Amos 5

EXAMINATION

CONSIDERATIONS

Summarize in one paragraph, the philosophy of history as taught by the Old Testament prophets.

Describe in detail, the circumstances of the times in which Amos took God’s message to Israel.

What is generally accepted as the theme of the book of Amos?

ASSOCIATIONS

Associate the persons or events of column one with the correct person or event of column two.

1

2

Uzziah

a synonym for Israel

Carmel

the high priest of Israel

Tekoa

king of Judah

Gaza

center of worship in Israel

Damascus

capital of Syria

Amman

city of Philistia

Moab

Amos-’ home town

Amaziah

mountain in Israel

Tabernacle of David

city of Philistia

Bethel

Messianic prophecy

Nazirites

heathen nation east of Jordan

Ashdod

heathen nation east of Jordan

Jacob

Jewish sect

MEMORIZATIONS

… because I will do this unto thee, _____ to meet thy _____, O Israel. Seek _____, and not _____, that ye may live; and so _____, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say. But let _____ roll down as _____, and _____ as a mighty stream. Woe to them that are at _____ in Zion, and to them that are _____ in the mountain of Samaria. In that day I will rise up the _____ of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its _____ and I will _____ it as in the days of old;

CONTEMPLATIONS

What was Amos-’ occupation? What did he mean he was not the son of a prophet?

What was the birthplace of Amos and what type of life did he lead?

Why did God direct Amos to pronounce judgment upon the many heathen nations surrounding the chosen people? What is the lesson in this for today?

What kind of living were the people engaging in according to Amos-’ description?

Why is Amos called the prophet of social justice?

What was the religious condition of the northern kingdom in Amos-’ day?

What opposition did Amos meet in his preaching in Israel?

Does the book of Amos teach against the use of musical instruments in the worship of God?

Where is the Messianic prophecy recorded in the book of Amos? Where is it repeated in the New Testament?

What does the N.T. interpretation of Amos-’ prophecy teach concerning the Messianic kingdom?

That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches. (Amos 6:4). Ivory plaques, often inlaid with gold and precious stones, decorated with cherubs and religious motifs of foreign origin, have been found by the hundred at Megiddo and Samaria. They testify to the luxury and extravagance of the upper classes in Israel in the first half of the eighth century B. C., against which the Prophet Amos thundered in vain.

FROM: THE BIBLE AS HISTORY IN PICTUR

By Werner Keller - Wm. Morrow Co.

ALONE

It is human to stand with the crowd, it is divine to stand alone; it is man-like to follow the people, to drift with the tide; it is Godlike to follow a principle, to stem the tide. It is natural to compromise conscience and follow the social and religious fashion for the sake of gain or pleasure; it is divine to sacrifice both on the altar of truth and duty.

No man stood with me, but all men forsook me, wrote the battle-scared apostle in describing his first appearance before Nero to answer for his life for believing and teaching contrary to the Roman world. Truth has been out of fashion since man changed his robe of fadeless light for a garment of faded leaves. Noah built and voyaged alone. His neighbors laughed at his strangeness and perished in style, Abraham wandered and worshipped alone. Sodomites smiled at the simple shepherd, followed the fashion, and fed the flames. Daniel dined and prayed alone. Elijah sacrificed and witnessed alone. Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone. Jesus loved and died alone. And of the lonely way His disciples should walk, He said: Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Of their treatment by the many who walk in the broad way, He said: If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The church in the wilderness praised Abraham and persecuted Moses. The church of the kings praised Moses and persecuted the prophets. The church of Caiaphas praised the prophets and persecuted Jesus. The church of the Popes praised the Saviour and persecuted the saints. And the multitudes now, both in the church and the world, applaud the courage and fortitude of the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and martyrs, but condemn as stubbornness or foolishness like faithfulness to truth today. Wanted, today, men and women, young and old, who will obey their convictions of truth and duty at the cost of fortune and friends and life itself.

Amos 5:1-5

REVELATION CALLS FOR REPENTANCEGOD’S WORD AGAINST ISRAEL

TEXT: Amos 5:1-5

1

Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.

2

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.

4

For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;

5

but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

QUERIES

a.

Who is the virgin of Israel?

b.

Why only 1/10th left in each city?

c.

Why is Beer-sheba mentioned in company with Bethel and Gilgal?

PARAPHRASE

Listen, O house of Israel, to this mournful funeral dirge which I have begun to chant over you! You were destined from the beginning to be kept inviolate from heathen invaders like a virgin is kept chaste, but you shall be ravaged and die a violent death and there will be none to save you. For the Lord God says, Every city of Israel which marches out to war will be so utterly destroyed that only a small remnant of people will survive in each city. Again, the Lord says unto Israel, There is still timeSeek Me and live; seek the idolatrous places and ways of Bethel and Gilgal, or make a pilgrimage to the idols at Beersheba, and you will go into captivity and become nothingness just as these idolatrous cities are to become!

SUMMARY

Amos wants to impress even more dramatically before Israel her headlong rush into ruin, destruction and captivity. He does so by setting before Israel Jehovah God as the Fountain head of life and the destiny of the centers of idolatry.

COMMENT

Amos 5:1-2. A LAMENTATION OVER YOU. THE VIRGIN OF ISRAEL IS FALLEN. Amos the prophet, on behalf of God, begins chanting Israel’s funeral dirge. And this at the very apex of her prosperity! One can surely visualize with what unpopularity Amos-’ preaching would be greeted in Israel! He is mocked, ridiculed and slandered as a preacher of doom and a pessimist, The phrase virgin of Israel, is a poetical personification of the population of a city or of a kingdom, as a daughter, with a further idea of being unconquerable expressed by the term virgin. God had intended Israel’s destiny to be one of separateness from the heathen world and as a result He would keep her inviolate from foreign invaders. Israel was to be pure, chaste, protected, untouchedbut now she has played the harlot and she will be attacked, ravaged and brought to a violent end! For other figurative uses of virgin in this same sense see Isaiah 47:1-2, etc. When God gives her up to be spoiled by foreign invaders there will be none to help her!

Amos 5:3-5. THE CITY THAT WENT FORTH A THOUSAND SHALL HAVE A HUNDRED LEFT. SEEK YE ME, AND YE SHALL LIVE. BUT SEEK NOT BETH-EL, NOR. GILGAL. BEER-SHEBA. Amos is not attempting to be mathematically precise when he predicts that only ten per cent of each city will be saved from total destruction, he is merely speaking figuratively (cf. Isaiah 6:13) to say that only a very small remnant of the whole nation will be saved from utterly perishing. This was fulfilled exactly (cf. 2 Kings 17). Such total ruin would, of course, be the fartherest thing from the minds of most of the people of Israel in these days of peace, luxury, prosperity and influence. Much like the people of the Roman empire just before its fall was the attitude of the people of Israel. We are fearful that there are many Americans who cannot see the danger signs in our generationcrime, government corruption, lewdness, selfishness, anarchy, and perversion of standards in almost every avenue of life from sex to art and music to law and order!

