Amos 5
| Audio of Amos Study |
| [.mp3 Download Recording Amos 5 coming] |
| Comments |
| Who is the virgin of Israel? Most adultery and fornication mentioned in the Bible is national adultery. |
| Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 5:1-6 "The convincing, awakening word must be heard and heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; for whether we hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect. The Lord still proclaims mercy to men, but they often expect deliverance from such self-invented forms as make their condemnation sure. While they refuse to come to Christ and to seek mercy in and by him, that they may live, the fire of Divine wrath breaks forth upon them. Men may make an idol of the world, but will find it cannot protect." |
| V. 12 What is the "manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside[1]the poor in the gate from their right." |
| The Pulpit Commentary explains there was "money paid to escape the consequences of crime (Proverbs 6:35)... not giving the poor man justice unless he could pay for it (comp. Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:19)." Why are their offerings not acceptable? Because of force? Even Samuel eight spoke of the same practices of force that take and take and take and the bribes the pervert justice. |
| We see the same complaint by Jesus concerning the Corban of the Pharisees set up under Herod. These legal charity was apposed by John the Baptist and Jesus who forbid his disciples to be like the men who call themselves Benefactors but exercise authority offering a welfare of the wages of unrighteousness through what Peter calls covetous practices. |
| In Amos 1 we were warned about failing to keep in remembrance[2] the brotherly covenant.[3] The solution was to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness which is the way. |
| V. 18 Woe to you because you hear not the Lord nor do what he says to do. You run from a lion into the mouth of a bear. |
| People will cry out but God will not hear them. |
| Because you have sought one purse and set a table as a net and a snare you shall go into captivity[4] and the bondage of Egypt, become merchandise, curse children and your sacrifice or Corban will make the word of God to none effect. |
| In his Memoir on Pauperism Alexis de Tocqueville attacks the British system of “legal charity on a permanent basis” as a method of impoverishment that not only increased the “indigent population” but “their laziness along with their needs and their idleness[5] with their vices.” He, like Polybius, understood that "[I]ndividual alms-giving established valuable ties between the rich and the poor. The deed itself involves the giver in the fate of the one whose poverty he has undertaken to alleviate. The latter, supported by aid which he had no right to demand and which he had no hope to getting, feels inspired by gratitude. A moral tie is established between those two classes whose interests and passions so often conspire to separate them from each other, and although divided by circumstance they are willingly reconciled. This is not the case with legal charity." Legal charity abolishes the brotherly covenant of Amos 1. |
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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 Bethel[6], nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba[7]: for Gilgal[8] shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel[6] 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 Bethel[6]. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood[9], 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] 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[11] and Chiun[12] 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
Amos 1 | Amos 2 | Amos 3
Amos 4 | Amos 5 | Amos 6
Amos 7 | Amos 8 | Amos 9
Preceded by: Joel
Followed by: Obadiah
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Footnotes
- ↑ Here the word appears as instead of NunTetVav NunTetHey
05186 נָטָה natah [naw-taw’] NunTetHey a primitive root; v; [BDB-639b] [{See TWOT on 1352 }] AV-stretch out 60, incline 28, turn 16, stretch forth 15, turn aside 13, bow 8, decline 8, pitched 8, bow down 5, turn away 5, spread 5, stretched out still 4, pervert 4, stretch 4, extend 3, wrest 3, outstretched 3, carried aside 2, misc 20; 215- 1) to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to stretch out, extend, stretch, offer
- 1a3) to bend, turn, incline
- 1a3a) to turn aside, incline, decline, bend down
- 1a3b) to bend, bow
- 1a3c) to hold out, extend (fig.)
