Amos 5

CHAPTER 5THEME: Israel will be punished in the future for iniquityThe previous chapter closed with a bang, with a note of finality. It would seem as if God had closed the door, that judgment was inevitable, and that there was no hope for Israel at all. Although chapter 5 reaches into the future and makes it very clear that God will punish them for their iniquity, in the first fifteen verses God pleads with Israel to seek Him so that judgment can be averted. As long as He did not bring that final stroke of judgment, their captivity, there was hope for them.

Amos 5:1

He is taking up a dirge. He is singing a funeral song, a very sad one. He speaks of them now with tenderness

Amos 5:2

When Hosea began his prophecy, he spoke of the experience he had had in his home. He had married a harlot, and God sent him out to speak to the northern kingdom, saying, “You’re a harlot, but God still loves you.” Here Amos says, “You were a virgin; God espoused you to Himself.” That is the picture of every believer today. Paul said even to the Corinthians, “I espoused you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (see 2Co_11:2). When we come to Him, our sins are forgiven, and we start new with Him. But how about it, friend? How has it been going the past few years?

Have you done what Israel did? Have you played the harlot? Have you turned away from the One who loves you? Have you been led astray into the world and into the things of the flesh? Is the Devil leading you around like a pig with a ring in its snout? A great many Christians are in that condition today.

This is a sad funeral dirge: “The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.”

Amos 5:3

“The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred.” Amos is saying, “Prepare to meet your God. Look at the number that are going to be slain.” “That which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.” These are the ones who will be left back in the land, but a great company of them will be slain. Listen to Amos. This is, as it were, a last call to the nation

Amos 5:4

The invitation is still open. The Word has gone out. God is calling upon them to turn to Him; if they do even now, they will live.

Amos 5:5

“But seek not Beth-el.” Bethel is where one of the golden calves was erected. By the way, you cannot find Bethel today. I have had two different spots pointed out to me by guides, so we cannot be sure just where it is. The general location is pretty well known, but to be able to pinpoint it seems to be a problem. “Nor enter into Gilgal.” Gilgal is the place where Israel camped when they crossed the Jordan River when they first came into the land under the leadership of Joshua. There they set up the tabernacle, and there was the staging area for their march upon Jericho. It became a very sacred place. In fact, God had told them to tell their children that that was the place where He had delivered them. Instead, these people had gone into idolatry, and these places that had been sacred for God became places to set up an idol. “And pass not to Beer-sheba.” Beer-sheba was way down in the southern kingdom of Judah in the Negeb. It is another very famous place. It was at Beer-sheba that Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant, and then Abraham called on the name of the Lord (see Gen. 21). The expression, “…from Dan to Beer-sheba …” (e.g., see Jdg_20:1), is used in Scripture to designate the whole land of Israel from north to south. In the days of Amos, the people in the northern kingdom were making pilgrimages to Beer-sheba for the worship of idols. “For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.” Why doesn’t Amos mention Beer-sheba at this point? Because Beer-sheba is not in the northern kingdom but in the southern. It will be more than another hundred years before Beer-sheba goes into captivity with the southern kingdom. However, these two in the northern kingdom, both Bethel and Gilgal, are about to go into captivity. How accurate Amos is in his statement here! But he goes on to say that there is still hope for them

Amos 5:6

“Seek the LORD, and ye shall live"what a wonderful invitation this is! “Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph.” God says, “If you do not turn to Me, I will have to judge you.”

Amos 5:7

The man who was liberal in his theology used to make a great deal of this section of Scripture. He presented a “works salvation,” finding justification for it in this passage. Unfortunately, he did not consider Amos’ entire message. The condition of the people of Israel was that they were going through the form of worship that God had prescribed. They were offering sacrifices, they were going through a ritual that God had given to them, but their lives did not commend their profession. In other words, their practice did not equal the profession which they made. Years ago Dr. G. Campbell Morgan said that he was more afraid of the blasphemy of the secular than he was of the blasphemy of the sanctuary. Many people think that if you participate in all the forms and rituals of the church, you are very pious, but if you do something in the sanctuary which is not according to the ritual of the church, it is blasphemous. My friend, I do not feel that the real danger is in that sort of thing. The real danger is in the man who goes to church and sings the doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” but outside the church is living a life in which he is not honest and a life in which there is neither justice nor righteousness.