Yet God pleads with Israel once more. Seek Me, and live! Jehovah is the Spring of Life (cf. Jeremiah 2:13; Psalms 36:10); He is longsuffering and does not take pleasure in the death of any of His creatures (cf. Ezekiel 18:31-32; 2 Peter 3:9). But Jehovah can only be sought and found through His revelation! They will not find Him at Bethel or Gilgal or Beersheba. These are centers of idolatry, false teaching, false worship; they will find there only ruin, destruction and captivity for that is what God has planned for these places! Beersheba, although in Judah the southern kingdom, is mentioned evidently because, being sacred to Jewish history (Genesis 21:33; Genesis 26:24; Genesis 46:1) it had been made into a place of idolatrous worship, to which people of the northern kingdom went on pilgrimages frequently.

Irresponsible conduct, whether within or without the religious structures of the day, cannot continue unabated without experiencing inevitable retribution. This is a moral law of the universe just as inevitable as any physical law of nature! If man will not hear the word of God warning of judgment in His revelation, it is only left for man to experience that judgment in history. Amos proclaimed that Israel was dead! The people did not know it, nor did they want to know it (Amos 7:10 ff)! Although Israel continued to flourish for almost forty years after Amos-’ prophecy before national extinction came, yet, for all practical purposes, she was dead when Amos was preaching; thus he speaks of her future as if it were already present. Is it only extreme pessimism to say, America is dead? Could there be any parallel between Israel’s condition and America’S? If so, there must be a parallel looked for in their destinies! Perhaps it is not yet too late for America, even as it was not too late for Israel. Perhaps if America will seek Jehovah in His revelationHis wordshe will find Him and live. Only let her not seek life in the many idols her people have made for there she will find only false teaching, false worship and death!

QUIZ

What is a lamentation and why did Amos begin one over Israel?

Why did he refer to Israel as a fallen virgin?

Why make a contrast between seeking Jehovah and Bethel, Gilgal or Beersheba?

Could there be a parallel between Israel’s condition and America’S?

Amos 5:6-13

REVELATION CALLS FOR REPENTANCEGOD’S OMNIPOTENCE AND OMNISCIENCE

TEXT: Amos 5:6-13

6

Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

7

Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

8

seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, 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; (Jehovah is his name;)

9

that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

10

They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly,

11

Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.

12

For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.

13

Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.

QUERIES

a.

What is turning justice to wormwood?

b.

What is turning the shadow of death into the morning?

c.

Why shall the prudent keep silence?

PARAPHRASE

Again I say to you, Israel, Seek the Lord and live or else He will leap like devouring fire through your nation and consume her, and none of the false gods of Bethel will be able to stop Him. You evil men who turn justice into a bitter pill for the poor and oppressed, righteousness is trampled into the dust by you; you had better seek the Great Creator, the Omnipotent One, who created the Seven Stars and the constellation Orion; He is omnipotent also in His government of the universe for He turns the deepest misery into prosperity and light or turns the bright day of prosperity into the dark night of adversity; He calls to the waters of the sea to pour themselves over the earth in terrible floods to judge the wicked and no strong man and no fortress can defy Him for He is the Omnipotent God, Jehovah! Any man who dares to stand for righteousness and justice is hated. You may have built great houses but you will not live in them; you may have planted pleasant vineyards but you will never enjoy even the first wine that is produced by them; all because you have oppressed the poor and unjustly extorted measurements of wheat from them as bribes for the evil judges. I am the Omniscient One and I know the multitude of your transgressions and the magnitude of your sins; you make war on those who want to be just, you pervert justice by taking bribes and you refuse to help those who are needy and seek redress of wrong. On account of this time of wide-spread moral corruption, the man who plays it smart will be silent since all speaking and warning brings persecution.

SUMMARY

God, through the prophet Amos, reveals the corruption of the Israelites thus displaying His omniscience and contrasts that with His omnipotence in creation and government. This adds force to the warning and the predictions of judgment.

COMMENT

Amos 5:6 SEEK JEHOVAH, AND YE SHALL LIVE; LEST HE BREAK OUT LIKE FIRE. The prophet repeats his call to the people that Jehovah (which includes His Word for this is where He has revealed His person and His will) is their source of life. To turn to Him is the only alternative to inevitable destruction. If they do not seek Him (where He is supposed to be sought) He will break out like a fire, He will become a roaring inferno which will consume the whole nation of Israel (house of Joseph) and none of their false gods and false religious practices at Bethel will be able to stop the judgment; they are powerless, they are dumb (cf. Isaiah 41:21-29; Isaiah 44:6-20). He is omnipotent; He has the authority and power to grant life or He has the authority and power to take it away. Israel must choose the alternative course from the one she is now following if she would have life.

Amos 5:7-9 YE. TURN JUSTICE TO WORMWOOD. SEEK HIM THAT MAKETH THE PLEIADES. AND. SHADOW OF DEATH INTO. MORNING. AND MAKETH THE DAY DARK WITH NIGHT. THAT CALLETH FOR THE WATERS OF THE SEA. THAT BRINGETH SUDDEN DESTRUCTION. Wormwood is a species of plant related to our western sagebrush. It was the oriental source of a much used oil obtained from the dried leaves and tops of the plant. Absinthe, a liqueur, the continuous use of which leads to mental deterioration and even death, derives its flavor from this oil (cf. Lamentations 3:15; Lamentations 3:19). The plant is a symbol of bitterness. The rich and powerful of Israel had perverted justice (that which is supposed to be sweet, pure, refreshing and vital) into bitterness and rottenness. They were wiping their feet on every semblance of rightthey had trampled it down to the ground. It is difficult to imagine a society so corrupt. Yet history records other eras just as corrupt (e.g. last days of Roman empire; Dark Ages). In certain areas of our big cities justice is just as severely perverted. But again, the Lord appeals to the people on the basis of His omnipotence. Contrasted with their present condition of being in the darkness of sin, He who made the starry heavens is able to turn their deepest misery into the glorious light of morning. He is also able to take what may appear to their sin-seared consciences as prosperity and turn it into a dark night of adversity, This calls to our mind the sublime statement of God’s sovereignty in Isaiah 45:5-7; I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I gird you, though you do not know me, that men may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the Lord, who do all these things. This passage is in a context where God, through Isaiah, is foretelling (by approximately 200 years before his birth) of the service Cyrus, future king of Persia, is going to render to God and His people! Blessing and curse both come from the Lord to serve His sovereign purposesit is up to man to choose which he will have! Yes, He even commands the seas and the rivers and brings about the catastrophic floods with sudden destruction upon wickedness. Man will never build a fortress, a bomb shelter, or an underground command complex strong enough to withstand the hand of the Omnipotent God!

