Seek God and Live

Introduction:

Chiastic Structure: A chiasm (also called a chiasmus) is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result is a "mirror" effect as the ideas are "reflected" back in a passage.

Hosea, Amos, Micah Original Meaning

A Lament the death of the nation (vv. 1–3)

B Call to seek God and live (vv. 4–6)

C Accusations of no justice (v. 7)

D Hymn to Yahweh (vv. 8–9)

C′ Accusations of no justice (vv. 10–13)

B′ Call to seek God and live (vv. 14–15)

A′ Lament the death of the nation (vv. 16–17)

The Death of the Nation

A Call to Mourn

Lament (v. 1,16,17)

Grief is biblical.

By the example of Jesus we mourn the loss of loved ones.

But what should always grieve us the most is our sin.

Amos is here singing a funeral dirge for someone that hasn’t died yet. - Israel.

It is not so much a warning as it is a proclamation. It is an obituary.

Amos 5:1 “Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:”

A specific type of Hebrew poetry seen in the Psalms and perhaps most obviously in the book of Lamentations.

These poems inspired by God and recorded in Scripture remind us that it is good to pour our hearts out to God.

Are you grieving? - cry out to God.

Are you angry? - cry out to God.

Are you angry at God? - talk to Him about it.

Are you joyful? - cry out to God in thanksgiving.

Are you board? - cry out to God. (If you are board it is because you are boring.)

Are you jealous? - cry out to God

Amos 5:16–17 “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, and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.”

A picture of the passover, the first passover. When the angel passed over those homes in Egypt upon which the blood was applied.

Israel was saved by and through that passover, but here Amos is declaring that they will just barely survive this one. He is looking at Israel and saying you are Egypt!

This brings us to the loss they will endure.

Loss (v. 2,3)

Amos 5:3 “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.””

When 1,000 of their troops go out against Assyria only 100 will return.

If those 100 go out only 10 will return.

They will suffer 90% losses.

Amos 5:2 ““Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.””

Amos compares Israel to a young woman who has died prior to really living life. She didn’t get married or have children.

She is forsaken with no one to help her.

Tell me what to do?!!

Seek God and Live

A Call to Repent

Negative Call

Abandon Idolatry (v. 4,5)

Amos 5:4–5 “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; 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 places which began as places of memorial to the Lord were now centers of idolatrous worship.

Reject Evil (v. 14,15)

Positive Call

Seek God (v. 4,6,14)

How?

Obedience

Christlikeness

Amos gives us two examples.

Love Good (v. 14,15)

Amos 5:14–15 “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.”

Who is good?

Goodness is more than just the absence of evil it is the presence of God.

Establish Justice (v. 15)

Amos 5:15 “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.”

Who is just?

Justice is more than righteous punishment of the wicked it is the presence of God.

We long for justice because we were made in the image of the God of justice and so when we seek justice we seek God.

This is true of all of God’s attributes.

We long to love and be loved because we were made in the image of God and God is love.

We long for mercy and grace to be shown in the world because God is a God of mercy and grace.

The greatest and deepest longings of our hearts reveal who we were created to be.

Results

Negative Results - What happens when we don’t seek God.

Exile (v. 5)

Notice the certainty of this exile.

Amos 5:5 “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.””

Destruction (v. 6)

Amos 5:6 “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,”

For some there is a possibility of escape but only if you Seek the Lord, and so few will make it.

Positive Results - What happens when we seek God.

Life (v. 4,6,14)

Amos is clear, to live we must seek the Lord.

This hasn’t changed. “I am the way the truth and the life.”

Presence (v.14)

Amos 5:14 “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.”

To seek God is to seek His presence, and guess what? He is is omnipresent.

How hard it to find God?

Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Matthew 7:7 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Acts 17:27 “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,”

James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

The problem is not that God is hard to find the problem is that so few are looking.

Romans 3:10–12 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

When God came into the garden after the fall of Adam and Eve who was doing the seeking?

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

Jeremiah 29:10–13 ““For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Grace (v. 15)

Amos 5:15 “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.”

There is always a remnant.

The fact that God saves any of us is a supreme act of undeserved grace.

Accusations of Injustice

A Call to Admit

While the first step in salvation is always taken by God through the conviction of sin, the first step that we take is admitting our need, admitting our sin. Amos doesn’t pull any of his punches.

Bitter Justice (v. 7)

Amos 5:7 “O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!”

Wormwood is a very bitter plant. Amos says they have turned justice into bitterness both through its absence and miscarriage.

Rejected Righteousness (v. 7,12)

They cast righteousness to the dirt.

Amos 5:12 “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.”

Abhor Truth (v. 10)

Amos 5:10 “They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth.”

They find a loophole for every truth that should apply to them.

Instead of listing to sermons they critique them.

They never let the truth of God wash over them.

Extort Poor (v. 11)

Amos 5:11 “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.”

Amos: You can’t take it with you.

Welcome Bribes (v. 12)

Silence Prudent (v.13)

Hymn of Praise

A Call to Worship

He put the stars in place.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed!

Do you need a moment to be still and know that He is God? Go outside on a clear night and just look up. That is all you have to do.

He makes the sun to rise and set.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hast provided; Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Oh, shout for joy unto the Lord Through the hours of darkness For day by day His faithful hand Ever stays upon us With every morning rise, we kneel All our lives we offer To be a living sacrifice Wholly to the Savior

Do you need a moment to be still and know that He is God. Take the time to enjoy a sunrise or sunset, and marvel that it wouldn’t happen without Him.

He filled the oceans.

Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Kings and nations tremble at His voice All creation rises to rejoice Behold our God seated on His throne Come, let us adore Him Behold our King! Nothing can compare Come, let us adore Him!

Do you need a moment to be still and know that He is God? Take a trip to the beach, or if you can’t afford that head up to Erie for a day. Just take a moment to remember that those oceans and lakes would even fill God’s tea cup.

He overcomes the strong in their fortress.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.

Do you need a moment to be still and know that He is God? Take a look at History and you will quickly discover that it has in fact been His story all along. He has never been overcome. Every battle won is because He has deemed to be won. Every battle lost is because He has declared it.

Yahweh is His name!

He is the self existent One.

He is the One Who Is.

He is the One Who has always been.

Jesus declared Himself to be Yahweh and was crucified for it. “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Conclusion

You will have life or you will have death there is no other option. So, seek God and live.

Sin has consequences and is worth lamenting. So love good and hate evil.

Repentance is a life long pursuit. So embrace the grace that God offers.