That is the blasphemy of the secular or the blasphemy of the street. That is the thing that God is condemning in the lives of the people of Israel. I am not saying that a living faith in Christ is not essential. It is absolutely essential to trust in Christ for your salvation. But, my friend, if you make a profession of trusting in Christ and your life outside the church does not commend the gospel at all, then, may I say to you, there is not but one word to describe that. It is a harsh word, but the Lord Jesus is the one who used this word more than anyone else. He called the religious rulers of His day, “Ye hypocrites.” That is His word for itI did not think of it. It is brazen hypocrisy today, either in the pulpit or in the pew, when a profession is given and a protestation is made of our wonderful love for and trust in Christ, and then we go out and live a life which condemns the very gospel we are supposed to be professing.

This is the thing that hurts the cause of the gospel today. A great many Christians do not want this mentioned because they are very active in Christian work but not very active in living for the Lord in their business and social lives. I knew a man who was married and very active in the church; I do not think there was an organization within the church in which he was not active. But he got involved with a lady in the choir. He dropped out for a time, and without making any amends, without any apparent change of life whatsoever, he wanted to come back into active service in the church. As pastor, I absolutely condemned that sort of thing, and I was made out to be the unreasonable party because of it. Amos condemns this idea of making a profession and then not living up to itthis was basic in his message. You see, God had to bring Amos from way down south in the southern kingdom in order to get a man who would give this kind of message. The paid preachers up there in Bethel and Samaria were saying only what the people wanted them to say. A leading Bible expositor made the statement several years ago that the modern pulpit had become a sounding board for the thinking of the congregation. Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2Ti_4:3-4). The people’s ears itch to hear something nice and sweet, and then they go up and pat the preacher on the back, telling him how sweet he is. It becomes like the old Egyptian game: “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back, and we both will have a good time.” A great deal of that type of thing is going on in our churches today; liberalism has done it for years, and we find it in many conservative churches today. The people of Israel were insulted that this man Amos would even suggest that they were not very religious or very pious, but that was his message to them.

Amos 5:8

Again, this is God’s gracious call. God is long-suffering. God is much more patient than I would be. I have found out that I need to learn to be patient with the patience of God. How long-suffering and patient He is! “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion.” Orion is one of the many constellations in the heavens, and it was the one, of course, familiar to these people in that day. “And maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth.” That is, it is God who makes the rain fall. It is true that rainfall is controlled by the law of hydrodynamics, but who made the law of hydrodynamics? Who is the One who pulls the water up out of the ocean, puts it on the train (they call it a cloud), moves those clouds with the wind until they get to just the right place, then turns loose the rain? God is the One doing that, my friend. Amos says, “The LORD is his name.” In effect, he is saying to the people of Israel, “You have turned to idols, and your life does not commend your profession of a faith in the living God, the living God who is the Creator.”

Amos 5:9

“They hate him that rebuketh in the gate.” The one who rebuketh in the gate would be a judge. The courthouse of that day was the gate of the walled city. You will find all the way through Scripture that the judges sat in the gate. Boaz brought the nearer kinsman to the gate of Bethlehem to settle the inheritance of Naomi and Ruth. When Lot went down to Sodom, he became involved in politics down there, and we are told that he sat in the gate. What was he doing there? He was a judge. Amos says that the judge who rebuked that which was wrong was the one who was hated; therefore, most of the judges chose to cooperate with the evildoers. “And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.” When a judge insisted upon justice and upon that which was right, he became very unpopular. I am not sure that human nature has changed very much since Amos’ day.

Amos 5:11

“Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat.” The poor are the ones who do not get justice. I know that, for I have been on that side of the line for a long time. “Ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.” The beautiful palaces that were built at Samaria are in ruins today. They were destroyed shortly after this message was given and have been in ruins now for nearly three thousand years.

Amos 5:12

The poor could not get justice in the court of that day. Has it changed today? One of the reasons offered for repealing the death penalty has been that the rich man can always escape the gas chamber or the electric chair. I do not think that that is a legitimate reason, although it is true that the rich man can do that. The poor man, when he is found guilty, does not stand a chance of escaping the penalty. The rich man can keep appealing the case, and it takes him a long time to find his way to jail; in fact, in many cases, he never even gets there. God takes notice when there is no justice in a nation. God has turned over to human government the responsibility of running this earth. The nations of the earth are God’s arrangement, and He holds them accountable. When they fail, He removes them, as Rome was removed from the scene.

Amos 5:13

In other words, a man in that day knew he could not get justice, and many good people were keeping quiet. It was the prudent thing to do because, if he had attempted to protest, it wouldn’t have done him a bit of good. The tragedy of the hour in which we live is that we talk about the freedom of the press, the freedom of religion, and the freedom of speech, but there is not much of it left. The news media have definitely become a brainwashing agency. It is true that only he who has money can get a public hearing today. As a result, we do have a silent majority in this country, because they know that their voices would not amount to anything at all. We are in a tragic day, very much like the day to which Israel had come.