Amos 5:10-12 THEY HATE HIM THAT REPROVETH IN THE GATE. YE HAVE BUILT HOUSES OF HEWN STONE, BUT YE SHALL NOT DWELL IN THEM. FOR I KNOW HOW MANIFOLD ARE YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS. Now the omniscience of the Lord is revealed. He is not blind and deaf! He knows both the multitude and the magnitude of their sins. They despise anyone who takes a stand for righteousness and justice. The only persons they like are those who trample and oppress the poor and demand bribes for judgments. This reminds us of the words of Jesus, If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world. therefore the world hates you (John 15:19). Birds of a feather, flock together! From their blood money they have built magnificent plantationsgreat houses and rich vineyards. How many tears and moans of the starving went into the ill-gotten gain of the rich and influential one can only guess! They have built them, but they shall not dwell in themthey shall not enjoy the harvest of their vineyards. The Lord will fulfill His threat (Deuteronomy 28:30; Micah 6:15; Zephaniah 1:13), for He knows the arrogance and evil of the rich and He hears the groans and supplications of the oppressed.

There are two false concepts the people had of Jehovah God. First, they believed He could be worshiped apart from His own revelation of Himself. Second, they believed that their conduct toward their fellow man had no bearing on their relationship to God. These are exactly the two main concepts John the apostle deals with in his First epistle, (cf. 1 John 2:3-4; 1 John 2:9-11; 1 John 3:11-24; 1 John 4:1-12; 1 John 4:20-21, etc.). We must seek God, that is we must learn about Him, obey Him and worship Him, only as we are guided by His revelation of Himself in His delivered Word. At the same time we must love men as He loves them. To turn aside the needy manifests a hatred of God regardless of how many worship rituals we may observe!

Amos 5:13 THEREFORE HE THAT IS PRUDENT SHALL KEEP SILENCE IN SUCH A TIME. It is difficult for us to understand this as a divine injunction. In the light of Amos-’ actions in not remaining silent and the many exhortations in both Old and New Testaments toward speaking the Word of God against social injustices, we prefer to understand this as another of Amos-’ rebukes couched in irony and sarcasm. Some men may never know the reality of the suffering of the oppressed and poor because of their failure to take time to consider it as a real problem. Others do not know of it because they have forced themselves to ignore it, not wanting to be troubled with the other fellow’s problem. Humanity can be sure of this: God knows it, and in the long stretch of history will act to bring it to an end. A society built on injustice and fed on the sufferings of the oppressed can never stand.

The social and political situation had so deteriorated in the day of Amos that the smart man would either join the establishment or keep quiet. The same situation prevails in every generation. It even drifts into the religious society. The advice comes constantly, Don-’t get excited, don-’t get carried away, don-’t become a fanatic or preacher of doom. Keep your nose out of it. Play it coolbe wisekeep your mouth shut. It’s just best not to get mixed up in any way with things going on in these evil times! But there is one who will not keep silent. God will not keep silent, for He has spoken once for all in the New Testament on such injustice and He has warned His people to speak out against it also. He will continue to speak if voices will rise up in this generation who are wise enough that they will not keep silent like Amos (cf. also Ezekiel 33:1-16). Human personality cannot be abused for personal gain without Divine retribution. Let us pray that our generation learns this lesson from God’s Book before it has to experience God’s judgment!

QUIZ

What two alternatives are offered to the people of Israel by Amos?

What was the omnipotent God able to do with their wretched condition, if they repented? If they did not repent, what then?

How does God use weal and woe? Quote scripture proof!

Why does the world hate those who stand for righteousness?

What two false concepts did Israel have concerning Jehovah God?

What did Amos mean by … the prudent will keep silent?

Amos 5:14-20

RIGHTEOUSNESS DEMANDS REPENTANCEHATE EVIL AND LOVE GOD

TEXT: Amos 5:14-20

14

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.

15

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16

Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.

17

And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

18

Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

19

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20

Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

QUERIES

a.

How is seek good, parallel with seek Jehovah?

b.

What is the meaning of wailing shall be in all the broad ways?

c.

Why Woe unto all those who desire the day of Jehovah?

PARAPHRASE

Search after and do that which is good and refrain from doing evil in order that you may live. Then the Lord God of Hosts will truly be your Helper, as you claim He is. Outward religious formality is not enough, you must have a heart that abhors evil and loves good which brings about the establishment of what is right and just in social relationships. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Hosts will have mercy on the small remnant which remains after the great chastening takes place upon Israel. As I have said before, says the Lord God of Hosts, All admonition to return to Me appears to be useless, therefore, there will be weeping and moaning for the dead up and down the streets of every village and city, every farmer will also be wailing for the dead and there will be so much death and destruction lamentations will be chanted to those who are professional wailers themselves. And in the vineyards, where one would expect to see rejoicing, there shall be wailing. Jehovah no longer-’ passes-over Israel but will have passed through the land in judgment just as He did in Egypt in the days of Moses. Alas for you who rest your hope of deliverance from the heathen upon what you think the Great Day of Jehovah will be! You do not know what you are asking for when you pray for the Day of Jehovah to come for it will not be a day of deliverance for you for you are no better than the heathen. It will be for you as it is for the heathen, a day of misery, darkness and doom. There will be no escape from it. In that day every place is full of danger and death; neither in-doors nor out-of-doors is anyone safe. God will not let you escape! How can you expect the Righteous Jehovah to bring upon those who seek evil and not good any kind of a Day but inevitable and absolute destruction and darkness?

SUMMARY

For a small remnant, godly living may avert the destruction that is surely coming. But for the majority, whose conception of the Day of Jehovah is perverted, God’s judgment is inevitable and absolute.

