#1142 Amos 5 10 Percenters

 

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 “Fallen, no more to rise,

is the virgin Israel;

forsaken on her land,

with none to raise her up.”

3 For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that went out a thousand

shall have a hundred left,

and that which went out a hundred

shall have ten left

to the house of Israel.”

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

“Seek me and live;

5 but do not seek Bethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

or cross over to Beersheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

6 Seek the Lord and live,

lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,

7 O you who turn justice to wormwood

and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

and turns deep darkness into the morning

and darkens the day into night,

who calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out on the surface of the earth,

the Lord is his name;

9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,

so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,

and they abhor him who speaks the truth.

11 Therefore because you trample on the poor

and you exact taxes of grain from him,

you have built houses of hewn stone,

but you shall not dwell in them;

you have planted pleasant vineyards,

but you shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your transgressions

and how great are your sins—

you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,

and turn aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,

for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil,

that you may live;

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,

as you have said.

15 Hate evil, and love good,

and establish justice in the gate;

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares there shall be wailing,

and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

They shall call the farmers to mourning

and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,

17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,

for I will pass through your midst,”

says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, and not light,

19 as if a man fled from a lion,

and a bear met him,

or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,

and a serpent bit him.

20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

I will not look upon them.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

24 But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. Amos 5 ESV

Amos 5

Hear this word - If anyone has been reading along through the prophets, or has read the prophets before, we see that much is like Paul's admonishment in his epistles, correcting doctrine and behavior. Over and over again we hear the prophets calling out apostasy, calling out idolatry, sexual sin, pride and the disregard of the poor. We are warned over and over again about false prophets, those teachers who would tickle our ears, and we are warned that God looks at the heart, that He is against empty rituals and traditions. The repetition is astounding, and it speaks volumes to our natural deafness, our desire to think that we have arrived, and that we already know these things. God only needs to say things once and they are set, but this is for our benefit, lest we be tempted to forget, or we are tempted to reduce the charge, think light of what God hates and our Savior died to atone for. The prophet's cry is consistently, repent and be saved.

…9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.… 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11

The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left - This precedes the Assyrian invasion. Only a tithe is left of the former kingdom, but God has a way with small things, like a boys lunch of 5 loaves and two fish. By choosing sin we choose captivity.

“Only a handful of ragged, war-weary men will be left of Israel’s proud army.” (McComiskey)

Seek me and live - Come as those who will not be turned away, humble yourselves.

…18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.… Acts 3: 18-20

…12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”… Jeremiah 29: 12-14

But do not seek Bethel - As we learned before, Bethel means "House of God", but it had become anything but that. God determines the approach to Himself, and at Bethel they claimed to know God but came with strange fire. They were idolaters with a religion that used words from Judaism, but like the Roman Catholic Church, they were pagan in their practice. So, don't go there to be right with God, that place isn't right.

Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba were once places associated with great privilege and spiritual heritage. Now they were places of vain, empty worship.

· Bethel was the place where God met Jacob (Genesis 28:11-19, Genesis 35:1-7).

· Gilgal was the place where Israel’s spiritual reproach was rolled away in the days of Joshua (Joshua 5:1-12).

· Beersheba was connected to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 21:22-33, 26:23-33, 46:1-5). - Enduring Word

O you who turn justice to wormwood - The legal system is a bitter thing when it is corrupt. It is not true justice when it can be bought, for if the poor or weak man is in the right, yet the rich will prevail over him. God hates such judges, lawyers who seek winning over truth, you rob some of hope and grant it where it shouldn't be, so what will be your fate?

…14You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. 15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.… Leviticus 19: 14-16

He Who made the Pleiades and Orion - The One Who made all things, those things we still try to grasp and understand, He is the One that you should have sought, and certainly He is the One that you do not want to come against. 

1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 2Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.… Psalm 19: 1-2

They hate him who reproves in the gate - The one who tells them of their sickness is more hated than the disease. Israel hated the prophets, as Noah's generation mocked him, and the people rose up against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. They hate the truth, it smashes their idols and pulls down their high places, it calls them unjust, it shows them for fools.

Who take a bribe - Many do that today who also claim to act on behalf of the poor, but they only buy their vote for a little money, yet something more costly is integrity. They have used this to build fine houses with high walls, but it will all crumble.

…7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. 9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.… Exodus 23: 7-9

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord - They think that it will be a favorable day for them because they are religious, because they were name droppers, but they don't rightly see their standing, pride blinds. It is the disease of all men to think they are good, right in their own eyes, righteous enough.

For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light: In their religious ritualism, the people of Israel still claimed they longed for the day of the LORD. Amos rightly warned them that they don’t know what they asked for because the day of the LORD would bring them judgment, not mercy. They would end up worse off than before; it will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him!

i. “The illustrative parable makes it clear that darkness and light do not speak here of wickedness and righteousness but of disaster and safety.” (Hubbard)

…20So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’… Matthew 7: 20-22

I will not accept them - God does not fit in any box, and He is not bound to anything other than His word, and He has declared time and again that He takes no delight in empty sacrifices. I said a prayer, read this book, gave alms, helped an old lady cross the street, well, and you think God owes you something for the things you ought to have done without guile, with much gratitude and thanksgiving? What do you give God that isn't already His? I know of only one thing, my sin, that is all that I can give Him that is my own. 

…16For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. 18In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.… Psalm 51: 16-18

But let justice roll down like waters - A tree is known by its fruit, God hates empty sacrifice, he that loveth not knoweth not God. Make sure you are not following an empty religion, checking boxes, do not be blind to the real needs of those poor in stomach and spirit.

“A momentary flow of justice and righteousness will not do; these virtues are to keep on in the social order like a stream that does not dry up with summer heat.” (McComiskey)

…41But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you. 42 Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. 43Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.… Luke 11: 41-43

…35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’…

…38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”… Matthew 22: 35-40

Sikkuth and Kiyyun - 

The NIV translates Sikkuth and Chiun as shrine and pedestal. It’s simply a difficult passage to translate. The Septuagint has Moloch for Sikkuth and Rephan (an Egyptian deity related to the planet Saturn) for Chiun. - E Word