Amos 5:14

Again, the Lord calls upon Israel to turn to Him.

Amos 5:15

In our day, a man who is liberal and supported by some rich organization can betray our government and escape any penalty (in fact, he is even made a hero), while some poor fellow who is espousing an honest cause does not stand a chance of gaining a hearing. God says, “Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.” “It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” In other words, Amos says, “It’s a slim chance, but there is hope for you.” Now Amos moves into another area, the warning of an approaching judgment, the Day of the Lord.

Amos 5:16

Because God knew that they would not repent, He now clearly states the judgment which is to come. Death will touch everyone; all will mourn.

Amos 5:18

A great many people were very piously saying that they desired the Day of the Lord. Amos expresses it here as a “Woe"“Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD!” But for them it is nothing in the world but pious sentiment. That day is not going to be as pleasant for them as they think it is going to be. Amos uses here the expression, “the day of the LORD.” Joel is the one who introduced this subject in prophecy, and every one of the prophets after him has something to say about it. Many people have thought that the Day of the Lord refers to the Millennium; in fact, at the beginning of my theological training that is what I was taught. Joel was very careful (and Amos will be also) to say that the Day of the Lord is not light but it is darkness. The Day of the Lord begins with judgment and moves on to the coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom here upon this earth. There are a number of commentators who feel that the people of Israel were becoming rather cynical and were ridiculing the Day of the Lord. I do not see that here at all; I do not see how the interpretation could possibly be true. Rather, I see that the people were becoming very pious. They were going through the Mosaic rituals, but they were also worshipping idols. It was just religion to them, just as churchgoing is to many people today. There is nothing vital, nothing real in going through a ritual.

The reason many church services are so dead is that they are nothing more than ritual. It may be beautiful, it may appeal to your eyes and your ears, but does it change your life? Is it transforming? Is it something you can live by in the marketplace? There are many people today who are premillennial and pretribulational in their theology and who very piously say, “Oh, if only the Lord would come!” If you are one of them, let me ask you this: Do you really want Him to come? Or are you using the Rapture of the church as a sort of an escape mechanism to get you out of your troubles down here? In seminary a fellow student and I were studying Hebrew. After dinner in the evening, when we had a difficult Hebrew assignment to prepare for the next day, he would look up to the heavens and say, “Oh, if the Lord would only come tonight!” What was he after? He didn’t want to study Hebrew! But I never shall forget the night before graduation (he was to be married and go on his honeymoon the day after graduation) when he came out of the cafeteria, looked up to the sky, and said, “I sure hope the Lord doesn’t come now for several days!” My friend, many of us look forward to the Rapture, not because we love Christ’s appearing, but because we want to escape an unpleasant situation. Amos says to these people, “You pious folk are just going through the religious rituals, you don’t really know Godyou are worshiping idols also! The Day of the Lord is not something which you are to desire. It is not light, but it is a day of darkness. You will first go through a great period of tribulation when the Day of the Lord comes. What you expect to do is to jump right into the Millennium, but that is not the way it is going to happen. Those of us who believe that the church will not go through the Tribulation should be aware that we will not escape all judgment. My friend, some of us may think we have gotten into the Tribulation after we get to heaven! Do you know why? Listen to what Paul has to say in 2Co_5:9-10: “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” The judgment seat of Christ is the bema; it is not the Great White Throne judgment at all. It is to the bema that all Christians come “that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Is this a judgment for salvation?

No, Paul says, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Co_3:11). There is no other foundation any man can lay, but you can build on that foundation. You can build with wood, hay, and stubble; or you can build with gold, silver, and precious stones. But every man’s worknot his salvation, not his personwill be tested by fire. If any man’s work survives the fire, he will receive a reward. But suppose his work does not survive the fire?