- 1b) (Niphal) to be stretched out
- 1c) (Hiphil)
- 1c1) to stretch out
- 1c2) to spread out
- 1c3) to turn, incline, influence, bend down, hold out, extend, thrust aside, thrust away
- 1a) (Qal)
- נ ן Nun Heir to the Throne, Aramaic fish in the Mem (fish moving in flowing waters) or in the Hebrew the Nun may mean the kingdom with a double Nun suggesting spiritual insight in two realms. [fish moving... Activity life] (Numeric value: 50)
- ט Tet Introversion - The Concealed power of good or paradoxically evil [to twist a snake... wheel To surround (gestation)] (Numeric value: 9)
- ה Hey Expression, Thought, Speech, Action. Manifest seeds of thought and life. [Emphasize, jubilation, window, fence] (Numeric value: 5)
- 1) to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow
- ↑ 02142 ^רכז^ zakar \@zaw-kar’\@ a primitive root like 02145 male; v; {See TWOT on 551} AV-remember 172, mention 21, remembrance 10, recorder 9, mindful 6, think 3, bring to remembrance 2, record 2, misc 8; 233
- 1) to remember, recall, call to mind
- 1a) (Qal) to remember, recall
- 1b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind
- 1c) (Hiphil)
- 1c1) to cause to remember, remind
- 1c2) to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
- 1c3) to mention
- 1c4) to record
- 1c5) to make a memorial, make remembrance
- זָ ז Zayin The "Crowned" head. The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut, to cut off, manacle] (Numeric value: 7)
- כ ך Kaf K Crown: To Actualize Potential power from spiritual to physical realm [to cover, strength] (Numeric value: 20)
- ר Reish Process of Clarification The "head" or "beginning". Life's revelation. [Head... Person head highest] (Numeric value: 200)
- 1) to remember, recall, call to mind
- ↑ Some suggest that the "covenant of brethren" mentioned in Amos 1 was the league made between Hiram and David, and afterwards between Hiram and Solomon (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1; 1 Kings 5:12 )but the true brotherly covenant dates back when there was no king in Israel and the people were bound together by the practice of pure religion. Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." This was an indictment of Israel because it failed to abide by Leviticus 25:35 "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee." when the people turned to the legal charity offered by men who exercise authority like Cain, Nimrod, and FDR rather that the freewill offerings provided by the fervent charity of The Way.
- ↑ 01540 גֶּלֶה galah [gaw-law’] GimelLamedHey a primitive root; v; [BDB-162b] [{See TWOT on 350 }] AV-uncover 34, discover 29, captive 28, carry away 22, reveal 16, open 12, captivity 11, shew 9, remove 6, appear 3, misc 18; 188
- 1) to uncover, remove
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to uncover
- 1a2) to remove, depart
- 1a3) to go into exile
- 1b) (Niphal)
- 1b1) (reflexive)
- 1b1a) to uncover oneself
- 1b1b) to discover or show oneself
- 1b1c) to reveal himself (of God)
- 1b2) (passive)
- 1b2a) to be uncovered
- 1b2b) to be disclosed, be discovered
- 1b2c) to be revealed
- 1b3) to be removed
- 1b1) (reflexive)
- 1c) (Piel)
- 1c1) to uncover (nakedness)
- 1c1a) nakedness
- 1c1b) general
- 1c2) to disclose, discover, lay bare
- 1c3) to make known, show, reveal
- 1c1) to uncover (nakedness)
- 1d) (Pual) to be uncovered
- 1e) (Hiphil) to carry away into exile, take into exile
- 1f) (Hophal) to be taken into exile
- 1g) (Hithpael)
- 1g1) to be uncovered
- 1g2) to reveal oneself
- 1a) (Qal)
- ג Gimel Reward and Punish, Cause and effect, 'justified repayment'. Do to others as they should do. Written like a Vav with a Yod as a "foot". Camel, [throwstick, pride, to lift up] (Numeric value: 3)
- ל Lamed means Aspiration of the Heart or to learn or even direct like a shepherd. It has to do with what the Hand produces, [hand is די YodDalet] or directs with staff, whip... like the tongue may direct. (Numeric value: 30)
- ה Hey Expression, Thought, Speech, Action. Manifest seeds of thought and life. [Emphasize, jubilation, window, fence] (Numeric value: 5)
- 1) to uncover, remove
