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Turn from Yourselves and Seek God
Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, And that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, To the house of Israel. 4 For thus saith the Lord 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. 6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, And leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars 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: The Lord is his name: 9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. 10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, And ye take from him burdens 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 wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: They afflict the just, they take a bribe, And they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; For it is an evil time. 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15 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. 16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; And they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, And such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: For I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord 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 the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, And I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat 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 judgment run down as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, The star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.
Amos brings a hard message with extreme urgency
Even when there is a threat of judgment, grace and mercy are offered
The message is to hear, seek God, do right, turn or pay the consequences
Amos calls on God’s people to hear, pay attention to God’s Word Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, And that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, To the house of Israel.
The word of God that Amos delivers is a lamentation or something similar to the funeral and the crying
Amos wanted Israel to know that in spite of her apparent prosperity, she was in great trouble
She is a virgin but fallen Amos 5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
Like the sweetest, purest, most hopeful time of her life but she has fallen
She is in ruins, dead, needs a funeral instead of wedding music and message
She has fallen and will not be getting back up
She has been forsaken, abandoned
Not only has she fallen but she has no one to help
The majority of the people are going to die Amos 5:3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, And that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, To the house of Israel.
They marched out in strength but only 10% survived
They felt like victors but end up defeated
They appeared to be strong but were really weak
God’s people need to hear God’s Word to avoid the consequences of ignoring God’s Word Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, Even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
As we go through this chapter, we are going to see that there may still be hope if they will respond.
The problem is that too often we will not listen till it is too late
What is your attitude towards the Word of God and the message of God?
Do you just take it as something you should listen to and as going out to everyone?
Do you take it as God speaking to you?
Do you listen to see what God wants to do in your life?
The preaching, warning, has gone out so now the question is how will you react?
Will you wonder if others will obey or will you take it to heart?
Will you ignore this or think that God is speaking to you
There is still hope but if they do not respond, it means sure destruction
After this message, Word of God, it is obviously time to seek the Lord Amos 5:4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
How do we seek the Lord?
We seek Him while we have the opportunity Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will
You must seek God on His terms and His time
Don’t feel like God is just there for you to do what you want when you want
He calls you to turn to Him and from yourself
To seek the Lord, we stop seeking what we want or what we think and believe
To seek the Lord we stop following everyone’s opinion and advice and get into God’s Word
To seek God will mean repentance, or turning, changing directions in our life
Seeking God will mean hating sin
Even though there is a harsh message, there is still hope if they will but repent and seek the Lord Amos 5:4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
They can still live
The message was harsh and direct but God was still offering grace, mercy, forgiveness, and life
They needed to stay away from the traditional worship that no longer honored God Amos 5:5 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.
They needed to understand that the politically correct, cultural religion was wrong and not satisfying God
Those places of false worship would be destroyed
Remember that these places were full of worshippers but they weren't sincere
The message is to seek God or else Amos 5:6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, And leave off righteousness in the earth,
If they will seek the Lord, then they can live
If they will not seek the Lord, then judgment will come like a fire
The fire will devour and destroy and no one will be able to stop it
They needed to repent because they had left the ways of God and righteousness
They had made the things of God into bitterness, wormwood
So many today have made the sweet things of God into bitterness
We seem to turn His grace and mercy into legalism
The world views the freedom He offers as a prison to live in
Know who you are supposed to seek, God, the creator Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars 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: The Lord is his name: 9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
Who are you to seek, the Lord
The One who makes the stars, Creator
Notice He makes
He turns the shadow of death into morning
He makes the calls
Notice something the science lesson before it was science Amos 5:8 That calleth for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
He can turn death into life Amos 5:8 And turneth the shadow of death into the morning,
He gives victory to those that have been beaten up by sin and Satan Amos 5:9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
Seek the Lord
Today is your day and there is still time but we do not know how much longer there will be time II Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Hear the message and heed the warning
Do not continue to live for sin and self but turn to God
Time to leave what you know you should and seek God
People hate the message and the messenger Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
You might think that the preacher and the message would be loved and respected but that is not true
They hate him because he shows them their sin John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
They hate Him because they prefer their sin Amos 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, And ye take from him burdens 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 wine of them.
