Amos 5 Commentary
Chapter 5 is underlined by the statement, “Seek Me and live”. Then the LORD explains what it means to seek Him
Seek good, not evil. Verse 14.
Hate evil, love good. Verse 15.
Maintain justice in courts. Verse 15.
We also know what it means to not seek the LORD. Do not seek Bethel. Ironically, Bethel means House of God, so named by the patriarch Jacob when the LORD met him there. But not anymore. Bethel hosted the golden calf that Israel had declared to be her god. Bethel had become the House of Sin. It was here that men and women flocked for solutions from the golden calf. Bethel, therefore, may represent anything that takes the place of the LORD God in the saint’s life.
Bethel is a place of disobedience.
“Do not go to Gilgal.” For Gilgal will surely go into exile. Have we put faith in items that will also perish?
Don’t turn justice into bitterness. The world makes you feel like being just is a sin. The world makes it so unprofitable that you ask if at all it makes sense to be just. At this point, you have not sought the LORD.
Tell the truth and face the wrath of the world. Build mansions and accumulate great wealth by taxing the poor heavily. You won’t enjoy your mansions, the LORD has decreed.
Check your business. Are you rich because you overcharged the poor? You have not sought the LORD at this point. In the meantime, we play religion and the LORD isn’t happy:-
“I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans, and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.” The Message Bible.
The world has refined Amos’ world and now deception is the currency of success. How do saints survive? A decision must be made. Think of it as the mark of the beast. You don’t trade without it. The call to the saint remains: “Seek Me, and live.” Nothing has changed. May the LORD help us.
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