COMMENT

Amos 5:14-15 SEEK GOD, AND NOT EVIL, THAT YE MAY LIVE. HATE THE EVIL, AND LOVE THE GOOD, AND ESTABLISH JUSTICE IN THE GATE. Social injustice and the abuse of human personality ultimately stems from the concept that religion and morality are separate. This is a Satanic dichotomy! God has never authorized such a division! But man has, ever since Eden, been deceived into thinking that religion and everyday living are two separate compartments of life. True God-revealed and God-centered religion is Life. Practically all the prophets had to deal with this false concept (cf. Isaiah 1:1-20; Micah 6:1-6, etc.). In this realm man makes either one of two errorshe either substitutes religion for morals or he substitutes morals for religion. God teaches through the prophets that all morality finds its roots, its spiritual source and its compelling power over the consciences of men in the character of God Himself, and that is true religion (cf. James 1:27). To seek God is to seek good; to love God is to love good and, conversely, to hate evil because God hates evil. Elton True-blood has described our modern predicament as a cut-flower society. That is, we are attempting to maintain an ethic without a religion. The solution in Amos-’ day was, even as in our day, restoration of the old paths (cf. Jeremiah 6:16-21) and regeneration, not revolution. Social injustice cannot be corrected by simply renovation and reorganization of the social structure. Social injustice can only be overcome by upgrading the ethics of all men and this can be done only by regeneration, recreating men in the image of God, and this is accomplished by true religion which in turn involves submission to the authority of God as revealed exclusively in the written word of God!

The people of Amos-’ day were claiming that Jehovah was with them and that they were with Jehovah, but Amos knew that as long as they continued in their present evil deeds and thoughts their claims on God were vain and false. Their only hope was to turn to God and righteousness. Many of the Israelites had already gone too far and had set their minds against God, Amos was speaking to those few who would still listen. God’s mercy was still available for the few who would hate evil and love good. The prophets did not preach reformation, but restoration and regeneration! They were not political revolutionaries or civil rights advocates, per se. They were preaching to change individuals, to call each man to repent and turn to God’s revealed will for their lives. Society will never be changed except as men are changed! And men will never be changed until they are united with God through His revelation which has now been made in His Incarnate Son!

Amos 5:16-17. WAILING SHALL BE IN ALL. THE STREETS. AND IN ALL VINEYARDS. FOR I WILL PASS THROUGH THE MIDST OF THEE, SAITH JEHOVAH. Unless the sin of Israel was corrected, and Amos seems to feel the situation is almost hopeless for the largest segment of the nation, national destruction would be inevitable. Amos portrays the coming time as one of nation-wide mourning. There will be mourning in the squares and plaza’S, in every street of every city, in the fields of the farmers and lamentations will be changed to those who are professional wailers themselves. Alas! Israel is no longer God’s special peopleshe has become as heathen and as rebellious as Egypt in the days of Moses. God will no longer pass-over Israel, but will pass through her midst as He did Egypt with the plagues!

Amos 5:18-20. THE DAY OF JEHOVAH. IT IS DARKNESS, AND NOT LIGHT. On the Day of Jehovah, see our Special Study seven, pages 84 to 90, The Day of The Lord. The Jews, from the Messianic prophecies of the Torah (Law of Moses), had interpreted the destiny of their theocracy to be that of eventual world rulers. On some great Day of the Lord they believed God would deliver his people from all heathen oppression and bondage and elevate them to the supreme place of power and influence among the nations. They looked forward to this great Day (Malachi 2:17, Amos 3:5) when the Lord would come suddenly to His temple, the Messiah would be a warrior king who would appear as a political champion and military hero to rally to his standard the Jews from every nation and lead them in a victorious onslaught against their enemies. Heathen oppressors would be annihilated and God’s elect race would become the world’s conquerors.

H. E. Dana, in The New Testament World, pages 128-139 describes in full the Messianic Hope of the Jews (or what the prophets call the Day of the Lord). The divine choice of Israel was to the end that Jehovah might have a people who would establish his name in all the earth and make his Law supreme. Therefore the national interests of Israel were one with the cause of Jehovah. To oppose or oppress the chosen people meant to defy Jehovah and to disdain his righteous demands. They were God’s specially chosen representatives among the nations, and considered that they should be treated as such. But, on the contrary, they were despised by the Gentiles, ruthlessly seized and consigned to bondage by one despotic conqueror after another, to be buffeted and maltreated in the most humiliating fashion. To the devout Jewish religionist this could only mean that Jehovah was keenly incensed at the heathen nations and regarded them as his own defiant enemies. The coming Day of the Lord (Messianic age) must in the very nature of the case bring the consummate destruction of the incorrigible and the humble submission of those who yielded to the Jewish state.

The truth of the matter was, the Day of the Lord would be a day of deliverancebut only for the true Israel, those who were Jews inwardly and not Jews only outwardlyfor the Day of the Lord of which Amos speaks is typical and prophetic of the climactic Day of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah. When the Day of the Lord came of which Amos was speaking, God delivered the faithful remnant through which He could someday present the Messiah, while at the same time He judged those who were unfaithful and had therefore cut themselves off from covenant relationship with Him. For the most of the people of Israel, then, the Day of the Lord was darkness and not light. It was a time of inescapable crisis, a time of inevitable judgment, a time when man would be abandoned by every known source of aid. Amos uses an almost humorous figure of speech in Amos 5:19 to describe the inescapability of God’s judgment!

Having known oppression during practically all of her existence it seems only natural that Israel would have longed for a time of deliverance, No doubt, people passionately spoke of the way in which life would be vindicated, once the day of the Lord was manifested. But they did not realize what they were hoping for. The Righteous God does not change! He must judge every man who sins! He must execute every rebel! Has not every individual and generation been guilty of reliance upon national and religious heritages instead of personal relationship to God? Should we not have some second thoughts about how ready we are for the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord to come? If God were to come in the consummation ofall the ages today would we be ready? Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (Mark 13:31-37)

QUIZ

What did Isaiah and Micah have to say about the connection of religion and morality?

Why cannot the two be separated?

What is necessary in order to bring about true social justice?

What is the meaning of God passing through the midst of Israel?

What did Israel think the Day of Jehovah was?

What does Malachi say the Day of the Lord will be like?

How extensive may the Day of the Lord be?

Amos 5:21-27

RIGHTEOUSNESS DEMANDS REPENTANCERID RELIGION OF HYPOCRISY

TEXT: Amos 5:21-27

21

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22

Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

23

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24

But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream,

25

Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26

Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of god, which ye made to yourselves.

27

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.

QUERIES

a.

How can God hate feasts He commanded in the Law?

b.

Why the command to take away. the noise of thy songs?

c.

What are the shrines of their images? the star of their god?

PARAPHRASE

I thoroughly hate and despise your hypocritical observations of My feasts and I abhor your fake solemn assemblies. Furthermore, all the burnt-offerings and meal-offerings you offer are unacceptable and I will pay no attention to all the peace-offerings you make. You may as well stop all your noisy psalm-singing because I am not listening to the religious music you are playing. Because your worship is mere hypocrisy My righteous judgment will pour out and roll over the land like a flood. Just as in the wilderness when you hypocritically made sacrifices and songs and worship to heathen idols and heavenly bodies and called it worship to Me, so you are doing now! Because of this I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

SUMMARY

God’s threatened judgment will not be averted by all their worship because even their worship is hypocritical.

