Amos F

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/amosfmp3/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p><i>This lesson covers 5:1-17 (the first half of chapter 5)</i></p><ul><li>The fall of Israel is a kind of death; this requires a song of mourning (v.1).<ul><li>Israel is alone, desolate (v.2).</li><li>Her population has been drastically reduced (v.3).</li></ul></li><li>Yet there is a glimmer of hope here (vv.4,6,14). The Lord urges them to <i>seek him</i>.<ul><li>Not that this will avert the national catastrophe, which is inevitable, ineluctable.</li><li>The alternative to seeking Yahweh is to "seek Bethel" (v.5) --idolatry--the golden calf.</li></ul></li><li>Pilgrimage sites:<ul><li>Bethel 3x (Genesis 28:19, Jeremiah 11 (1 Kings 12:26-33)</li><li>Gilgal 2x (Joshua 5:2-12)</li><li>Beersheba 1x (Genesis 22:19, 26:23, 46:1-5: associated with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, respectively)</li><li>Where you "go to church" is important; not all choices are equal.</li></ul></li><li>Another word-play (v.5):<ul><li><i>Gilgal galoh yigleh</i></li><li>Gilgal will surely go into exile.</li></ul></li><li>Justice is absent, therefore judgment will come (vv.7-9).<ul><li>Wormwood -- see Deuteronomy 29:18, Jeremiah 23:15, Lamentations 3:19, Amos 6:12</li><li>Pleiades, Orion – dig at Canaanite astrology?</li><li>Yahweh is able to bring back the primeval watery chaos.</li></ul></li><li>Israel has shut its ears.<ul><li>She hates those who speak the truth to her (v.10; see also Galatians 4:16).</li><li>Oppressing the poor, her goal is to improve her own lifestyle (v.11-12; see Haggai 1:3ff).</li><li>This is sin, pure and simple. Yet the public square is the place where God's people should demonstrate morality (v.15).</li><li>Speaking out seems useless (v.13), though Amos will of course prophesy, since he has heard the lion's roar.</li><li>She claims the Lord is with her, but she is deceived (v.14; see also Matthew 7:21-23).</li><li>Yahweh wants to show grace (v.15), but his mercy is