AMOS

Chapter 5
If you have not read Chapter 5,
please do so………….
 Chapter 5
 As discussed before,
Israel had sinned
against God and had
done so for quite
some time
 This resulted in the
death of Israel (aka
they were conquered)
 So, most of Amos
Chapter 5 is a lament
Why did Israel die?
 The poor were exploited
 They were heavily taxed
and the tax revenue was
used for the wealthy
 Judges were bribed and
had hush money
 Rich profited from the
poor
 They falsely worshipped
other gods at holy places
such as Bethel and Gilgal
Look at verse 17
 “For I will pass through
your midst”
 A bit scary as it indicates
that God will pass through
bringing calamity
 This reminds us of Exodus
where the last plague was
when the angel of death
passed through Egypt
killing the 1st born.
 However, in this case there
is no Passover
Is there no hope???????
 YES
 Notice in verse 3,
God points out that a
city that has 1000 will
have a hundred left
and a town that has
100 will have 10 left.
 So a remnant will
remain (about 10% of
the population)
So, how do I become part of the
remnant?????
 Seek God and Live
 Look at verse 4
 God says to the folks in Israel that they
need to “seek me and live”
 So the remnant will be those who seek
God and live
 What does this mean for us to seek God
and live
Take a look with me at Ephesians
2.5
 Notice that Paul mentions that God made us
alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions
 So, like the Israelites, we have been spiritually
dead
 We are called to seek Christ and live. We are to
have abundant life with him and eternal life as
well as to seek good
 Through Christ we are alive
Take a look at verses 21-25
 Why in the world would God hate the religious feasts, and
assemblies, and not accept the offerings made by the
Israelites?
 Why would God hate the worship of the people of Israel?
 The reason is that when you do not have justice within the
society (widows being taken advantage of, the poor being
exploited, etc) you cannot have true worship of God
 In other words, before you worship me, says God, go take
care of the injustices in your society otherwise you do not
have true worship
 “Let justice roll on like a river”
Here are 2 critical themes in
Amos
 Seek God and live
 The relationship between justice and
worship
 AKA How can you have true worship of
God without a just society?
 What does this say to us in 2010
 How do we define society—Huntington or
the world?????
Look at verse 19
 What do you make of the
bear,the lion, and the
snake?
 As people try to escape
these animals people
cannot get away
 Likewise trying to escape
from God is equally
impossible
 When do we try to
escape from God???
Seek God and live!!!!!