COMMENT

Amos 5:21-23 I HATE, I DESPISE YOUR FEASTS. TAKE THOU AWAY FROM ME THE NOISE OF THY SONGS. Amos is not denouncing Mosaic revelation and legislation any more than any other prophet did. The prophets emphatically advocated that the people of their day return to purified practice of Law of Moses. The prophets commanded that the Law be observed! Just two examples should be sufficient here to show this (cf. Jeremiah 26:4-5; Malachi 4:4). For further information on this, see Special Study No. eight, pages 91, 92. The prophets did not institute some revolutionary or evolutionary new religion devoid of the Mosaic legislation! They came to call the people back to keeping the pure Law of Moses from the heart, What Amos is denouncing, as is plain from the context, is the perverted, hypocritical, idolatrous forms of religious ceremony these Israelites were then practicing. He is merely denouncing what practically all the prophets before him and after him denounced (cf. Isaiah 1:11 ff; Jeremiah 7:1 ff; Jeremiah 6:20 ff; Malachi 1:8 ff). God is not only not pleased with this syncretistic (mixture of heathen and Jewish worship) religion, He hates itit is an abomination to Him and vain and useless as far as the worshipper is concerned! Every sacrifice or offering made aroused in the heart of the All-Righteous and Perfectly-Holy God a divine hatred. The chanting of their religious psalms and the playing upon the harps was a weariness to God which He commands to be stopped. So, it was not that God hated the very feasts, offerings and songs He Himself had commanded in the Lawthese ceremonies in themselves were not wrong. It was the perverse and rebellious nature of the people performing them that made them offensive to God. The people were hypocrites (play actors). They were worshipping Jehovah only in pretense while their real affections were centered on their idols and images. They were neglecting the weightier matters of the law. justice and mercy and faith (cf. Matthew 23:16-36). This same principle is true of those who claim to be covenant people of God today! Religious ritual, no matter how scripturally accurate it may be, will not substitute for loving God with all the heart, mind, soul and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. If this principle is truly adhered to one will certainly make every effort to be scripturally accurate in ritual.

Amos 5:24 BUT LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN AS WATERS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A MIGHTY STREAM. This passage is usually interpreted, Let an overflowing justice and righteousness between men take the place of your hypocritical dealings and sacrifices and flood the land. K & D say, Because the Lord has no pleasure in this hypocritical worship, the judgment shall pour like a flood over the land. Mishpat (justice) is not the justice to be practiced by men; for although Jehovah might promise that he would create righteousness in the nation, so that it would fill the land as it were like a flood, He only demands righteousness generally, and not actually in floods. They further state, The verse is to be explained according to Isaiah 10:22, and threatens the flooding of the land with judgment and the punitive righteous of God. Lange says, Such worship, instead of averting the judgment, rather provokes its full execution. It should pour over the land, like a flowing stream. It is wrong to interpret the verse as an exhortation to the people to practice judgment and righteousness. The image of a flood of waters is much too strong for such a thought; it points rather to an act of God. In spite of the weight of this scholarship there are those who interpret this passage as a command to the people, e.g. Laetsch,. let judgment, God’s norm, His Law. run down as water, spreading throughout the country, and righteousness, good works demanded by the Law. fill the nation like a mighty stream. We believe the view of K & D and Lange best represent a correct contextual interpretation.

Amos 5:25-27 DID YE BRING UNTO ME SACRIFICES. IN THE WILDERNESS. YEA, YE HAVE BORNE THE TABERNACLE OF YOUR KING AND THE SHRINE OF YOUR IMAGES. THEREFORE WILL I CAUSE YOU TO GO INTO CAPTIVITY BEYOND DAMASCUS. Amos asks a rhetorical question, that is, he asks a question for which he is going to supply the answer and which answer is already well known by his audience. Did the nation bring God sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years? Indeed they did, and just like in Amos-’ day they were, for the most part, hypocritical sacrifices to heathen idols while they called it worship to Jehovah! The Northern Kingdom had from its very origin adopted the idolatrous worship of calves as its national religion (1 Kings 12:26-28), a device of Jeroboam’s own heart, and the history of the twelve tribes is a record of ever-repeated idolatry and rebellion against God. This tendency dated back to the early days of Israel’s acceptance as God’s covenant nation. It was only forty days after the solemn declaration of this covenant when Israel asked Aaron to make gods for them to go before them, and worshipped the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6). She did not cease to worship idols even after God’s longsuffering and the intercession of Moses kept them from being exterminated (Exodus 32:7 to Exodus 34:11). Forty years later Moses warns them (Deuteronomy 9:6-24) against idolatry, and twice in particular against that special form of idolatry with which Amos charges them here: the worship of the host of heaven, of sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:2-3). Star worship was one of the earliest and most widespread forms of idolatry in Israel. The false gods worshiped by Abraham’s ancestors in Ur of the Chaldees (Joshua 24:2) were astral deities. The images which Rachel had taken from her father (Genesis 31:30 ff), and which were later buried by Jacob (Genesis 35:2 ff) were teraphim, small statuettes of Ishtar. In Egypt, Israel was exposed to the danger of various forms of idolatry, among them worship of the sun-god Ra (also called Amon). So, by ancestry, by environment in Egypt, by the proximity of the Amorites and other nations addicted to star worship during the wilderness wandering, and by their rebellious spirit (Exodus 32:9; Deuteronomy 9:6; Psalms 95:10-11), the Israelites were inclined to star worship,

In the wilderness Israel carried the tabernacle (tent) wherein they had Sakkuth, the Assyrian-Babylonian god identified with Saturn. Him they regarded as their Moloch (their king or god). This has no reference to the tabernacle of God legislated by Moses. Israel aped the heathen festival processions in which their star gods were carried about, The names used by Amos in Amos 5:26 (Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god) may be an ancient as the idols, or he may be calling these ancient idols by the names current at his time. The sin remains the same, star worship. Stephen, in his famous defense (Acts 7:41 ff), quotes from Amos here and states that because Israel refused to acknowledge and serve the true God as He had revealed Himself to them, God surrendered them in divine judgment to their self-chosen ways which could end only in ruin and damnation. The generation of Amos-’ day, in mixing idolatry with sacrifices done in the name of Jehovah, was just like the contemporaries of Moses, practicing idolatry and all the while claiming to be worshipers of Jehovah.

