# Amos 05 đź“–: Seek the Lord and Live
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Death is Imminent
[[#Verse 01.]] Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, family of Israel:
[[#Verse 02.]] “The virgin Israel has fallen down and will not get up again.
She is abandoned on her own land with no one to help her get up.”
[[#Verse 03.]] The Sovereign Lord says this: “The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out with a hundred soldiers will have only ten left for the family of Israel.”
[[#Verse 04.]] The Lord says this to the family of Israel: “Seek me so you can live!
[[#Verse 05.]]Â Do not seek Bethel. Do not visit Gilgal.
Do not journey down to Beer Sheba.
For the people of Gilgal will certainly be carried into exile,
and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.”
[[#Verse 06.]] Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out like fire against Joseph’s family; the fire will consume
and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel.
[[#Verse 07.]] The Israelites turn justice into bitterness;
they throw what is fair and right to the ground.
[[#Verse 08.]] But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name!
[[#Verse 09.]] He flashes destruction down upon the strong so that destruction overwhelms the fortified places.
[[#Verse 10.]] The Israelites hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; they despise anyone who speaks honestly.
[[#Verse 11.]] Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.
[[#Verse 12.]] Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins.
You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate.
[[#Verse 13.]] For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time.
[[#Verse 14.]] Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies just might be with you, as you claim he is.
[[#Verse 14.]] Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies just might be with you, as you claim he is.
[[#Verse 15.]]Â Hate what is wrong, love what is right.
Promote justice at the city gate.
Maybe the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.
[[#Verse 16.]] Because of Israel’s sins this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.
[[#Verse 17.]] In all the vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.
### The Lord Demands Justice
[[#Verse 18.]] Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
[[#Verse 19.]] Disaster will be inescapable, as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
[[#Verse 20.]] Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring darkness, not light- gloomy blackness, not bright light?
[[#Verse 21.]] “I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies.
[[#Verse 22.]] Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.
[[#Verse 23.]] Take away from me your noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.
[[#Verse 24.]] Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.
[[#Verse 25.]] You did not bring me sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family of Israel.
[[#Verse 26.]] You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves,
[[#Verse 27.]] and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.
He is called the God of Heaven’s Armies.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
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###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
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###### Verse 15.
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###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. 5:1-2 is a funeral lament for Israel, sung as if the nation were already dead.
2. There is a Hebrew wordplay in 5:5: Gilgal (*gilgal*) will surely go into exile (*galoh yigleh*).
3. Beersheba (5:5) was at the far south of Judah, showing northerners traveled far to worship there.
4. The Pleiades and Orion (5:8) are star groups also mentioned in Job 9:9 and 38:31.
5. The city gate (5:10, 12, 15) was where elders held court and settled legal cases.
6. Houses of hewn stone (5:11) were a sign of wealth, since most houses used rough stone and mud brick.
7. Israel expected the day of the Lord to be light, but Amos says it will be darkness (5:18-20).
8. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted 5:24 in his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
9. Stephen quotes 5:25-27 in Acts 7:42-43.
10. Sikkuth and Kiyyun (5:26) are generally understood as names of Assyrian star deities.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the life God offers when He says, "Seek Me and live" (5:4). Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), and through Him justice and righteousness flow like a never-ending stream (5:24).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. God says, "Seek Me and live," not "seek Bethel" (5:4-5). How can religious places or routines replace seeking God Himself?
2. Amos commands, "Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the city gate" (5:15). What would that look like in your community?
3. God rejects worship that is not matched by justice and righteousness (5:21-24). How do our daily lives affect our worship?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 4: Seek Me and live.
- đź“– verse 15: Hate evil, love good, and promote justice at the city gate.
- đź“– verse 24: Let justice roll like waters and righteousness like a never-ending stream.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[John 11#Verse 25.|John 11:25]] - Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
- đź”— [[Micah 06#Verse 08.|Micah 6:8]] - Do justice, love faithfulness, walk humbly.
- đź”— [[Isaiah 01#Verse 13.|Isaiah 1:13-17]] - God rejects empty worship.
- đź”— [[Acts 07#Verse 42.|Acts 7:42-43]] - Stephen quotes Amos.
- đź”— [[Joel 02#Verse 01.|Joel 2:1-2]] - The day of the Lord is a day of darkness.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Amos 05 - SOAP|Thankful Warnings]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes