Amos 2:1-5
Judgment on Moab and Judah
Amos 3:1-10
Authority of the Prophet’s Message
Amos 3:11-15
Judgment on False Religion and Corruption
Amos 4:1-13
Israel Did Not Accept Correction
Amos 5:1-15
A Call to Repentance
Amos 5:16-27
The Day of the Lord
Amos 6:1-14
Warnings to Zion And Samaria
A Call to Repentance
Amos 5:1–15
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Each day the young pastor stopped at a deli-market for fruit juice on the way to Church. On many occasions he shared his faith in Jesus Christ with the Islamic man behind the counter. The Islamic man could not understand why the young pastor’s God would be willing to suffer. Ther … More
Amos shocked his listeners by singing a funeral song for the northern kingdom of Israel (vv. 1-3). The Israelites believed that their wealth and religious ritual made them secure but they were doomed for an untimely destruction. Furthermore, those who attempted to protect Israel from this doom that awaited them would themselves be destroyed regardless of their might (v. 3).
The Lord’s people could find life only by seeking Him (v. 4). They could not find it by performing prescribed rituals at traditional religious sites such as Bethel and Gilgal, for these cities had become center for idolatry (vv. 5-6). The courts of law should have been places of justice but instead they had become places of greed and injustice (v. 7). Pleiades and Orion are star constellations (Job 9:9). The stars were worshiped by many ancient peoples, but they are created objects, not gods (vv. 8-9).
The elders and judges of the city officially met “at the gate” where legal transactions took place (vv. 10-13). “One who rebukes in the gate,” refers to an honest judge. A society is in trouble when those who try to do right are hated for their commitment to justice. They would not benefit from any of their labors because they had denied justice to the poor, who could not pay the bribes. The way of life lies in seeking God and doing right (v. 14). The way of death is to persist in sinning (v. 15).Application
This passage reminds me that one of the marks of holiness is to have a concern for the poor. I need to look for ways I can reflect God’s interest in the poor by my actions.
Amos 5:1-15 (English Standard Version)
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