But the judgment of God shall overwhelm them like a flood and carry them off into slavery and bondage to a land far beyond Damascus. The precise location of their captivity is not yet revealedit is reserved for Hosea to be the first to mention Assyria as the exact location (Hosea 9:3; Hosea 10:6; Hosea 11:5). Hosea also has a great deal to say about Israel’s worship of idols (Hosea 3:1; Hosea 4:12-13; Hosea 4:17; Hosea 6:10; Hosea 7:16; Hosea 8:4-5; Hosea 10:5-6; etc.). Hosea paints an even worse picture of degradation in the land as a result of its idolatry than was painted by Amos! The terrible consequences of rebellion against God grew steadily worseinjustice, crime, immorality of all degrees soon led to complete anarchy in the land. In 722-721 B.C. the ten tribes of the Northern kingdom were subjugated by the Assyrian king and the people were deported to Assyria never to return as a nation (2 Kings 17:1-6).

QUIZ

Did the prophets seek to abolish the law and institute a new type of religion?

Why were their feasts and sacrifices and worship services offensive to God?

What is the meaning of let justice roll down as waters. ?

Did Israel worship idols in the wilderness? Explain!

REVOLUTION OR REGENERATION

Amos 5:24

INTRODUCTION

I.

MAN’S REDEMPTION, TRANSFORMATION, REGENERATION IS TO BE ACTED OUT OR EXPRESSED IN SOCIAL RELATIONS

A.

God created man; He created this world order

He has not abdicated His sovereignty over this order

He maintains His sovereignty and moral government by holding the world responsible to His revealed Will

B.

All men and nations are responsible to God for moral uprightness and just social behavior

The O.T. prophets spoke principles and guidelines for social relations which are as relevant today as they were 2500 years ago.

These same principles are amplified and confirmed by Jesus Christ and His apostles

II.

GOD’S WORD JUDGES EVERY HUMAN CULTURE AND INSTITUTION

A.

The U.S.S.R AND CHINA are as much under God as the U.S.A., because God is infinite, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. HE TRANSCENDS ALL POWERS AS WELL AS ALL THE LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN ABILITIES, INSTITUTIONS AND NATIONS. HE IS THE SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE

Cf. Amos 1-2; Isaiah 13-23; Jer., Ezek., etc. Daniel 2.

It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Jeremiah 27:5

III.

PRIVILEGE BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY

A.

If God expected so much of Israel and Judah in Amos-’ day in social justice because they were witnesses of the One True God,

B.

How much more does he require of U.S.A. since we have so long had the glorious gospel and providential grace of God in material means?!

IV.

GOD’S WAY OF BRINGING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE

A.

He did not call upon Israel to send a Senate Investigation Committee to discover the causes and recommend cures for the nations problemHE REVEALED IT. SIN WAS THE CAUSE. REPENTANCE THE CURE

B.

He did not send a Ph.D., an URBANOLOGIST, SOCIOLOGIST, OR SHEEPHERDER AND FRUITPICKER TO SIMPLY DECLARE WITH CONVICTION AND CLARITY THE REVEALED WORD OF GOD!

C.

God did not call upon Israel’s government to provide a massive welfare war on poverty, to pass a sword-control bill. He called upon them to obey the Divine Law

Amos did not preach civil disobedience to the poor, he preached obedience to God to all

Israel did not need a great politician, organizer, economist, legislator. SHE NEEDED A GREAT PREACHER, A HEARLD OF THE TRUTH, A CONSCIENCE-STABBING CRYER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, A WARRIOR OF THE FAITH!

SO THIS MAN AMOS, NOT A PROFESSIONAL CLERGYMAN, NOT A SIGN-CARRYING RIOTER, NOT AN ORGANIZER OF MARCHES. BUT A MAN ALL ALONE, WHO BELIEVED GOD AND HAD THE COURAGE TO PREACH GOD’S MESSAGE, HAS A RELEVANT MESSAGE FOR OUR SOCIETY TODAY!

DISCUSSION

I.

THE SOCIAL SICKNESS OF ISRAEL’S DECADENT SOCIETY CLOSELY PARALLELS THAT OF OUR OWN

A.

They have forgotten how to do right, says the Lord, They maintain their palaces by the fruit of violence and robbery. Phillips, Amos 3:10

Violence and crime in our world is at an appalling level!

15 yr. olds commit more serious crimes than any other age group; 1/6 boy is referred to the juvenile court; in 1965 more than 2 million Americans were sentenced to prison; 40% of all male children will be arrested sometime in their lives for something more serious than traffic violations; 3 million crimes reported in 1965 while in some places only 1/10th of certain crimes are reported

In all large cities no one is safe on the streets after dark; THERE ARE MANY WHO ARE ADVOCATING THE BURNING DOWN OF CITIES, RIOTING, CIVIL REVOLUTION! Gangs of wild, thrill-seeking, cruel, cold-blooded boys and girls roam the streets, even of Joplin!

Organized Crime like the Mafia, etc., control great institutions and organizations and often city governments and political parties!

B.

Indulgent luxury and sensual excess; … at ease in Zion lying upon beds of ivory, eat lambs from the flock. sing idle songs. drink wine in bowls. anoint themselves with finest oils. Amos 6:1-6 a.

Indulgence and excess is rampant all over the world among the rich and poor, in every realm possible

Indulgence in building expensive homes and clothes

Excess in eating, obesity, have to take pills, etc.

Excessive indulgence in frivolity, recreation, etc.

Excess in alcohol are ruining us. Yale School of Alcohol Studies, drinking cause of 20% of all divorces, 25% of all insanity, 37% of all poverty, 47% of all child misery, 50% of all crimes, 50% of all traffic deaths; industry looses 60 million man hours and 1 billion a year in wages due to alcohol absenteeism; Hoover says 5 billion a year is spent to combat crime due to liquor drinking. This Isaiah 1 billion more than total revenue received by federal government for liquor sold!!!

We have so indulged in sex it is openly perverted. homosexual wedding performed in Rotterdam by catholic priest. plays on Broadway now have naked women and men on stage and roaming through audience. a movie about the love of two lesbians for one another is being shown in New York.

In one play, Time describes, In full light, and facing the audience, the unclothed heroine knelt on a table throughout the play as a symbol of passive white idealism. A fully dressed Negro, symbolizing angry black nationalism, devours her. THE DECADENT CANAANITE, GREEK AND ROMAN THEATRES HAD NOTHING ON THOSE OF U.S.A.!

We indulgently pay money to see such things. corrupt-minded movie stars make millions of dollars off indulgent society. sports heroes are paid fabulous salaries. so-called entertainers are millionaires over night simply for sitting and spouting obscenities on the T.V.

C.

