An Invitation to Seek the Sovereign God: Amos 5:4-15
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God's Invitation to Seek Him and Live (Amos 5:4-15)
An Invitation to Seek the Sovereign God
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek Me and live;
5 But do not seek Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And Bethel shall come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
7 You who turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
And makes the day dark as night;
He calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
The Lord is His name.
9 He rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor
And take grain taxes from him,
Though you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Understanding the Context: Amos's Prophetic Message to Israel
The invitation was extended to the whole house of Jacob (both Israel and Judah) (Amos 3:1-6:14).
Amos 5 is a lamentation to Israel, a cry out to Israel. The word of the Lord to the House of Israel came from Amos, a minor prophet, a Judean sheepherder and gatherer of sycamore fruit, with a strong message for Israel delivered in the shadow of Jeroboam's pagan temple at Bethel, both attracts us and commands respect.(Amos 1:1, 7:14-15)
The Call to Repentance and Return to the Lord
They were told to Seek Me and you will live! Return to the Lord. They could repent, turn to God and have their sins forgiven, which in turn would save them from God's punishment of their sin.
Amos's Mission: Warning Against Injustice
The immediate purpose of Amos's prophetic ministry was to call leaders of ancient Israel to repent and reform. Amos warned them that if they did not heed his call, their injustice against the poor and the weak would destroy the nation. God would not allow them to continue in their unrighteous, unjust course.
Let Justice Roll Down Like Water: Amos's Famous Call
It is no accident that what we often remember from Amos in his stirring call, "Let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream". (5:24)
An Invitation Today: Seek God and Have Eternal Life
But more importantly, we read and hear the Word of God, still ringing down the centuries with clarity and force. God is inviting each and every one of us to seek Him and you too shall have eternal life.
The Gospel Message: God's Love through Jesus Christ
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life". John 3:16 Jesus died on the cross in my place and your place. God put the sins of everyone upon His spotless, sinless Son. Jesus shed his Blood, died on the Cross, he was buried and he rose again three days later. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are rescued from their deserved punishment for sin. We learn today from Amos to ‘seek the Lord and live!’