- ↑ Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." This was an indictment of Israel because it failed to abide by Leviticus 25:35 "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee." when the people turned to the legal charity offered by men who exercise authority like Cain, Nimrod, and FDR rather that the freewill offerings provided by the fervent charity of The Way. This is what socialism does and only pure Religion holds the solution.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 01008 בֵּית־אֵל Beyth-’El [bayth-ale’] from 01004 BeitYodTav said to be a preposition meaning to but commonly translated house or household or even family and 0410 AlefLamed meaning god, god-like one, mighty one; n pr loc; [BDB-110b] [{See TWOT on 241 @@ "241a" }] AV-Bethel 66, non translated variable 4; 70
- Bethel= "house of God" from two words
- 1) ancient place and seat of worship in Ephraim on border of Benjamin, identified with Luz (former name)
- 2) a place in south country of Judah, not far from Beersheba and Ziklag
- ב Beit Purpose: God's Dwelling Place Below - a house or God's house here. [household, in, into] (Numeric value: 2)
- י Yod The Infinite Point of essential good. Divine spark hidden in the ט Tet. Spark of spirit. [closed hand... Deed, work, to make] (Numeric value: 10)
- ת Tav is a Seal of a Higher kingdom or realm through faith. The paradigm keter–malchut “The Crown of Sovereignty” from the Tree of Life spiritually linking worlds or realms through an unseen doorway of faith. The Aleph & Tav are the first and last letters. [door sign cross seal] (Numeric value: 400)
- א Alef Father-Son- begin- The Paradox: God and Man - (ox bull) [strength, leader, first] (Numeric value: 1)
- ל Lamed means Aspiration of the Heart or to learn or even direct like a shepherd. It has to do with what the Hand produces, [hand is די YodDalet] or directs with staff, whip... like the tongue may direct. (Numeric value: 30)
- ↑ 0884 בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע Bë’er Sheba‘ [be-ayr’ sheh’- bah] from 0875 a well and 07651 seven (in the sense of 07650 swear and oath); n pr loc; [BDB-92a] [{See TWOT on 194 @@ "194d" }] AV-Beersheba 34; 34
- Beer-sheba= "well of the sevenfold oath"
- 1) a city at the south edge of Israel
- ↑ 01537 גִּלְגָּל Gilgal [ghil-gawl’] the same as 01536 a wheel; a variation of 01534 something whirling or spinning like the heavens or the wind; 01556 a verb Gsmel LamedLamed to roll but also translate trust, commit, and wallow; n pr loc; [BDB-166a] [{See TWOT on 353 @@ "353j" }] AV-Gilgal 41; 41
- Gilgal= "a wheel, rolling"
- 1) the first site of an Israelite camp west of the Jordan, east of Jericho, here Samuel was judge, and Saul was made king; later used for illicit worship
- 2) dwelling place of prophets in northern Israel about four miles (7 km) from Shiloh and Bethel
- 3) a region conquered by Joshua, site unsure
- ↑ 03939 לַעֲנָה la‘anah [lah-an-aw’] from an unused root supposed to mean to curse; n f; [BDB-542a] [{See TWOT on 1121 }] AV-wormwood 7, hemlock 1; 8
- 1) wormwood
- 1a) bitterness (metaph.)
- 1) wormwood
- ↑ 04013 מִבְצָר mibtsar [mib-tsawr’] also (in pl.) fem. (#Da 11:15) מבצרה mibtsarah [mib-tsaw-raw’]; from 01219; n m; [BDB-131a] [{See TWOT on 270 @@ "270g" }]
AV-hold 13, fenced 12, fortress 6, defenced 4, strong 2; 37
- 1) fortification, fortress, fortified city, stronghold
- מ ם Mem Fountain of water, a flow, a fountain of the Divine Wisdom [massive, overpower chaos] (Numeric value: 40)
- ב Beit Purpose: God's Dwelling Place Below - a house or God's house here. [household, in, into] (Numeric value: 2)
- ע Ayin also U. Divine Providence "eye" or "fountain" of five states of kindness or severity. AlefYodNun or nothingness as opposed to AlefShin something [eye, watch] (Numeric value: 70)
- ר Reish Process of Clarification The "head" or "beginning". Life's revelation. [Head... Person head highest] (Numeric value: 200)
- See also Bozrah 01224
- ↑ 04428 מֶלֶךְ MemLamedKaf melek [meh’-lek] but can appear as בְּמַלְכָּֽם 04445 BeitMemLamedKafMem as we see in Zephaniah 1:5 from 04427, Greek 3197 Μελχι; n m/n pr m/n pr dei; [BDB-572b] [{See TWOT on 1199 @@ "1199a" }] AV-king 2518, royal 2, Hammelech 1, Malcham 1, Moloch 1; 2523
- n m
- 1) king
- n pr m
- 2) father of Jerahmeel
- n pr dei
- 3) Molech, god of the Ammonites
- ↑ 03594 כִּיּוּן Kiyuwn [kee-yoon’] from 03559 prepare or establish, Greek 4481 Ρεμφαν; n pr dei; [BDB-475b] [{See TWOT on 954 @@ "954a" }] AV-Chiun 1; 1
- Chiun= "an image" or "pillar"
- 1) probably a statue of the Assyrian-Babylonian god of the planet Saturn and used to symbolise Israelite apostasy