Oppression of the poor: … cows of Bashan, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy. trample the poor. afflict the righteous, turn aside the needy. (cf. Amos 4:1; Amos 5:11-12; Amos 8:4-6)

Like it or not there are people all over the world who make their living by oppressing the poor. yes, even here in Joplin

Loan sharks; those who exploit people by bring young girls into prostitution to escape poverty; criminals who exploit the poor by selling them numbers or other forms of gambling; people who pay less than fair wages simply because of a persons color or nationality

Like it or not some people in America have been denied the opportunities others have simply because they were black-skinned, were Mexican nationality, were poorly dressed, etc. I have lived in the South, and the West and the North and it is all the same! Greed, prejudice, SIN causes men to oppress one another!

GOD WILL NOT HOLD THE OPPRESSORS OF THE POOR GUILTLESS. NEITHER WILL HE HOLD GUILTLESS THOSE WHO KNOW IT AND DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO OUGHT TO BE REGENERATING SOCIETY BY PREACHING REPENTANCE TO THE OPPRESSORS, AND HOPE TO THE OPPRESSED!

D.

Perverting Justice and Righteousness: O you who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth. you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe. they hate him who reproves in the gate. abhor him who speaks the truth (Amos 5:7; Amos 5:10; Amos 5:12)

Convicted criminals go unpunished because of political pressures on courts and judges or because of outright bribes

Looters encouraged to rob, destroy because politicians want votes

Rich and influential able to get by with flouting tax laws, and other laws the poor and middle class would not

International criminals violate our sovereignty and we do nothing

Our boys dying in V.N. while our so-called allies ship our enemies food and arms

Those who stand for truth, justice, law and order, smeared as fanatics, extremists

E.

ApathyIndifference … but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. Amos 6:6 b

None seem to have the courage to speak out against evil and in favor of righteousness

Too many have it too good. and those who do not have it so good want to change the situation only in terms of materialistic values!

Rolland Steever says in Christian Standard, July 6, 1968, Christ in the Ghettos. We cannot turn our faces away and fearfully hope that this situation will go away. It will not!

People have made sin respectable by euphemizing it. the godless liquor traffic is now called tavern, grill, nightclub, cocktail lounge. Drunkeness is called illness of alcoholism. Youthful crime is called juvenile delinquency. Pornography is called realism, Divorce and sexual promiscuity are recommended as producing maturity for later marital relations, immodest dress is called fashionable. Dope addition is called escapeism.

4

10 or 12 people stand by and watch a pregnant school teacher attacked and raped in Kansas City. Others watch while a gang kick an old man to death in New York park.

LEGISLATORS AND JUSTICES SEEM UNCONCERNED OR PARALYZED BY FEAR TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE MORAL ANARCHY EXCEPT VOTE MORE MONEY HANDOUTS AS RANSOMS POLITICIANS HAVE PROPOSED EVERY PANACEA POSSIBLE AND ALL THEIR SCHEMES ONLY ADD MORE PROBLEMS TO THE PROBLEM SCIENCE’S SOLUTIONS ARE SUPERFICIAL AND SHALLOW EDUCATION IS EXTRANEOUS AND IRRELEVANT TO THE PREDICAMENT

WHAT ARE WE TO DO? WHERE ARE WE TO TURN? WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

II.

THE CAUSE OF ISRAEL’S DECADENCE PARALLELS OUR OWN

A.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung, in a letter to E. Stanley Jones, wrote, Those psychiatrists who are not superficial have come to the conclusion that the vast neurotic misery of the world could be termed a neurosis of emptiness. Men cut themselves off from the root of their being, from God, and then life turns empty, meaningless, without purpose. So when God goes, goal goes. When goal goes, meaning goes. When meaning goes, value goes, and life turns dead on our hands.

B.

Sidney Cave, in his book, The Christian Way, says Right and wrong are, for many, words which have ceased to have any intellible content, and the sense of liberation from the restrictions of traditional morality has brought not the joy of freedom but the malaise which comes from lives lived without aim or meaning. We are all aware of the psychic injury suffered by a child if he finds that the one he has trusted as his father is not his father. That is the plight of many in the modern world. They have lost their heavenly Father and feel not liberated, but merely insecure. Many have lost the sense of a father’s care but not the sense of need.

C.

Time, April 26, 1968, in an article on American authors, says they are viewing the world as a lunatic comedy. they work from an assumption that society is at best malevolent and stupid, at worst wholly lunatic. The gods are dead and their graves untended, morality is a matter of picking one’s way between competing absurdities, and the only sane reaction to societyto its alleged truths and virtues, its would-be terrors and taboosis a cackle or a scream of possibly cathartic laughter

WHAT IS THE CAUSE? MEN HAVE CUT THEMSELVES OFF FROM THE ROOT OF THEIR BEING, GOD. THEY HAVE LOST THEIR HEAVENLY FATHER. THE GODS ARE DEAD.

D.

ISRAEL’S ROAD TO RUIN WAS PAVED WITH UNBELIEF, IDOLATRY, RITUALISM

… because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes. Amos 2:4

THEY EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR LIESAmo 2:4 … but their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked.

OUR NATION IS FILLED WITH POLITICAL LEADERS, INDUSTRIAL LEADERS, YES, EVEN RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO HAVE REJECTED THE WORD OF GOD. THEY HAVE SCORNED ITS ETHICAL PRECEPTS AS BEING IRRELEVANT. THEY HAVE EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR THE SATANIC INSPIRED LIES OF HUMANISM, AND EVOLUTIONISM.

The Israelites in Amos-’ day were worshipping idols, golden-calves, star-gods and other images at Bethel and Dan (cf. Amos 3:14; Amos 5:25-27)

AND OUR NATION HAS ITS IDOLS AND IMAGES TO WHICH THEY PAY OBESIENCE. MOVIE STARS, ENTERTAINERS, SPORTS, TELEVISION, AUTOMOBILES, HOUSES, POLITICIANS, PHILOSOPHERS, THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR! WE HAVE OUR SHRINES, THE MOVIE HOUSE, THE NIGHTCLUBS, THE STADIUMS, POLITICAL RALLIES, WHERE THERE ARE SET RITUALS WE ALL GO THROUGH, LAKESIDES, ETC.

Ritualism … bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel. Amos 4:4-5

10 years ago in Christian Standard, Jan J. Erteszak said, in an article From Asylum to Powerhouse 12-5-59. Our churches are increasing in membership and material well-being at an unprecedented rate. Religion has become popular. But, almost in inverse proportion to its popularity, it is losing its central place of commitment in the lives of the people. YES, WE HAVE MANY PEOPLE IN AMERICA WHO GO TO CHURCH AND GO THROUGH THE RITUALS. THEY LOVE TO DO THIS. IT SALVES THE CONSCIENCE. BUT GOD AND HIS WORD DOES NOT PERMEATE THEIR EVERYDAY LIVING! THIS IS THE CAUSE. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CAUSE OF EVERY SOCIETY WHICH HAS PERISHED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. REJECTION OF THE SOVEREIGNITY OF GOD’S REVEALED WORD!!!