Paul says, “He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (see 1Co_3:12-15). This is the reason I often make the statement that, although many people are saved, they are going to smell like they were bought at a fire sale when they get to heaven. Everything they did here on earth they did in the flesh, they did it for some earthly reason, for some present satisfaction. I want to be very frank with you: as I am now getting toward the sunset of life, I’m wondering how Vernon McGee is going to fare at the judgment seat of Christ. You may say that I will get a reward because of my Bible-teaching ministry through the years. But you don’t know me like I know myself; if you did, you might not want to listen to me. But wait a minute, don’t put the book down, because if I knew you like you know yourself, I wouldn’t want to talk to you. My friend, the lives which we live down here are to be tested, and it is pious nonsense to pretend to be so interested in the coming of Christ when the truth is that some of us will get to heaven and think that we didn’t miss the Great Tribulation after all. Notice what Paul went on to say after speaking of our judgment at the bema of Christ: “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men …” (2Co_5:11). If you think that when you appear in His presence He is going to give you a nice little Sunday school medal because you didn’t miss Sunday school for fifteen years, I think you are wrong. I do not think that that is even going to be an issue. I think that the life you live in your home, your witness in your business and social life, your conduct with the opposite sex are the things which are going to come before the judgment seat of Christit will be the things that were done in the body down here. Do you want to go to heaven now? Do you have everything straightened out? Paul writes, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1Co_11:31). This is the reason I try to keep everything confessed to the Lord. I want to run short accounts with Him every day. If I don’t, He is going to straighten it out up there someday. You lost your temper and gave a poor witness today. Or you gossiped about another believer. Do you think that when you come into the presence of Christ He will pat you on the back and say what a nice little fellow you were? He is going to judge those things, my friend. Things must be made right in heaven, and that is the purpose of the judgment seat of Christ. Amos is really putting it on the line to these people. He says, “Cut out this nonsense that you desire the Day of the Lord. It is not a day of light but of darkness. There will be a Great Tribulation that you will go through.” If you are a believer and therefore do not go through that, there will still be the judgment seat of Christ for you. I do not think that it is going to be as pleasant as some folk think it is going to be.

Amos 5:19

Amos is one of the most dramatic preachers that you will find in Scripture. He uses such figurative language. He uses the idiom of the earth and draws his illustrations from nature. Here he describes a man who is out in the woods, and suddenly there is a lion on the trail in back of him. As he runs away from the lion, he sees a bear coming toward him. In other words, if you say you want the Lord to come so that you can get out of your troubles down here, it may be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire (to use an adage of our day).

Seeing the bear coming toward him, the man takes off over the hill and reaches his home. He puts his hand upon the wall to rest and get his breath, only to have a serpent come out of the wall and bite him. It might have been better if the lion or the bear had gotten him than to have the poison of a serpent in him! Amos is saying that we had better be very careful about the life we are living for God down here. As believers, our salvation is not in jeopardyChrist has paid the penalty for our sins, but if our sins as believers are not dealt with and made right, He will make them right. My friend, He must do thatHe is holy and righteous and just, and heaven is a place where things are right. Therefore, you and I will have to be right when we get there. This is something that a great many people do not realize today.

Amos 5:20

“The day of the LORD” begins with a period of judgment that is yet to come upon the nation of Israel. There is more than a period of judgment that is included in the Day of the Lord, however. The Day of the Lord also includes the second coming of Christ to the earth and the time of the millennial Kingdom here upon earth.

Amos 5:21

Behind their going through the rituals were lives that were dishonest. God’s people need to recognize that their faith must be real. Faith is not fake or fable; it is reality. Faith must lay hold of a person. Believing is not deceiving. Many people say, “If you believe, it is because you are blind. You have a blind faith.” My friend, if it is a blind faith, forget it, because God does not accept that. Faith must have an effect upon the life; James says, “…faith without works is dead” (Jas_2:20). Paul said that we have been saved in order that we might produce good works. All of this is important. The people of Israel were living lives of sin. They were engaged in idolatry; yet they were going through all the Mosaic ritual. God says here, “I despise it. I have no use for it.” In some of our song services which we consider to be so enthusiastic, if the hearts of the people are not in it, if there is nothing but a big mouth in it, do you really think God accepts that? If He came to your church or my church, what do you think His viewpoint would be?

Amos 5:24

Apparently, the people of Israel offered sacrifices in the wilderness, but when they met a heathen people, they wanted to take on the worship of their gods also. The worship of Moloch was that in which small children were put into the arms of a red-hot idol and made human sacrifices. The screams of these children were terrible. God is saying to us, “You come to church on Sunday and go through the motions of worshiping Me, but during the week you worship Moloch, you worship the idol of covetousness as you go after the almighty dollar.” Cardinal Wolsey was banished from Hampton Court by Henry VIII who would also have had him executed if Wolsey had not died a natural death before the execution could take place. On his deathbed, the cardinal said, “If I had only served my God like I served my king!” Many a Christian will have to say on his deathbed, “I have served the god of Moloch down here; I have served the idol of covetousness. I’ve worshiped the things of the flesh and have not served my God.” My friend, it does not matter how sweet the music will be, nor what nice words the preacher will say at the funeral, you and I are going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. I will be frank with you, that disturbs me somewhat. Therefore, I want to keep things straightened out with Him down here.

Amos 5:27

Israel is to be punished in the future. They will go into captivity “beyond Damascus” (that is, beyond Syria), and beyond Damascus was Nineveh. God is telling Israel that the Assyrian would take them into captivity.