Amos 5
Notes
Transcript
We do have a bit more lamentation here than in some of the other sections Let’s look at our first segment which will be the first 17 verses. I’m going to read them all together but see if you can find a pattern. Look for things that pair up at the beginning and end, is there a pair at the middle or is the middle singular and standing out?
Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
“Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
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.”
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.”
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,
O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
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;
who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What structure do you see in that passage? Did you see any themes there? I mean the first one is a giveaway right? It tells us upfront that It’s lamentation. The next is an exhortation a call to action 4-6 Sin revealed in verse 7 Then a Reverence and acknowledgement of God the creator. 8-9 Sin is revealed again but judgment is also mentioned with it in 10-12 and we get again the exhortation for what actions are proper to take. 13-15 and with 16 and 17 we move back into, what was it we started with? Lamentation.
Any Qs? Other observations before moving on?
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
What!? this seems like it’s taking a left turn? Aren’t we glad for the coming of the Day Of The Lord!? I think the original audience here would also have been quite perplexed at this proclamation from Amos. Not that they’re likely following along up this point in lock step anyway… Remember they are going to be on the wrong end of the stick when judgment comes from the Lord. They still assume they’re the chosen because of a lineage and give no thought to how they’ve perverted the purpose of instruction in righteousness.
Even worse news, we’re finding out (not that it hasn’t been made obvious at this point) nothing they’re doing is acceptable to God. Then God jumps in speaking in the first person here in verse 21
“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Oh boy, everything they’re doing is vile and fake, there is nothing from the heart there is no humility before the True God.
Then we get a rhetorical question and another stab at their idolatry. Sikkuth and Kiyyun are both names for Saturn in different pagan cults of the time.
“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
They did bring some sacrifices and offerings but it wasn’t the temple system that they relied upon in the wilderness. They had to trust for God’s provision instead they traded in what was good for Saturn and called it a God and King. So to exile they go.