EGYPT DID NOT DIE FROM LACK OF WEALTH OR POWER! OLD BABYLON DID NOT DIE FROM LACK OF EDUCATION OR CULTURE! ASSYRIA DID NOT DIE FOR LACK OF MILITARY MIGHT! THE NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRE WAS THE RICHEST ON EARTH! PERSIA WAS POWERFUL AND RICH! GREECE WAS POWERFUL AND RICH! ROME WAS POWERFUL AND RICH!

AND ON AND ON ONE MIGHT GO. NONE OF THEM WERE OVERTHROWN AS A RESULT OF ATTEMPTS BY ENSLAVED PEOPLE THYING TO HAVE A DEMOCRACY. SO DEMOCRATIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS OF NO ASSURANCE OF PERPETUATION OF SOCIETY! ALL SOCIETIES, GOVERNMENTS, PEOPLES, INDIVIDUALS STAND OR FALL ACCORDING TO THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE UNIVERSAL AND ETERNAL PRINCIPLES OF DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT! MORAL ANARCHY BREEDS POLITICAL ANARCHY. WHICH WILL IN TURN PRODUCE POLITICAL DICTATORSHIP AND MORAL DICTATORSHIP. IT IS PRAGMATICALLY PROVEN CORRECT. A PERSON OR A NATION CAN ONLY BE FREE SPIRITUALLY, MORALLY, AND POLITICALLY IF IT KNOWS AND DOES THE TRUTH OF GOD!

III.

THE CURE FOR ISRAEL’S DECADENCE IS THE SAME CURE NEEDED TODAY. REGENERATION

A.

Cecil Todd said in his last Revival Fires magazine, Our nation has strayed from God! Our problem is not the color of people’s skin: our problem is the color of people’s hearts, The heart of our problem is the problem of our hearts! Our problem is not the poverty-stricken ghettosthe slum areas; our problem, rather, is the poverty-stricken soulsthe slums of people’s hearts. What we need in this country more than a war on poverty is a war on sin.

B.

Amos said it this way: Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord the God of hosts will be with you. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate. let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Amos 5:14-15; Amos 5:23-24

C.

The prophets taught and Jesus confirmed that all social morality finds its roots, its spiritual source and compelling power over the consciences of men in the character of God Himself. To seek God is to seek good; to love God is to love good, and, conversely, to hate evil because God hates evil.

The solution is even as it was in the days of Jeremiah. restoration of the old paths wherein is the good way (Jeremiah 6:16-21). the solution is REGENERATION, not REVOLUTION.

Social injustice cannot be corrected by simply renovation and reorganization of the social structure. NO MATTER WHICH POLITICAL PARTY REORGANIZES!

Social injustice can only be overcome when men are recreated in the image of God. SOCIETY WILL NEVER BE CHANGED EXCEPT AS INDIVIDUAL MEN ARE CHANGED! AND MEN WILL NEVER BE CHANGED UNTIL THEY ARE UNITED WITH GOD THROUGH HIS REVELATION WHICH IN THESE DAYS IS MADE IN HIS INCARNATE SON

D.

The FAITHFULNESS OF GOD is the great motivating power appealed to by the prophets. GOD HAS KEPT HIS PROMISES IN THE PAST. HE WILL KEEP THEM IN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE!!

History is appealed to.

So, what God did through Jesus Christ in time and in history is confirmation of the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD (2 Corinthians 1:20).

THIS BECOMES THE BASIS OF MORALITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, EVERYTHING. BECAUSE IT IS THROUGH THESE EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES THAT WE ARE ABLE TO ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD AND BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE. REGENERATED (2 Peter 1:3-4)

CONCLUSION

WHAT THEN CAN THE CHURCH DO IN OUR AGE OF SOCIAL UPHEAVEL. HOW IS THE CHURCH TO BE INVOLVED. HOW MAY IT BE MADE RELEVANT FOR THIS GENERATION?

I.

THE CHURCH MUST START BY OUT-COMMITTING THOSE WHO, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, ARE DETERMINED TO DESTROY OUR SOCIETY

A.

A committed church is a fellowship of believers which accepts the following premises and acts upon them:

The basic teachings of Christ are universal in time, space, and every situation of life. as significant in London, Berlin, Moscow, Paris, Peking as U.S.A.

They are just as pertinent to our interdependent and complex society of today as they were in the first century

They are applicable to the totality of our problemsbusiness, home, public life, international relations

Those who practice the Christian precepts in their daily lives are blessed themselves while, at the same time, they bring blessings to their society.

B.

The church must come to grips with the following tasks:

Of involving men in her message for today and in her activity. SHOWING MEN THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS RELEVANT FOR THEIR PROBLEMS. EVANGELIZE THOSE WHO ARE SEARCHING TODAY

Become skillful in building a lasting conviction in its members. WE MUST CONVINCE MEN THAT CHRIST’S RULE OF LOVE REALLY WORKS. THAT IT WILL ENRICH THEM IN THE GREATEST POSSIBLE WAY. SPIRITUALLY

It must learn to generate commitment in its entire membership. IN A COMMITTED CHURCH THERE ARE NO SPECTATORS: EVERYONE IS A PARTICIPANT. EVERYONE HAS A TASK

THE CHURCH CAN ONLY IMPART WHAT IT POSSESSES, AND THE EXTENT OF ITS INFLUENCE WILL DEPEND ON THE SINGLE-MINDEDNESS, THE SPIRITUAL MUSCLE, THE DEPTH OF CONVICTION, AND THE WILLINGNESS TO WITNESS OF THOSE WHO ARE FULLY COMMITTED. IT IS USUALLY AT THE CROSSROADS OF DESTINY THAT REAL PROGRESS IS AFFECTED, WE ARE AT SUCH A CROSSROAD, IF WE UNDERTAKE TO BRING THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH TO GRIPS WITH THE 20TH CENTURY, WE CAN, AND WE WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE HISTORY OF DISSOLUTION WHICH IS NOW IN THE MAKING

II.

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOU AND WITH ME AS INDIVIDUALS

TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS NOT SO MUCH DOING THIS OR THAT, BUT ALLOWING GOD TO CREATE IN YOU HIS OWN IMAGEJESUS CHRIST*!*

NATIONS MAY CRUMBLE, BUT GOD’S PROMISES ARE CERTAIN TO ENDURE!!