Amos

Chapter 4
From Bad to Worse……
If you have not read Chapter 4,
please go ahead and do so…..
 Recall that we were talking
about Samaria in Chapter 3
 Samaria is the capital
of Israel
 Israel is the Northern
Kingdom
 Israel was involved in
sinning as they were
worshipping Baal
 There was also no
justice in Israel
 Take a look at the first 3 verses
 The Cows of Bashan were actually cows.
 They lived in Bashan which is a lush pasture
near the Jordan River where cows go to get
fattened.
 Actually the best cows and the fattest come
from this area.
 Amos’ anger was directed against the elite
women in Samaria who were the upper crust
of society.
 They were the wives of landowners,
businessmen, and politicians
 They were overweight while other folks went
hungry.
 So Amos was calling them FAT COWS!!!
 How NOT to win friends and influence people
 What is going to happen to the
Fat Cows????
 Notice that in verse 2,
it says that they will be
taken away with hooks
 Hooks were used to
prod cattle or to take
them away when they
are dead
 So, these women will
die and be taken away
 Verses 4 and 5 are interesting
 Bethel was a site in northern Israel that was
critical for the Jews
 It was here where Jacob dreamed of the ladder
from heaven to earth (see Genesis)
 It was a holy place and people would come for
miles to worship there.
 They would bring sacrifices and offerings
 Amos is saying that the worship at Bethel is
not true worship because how can you worship
God when there is so much corruption in
society?
 How can you worship God when the poor are
oppressed?
 There is a critical relationship here between
the right worship of God and the condition of
society
 Gilgal
 Take a look at the book of Joshua
 In this book, we see Israel crossing the
Jordan River into the Promised Land
 When they cross, the water is parted for
them.
 They are told by God to take 12 stones
from the river bed and set up an altar.
 So, Gilgal is a holy place where people
would go and offer sacrifices and
worship God.
 Again, the same problem as before—
how can you worship God when there is
so much corruption in society?
 Of Course………

 This line of thought raises a

question for us
 Considering we live in a
society where it can be
argued there is injustice
 Can we have a true worship
of God?
 Should we as a church work
to right these injustices?
 How?
 Rest of the chapter

 The rest of the chapter (verses 6-13) is really a call

to WAKE UP!!!!
 God declares rain has been withheld, people have
gone hungry, gardens and vineyards have been
struck with disease, and there have been plagues
 These are all wake up calls to repent and turn from
sinful ways
 If you ignore them, things will get worse…..
 So…………………

 Are people and their needs on top of our

agendas?
 Are there injustices in our society?
 If the answer is YES to these, can we have
true worship of God????