They have been mistreating the poor
They have been making themselves rich at the expense of the poor
God promises that they will not succeed
They may think that they are having temporary success but it will fail
They will never enjoy the benefits of their sin but just suffer the consequences of sin
There is no escaping that God knows your sin Amos 5:12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: They afflict the just, they take a bribe, And they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
God knows the truth
You may look and act religious but He knows
These people have been mistreating the just, God’s people
They have helped rich people to get their money
They have not helped the poor because they have no money
God's people are at their wit’s end Amos 5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; For it is an evil time.
No hope it seems
The times are evil
They just keep silent realizing that there is not much that they can do if anything
What is your attitude towards the Word of God and God’s messengers?
They hated the message and the messengers
They hated the preaching because it was so obviously talking to them about their sin and their condition
Know this that if it makes you mad or not, it is still true so if you are wise you will take heed and obey
Seeking God will mean seeking to do right Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Seeking God will have a practical side to it
Seeking God will mean turning from sin and self to God and right
Real seeking means a life change
Real faith means that there will be works that are a result of that faith
Really seeking God means you will hate what God hates and love what He loves. Amos 5:15 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.
Loving God means hating evil
Loving God means loving good
Loving God means doing right
As they turn to God and begin to live out His work in their lives, God just might be gracious Amos 5:15 It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
God’s grace is right there
All they need to do is turn to Him
God stands ready to work in their lives
God is going to move one way or the other Amos 5:16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; And they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, And such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: For I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.
There will always be those that refuse to repent
Judgment will come, this is not just a threat
There will be so many suffering and hurting because they heard the message and ignored it
Seeking God leads to seeking good
Our “be level” is that we have sought the Lord and be transformed
Our “be level” who we are, affects our “do level” what we do
Know that God knows your sin and hates it
You are being called to live out what He has done in you
Be who you were made to be, a new creature, a servant of God, a seeker of holiness, living like one who has the divine nature
Judgment is coming Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
The day of God’s judgment will be terrible and will be on Israel
Apparently, they thought that God would judge the other nations and not them
They thought that the day of the Lord would be against their enemies but Amos tells them that they will be judged
The day of the Lord was going to be a dark day, not something to look forward to
There will be no escaping the consequences of their sin Amos 5:19 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.
You can run as fast as you want but you will not escape
You can think you got away from one trouble but another will be there
The day of the Lord will be a dark time for Israel Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
They ignorantly wanted the day to come
They thought the message and the punishment was for others when it was for them
God hated their worship of Him Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, And I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
He hated their worship days and promised not to even smell their offerings
He told them that He would not accept their gifts and offerings that they were giving Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
He didn't want to hear their music 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; For I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
He calls their music noise
He wants them to just stop the music
He doesn't want form but function, show but truth Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream.
He wasn't interested in their worship if they weren't going to live out what they were saying and doing during worship
Their worship of Him should produce a change
They were denying God even with their worship II Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
They have too often played both sides
They offered sacrifices in the wilderness Amos 5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
They knew what to do
They had been taught what to do
They had done right before
Even in the middle of their worship they would go off and serve false gods Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, The star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
They had made a golden calf
They were experts at worshiping God and playing with the world
They gave sacrifices and also served other gods
Judgment is coming because of their sin and refusal to repent of it Amos 5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.
He is God and will be recognized as such
It will not be a coincidence when they are conquered by Damascus
Judgment was coming to Israel and is real for us as well
Israel was judged and we have seen some of the results
Sin always has consequences
God hates hypocritical worship, fake, cultural, politically correct worship
God wants worship where He is the center of it and we are genuinely seeking Him
God hated how they played both sides, worshiping Him and playing with the world and sin at the same time
How will you respond today?
Do you know that your sins have been forgiven?
Do you know for sure that if you died, you would go to heaven?
Do you have assurance, are you sure of your salvation?
Are you playing with sin?
Are you just a cultural Christian playing at worship?
Are you living out who you are in Christ?