn from sin and instead seek the Lord we must:
V. Be overwhelmed by God’s grace (vv. 14-15)
V. Be overwhelmed by God’s grace (vv. 14-15)
Amos 5:14–15 (ESV)
Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Compare this with Amos 3!
“Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
“that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground.
God of Hosts- God of Armies.
In one text the God of Armies comes to destroy. And in another the God of Hosts extends his gracious hand!
God offers these Israelites His grace!!!
The same ones who crushed the needy and oppressed the poor, who turn justice into wormwood and cast down righteousness to the ground. The ones who afflict the righteous, take bribes, and turn aside the needy—these ones the God of Hosts extends His grace.
Now what is your response to that? It better be this, “PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!” Why?
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Part of seeking the Lord is being overwhelmed all over again by His grace! His grace is greater than all your sin. Won’t you seek Him?
Finally, if we would seek the Lord then we must:
VI. Weigh our options (vv. 16-17)
VI. Weigh our options (vv. 16-17)
Amos 5:16 (ESV)
Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
What is striking about this verse? Talk about an abrupt shift!
V. 15 God of hosts = gracious to you!
V. 16 God of hosts = wailing in the streets!
What is going on?
Notice the end of the verse where it talks about farmers! They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation.
In those days there were professional mourners for the dead. You could hire people to come to a funeral and mourn and lament for the dead. So what’s the deal with the farmers? The idea is that there will be so many dead that they will run out of the professional mourners and they will have to enlist the lowly farmers to mourn instead. That’s how catastrophic the death toll would be!
And as chilling as v. 16 is it pails in comparison to the next.
Amos 5:17 (ESV)
and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
What incredibly important event does this phrase call to mind?
Exodus 12:12 (ESV)
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
What is this event? This is the passover. This must have been a terrifying night for Israel, but what important difference was there in the passover night? When God pass through the land the Israelites had blood painted on their doors.
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
What would it be like for the Lord to pass through the land without the blood?
That’s Amos 5!
and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
And that is a terrifying thought!
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Friends, here is the good news: there is blood available for you!
It is not the blood of bulls or goats that can never take away sin, it is the precious blood of Jesus Christ which He shed for you on Calvary’s cross. His blood is what you need!
Friends if you are far from God right now because of sin—Jesus’ blood is what you need!
If you have never had your sins forgiven then you need the forgiveness that only Jesus’ blood can offer you. If you will turn from your sin and seek the Lord you can live! He will forgive you and and instead of His wrath you will receive His mercy!
Believer, if you have already received the forgiveness of yours sin through the blood of Christ then:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Yet, if you are far from God because of sin then the blood of Jesus is what you need.
You need his blood as your confess your sin.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Otherwise you will face the discipline of your heavenly father for refusing to seek Him and live.
Friends, if you would seek the Lord you must consider your options.
Option 1:
Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Option 2:
and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
Will you experience God’s grace or His judgment? Weigh your options carefully! Would you have God pass over your sin in grace or through your midst in judgment?
Seek the Lord and Live!