Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1648

August 4, 2024

Amos 5.1-24        Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“What Shall We Seek?”

 

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.” ³For 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.” ⁴For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; ⁵but 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.” ⁶Seek 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, ⁷O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth! ⁸He 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; ⁹who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. ¹⁰They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. ¹¹Therefore 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. ¹²For 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. ¹³Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. ¹⁵Hate 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. ¹⁶Therefore 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, ¹⁷and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. ¹⁸Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, ¹⁹as 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. ²⁰Is 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. ²²Even 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. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 

• The Lord of Life

 

Amos lived in the southern kingdom of Judah and God sent him to the northern kingdom Israel to proclaim God’s Word against the practices of injustice, particularly ignoring the poor, and the idol worship that was allowed by the king at that time, Jeroboam. The first couple of chapters lay out indictments of nations that are all around Israel but then the prophet turns his attention directly to Israel. The worst part is that Israel has basically become like Pharaoh of old who once enslaved Jews and now the Jews are enslaving others. How quickly Israel forgets its history and the God who delivered them. But this is the God and Lord of all peoples and nations, so Amos addresses more nations than just Israel.

Israel had become a fake people, hypocritical people, going through the motions of offering to God their sacrifices in worship and yet ignoring the spirit of the Law to care for the poor and to worship God alone. Israel was specifically chosen by God out of all nations for the purpose of showing all nations the glory of God, to reflect the nature of God in the way they lived in obedience to God, and to show the nations that God is God and to be worshiped alone. Israel was chosen to be a blessing to all other nations because they were chosen by the only true God. But what they did was give a false witness of God. It is much like so-called Christians today who give a terrible witness of who Jesus Christ is by their practices of injustice and idolatry. Those who use the gospel as a way to riches, or compromise the gospel in the name of tolerance, or some other form of heresy. They give a bad name to Christianity and to Jesus Christ Himself. The prophets called out all who were like that then and those indictments are just as binding today. The prophets in general basically said that all who live under the name of God but do not reflect the nature of God will get their due in the end.

One of the reasons this is true is because God is the Lord of life. He is the Lord of all, but this morning I want to start with life because that is a part of the message of Amos. At the end of verse 4 in our reading today, Amos is proclaiming God’s proclamation, “thus says the Lord, Seek Me and live!” Seek God because He is the Lord of life. Verse 6 has Amos speaking, “Seek the Lord and live!” Seek God because He is the Lord of life. The counter to seeking God in the book of Amos is to seek Bethel or Gilgal which were the places of worship under judgment because their worship was empty and did not translate into a daily practice of justice and righteousness. To live one way and pretend to offer worship to God devoid of true devotion was basically seen as evil. False worship and false living does not lead to life. True worship and righteous living only comes when we seek the Lord for He is life and the Lord of life.

Now one of the purposes of our reflection on the minor prophets is to show the themes in the prophets that are also seen in the gospel and the New Testament teachings. The Lord of life in the gospels in the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the God of life. John 11 tells the story of Lazarus who had died and Jesus came to the town and tomb where his body was. Martha had hoped Jesus would have come sooner. Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise again and she said that she knows he will rise on the last day, and then we come to John 11.25-27, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” Jesus is the resurrection and the life! He is the Lord of life and capable of bringing life out of death. He raised Lazarus from the dead and He raises us out of the death of sin and of injustice and idolatry like that of Israel in the time of Amos. Jesus is the Lord of life and John’s gospel is probably the most vocal about this truth. John 1 begins with the Lord of life…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (1.1-5). In Him was life and the life was the light of men.

One more before we move on! Colossians 1.1-4, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” There’s that word again that Amos uses often, “Seek”. Seek the things that are above, seek the Lord, seek the Lord and live. But the verse I want us to really see here is verse 4, “When Christ who is your life appears!” Christ is not just understood as the Lord of life, He is that, but also, He is our life. Let’s get that one down in our hearts and minds, Christ is our life, the Lord of life. Seek the Lord and live! Thus says the Lord, and Amos, and Jesus, and Paul, and the whole witness of the Bible.

 

 

• Seek Not Evil

 

Amos is also about telling Israel what not to seek or what to stop seeking. Evil was found in the false gods that were worshiped and the injustice that Israel practiced. We cannot seek to worship false gods or worship ourselves or worship the ways of the world, worshiping anything apart from God alone. For Amos this was a warning to Israel to cease the evil they sought which became evident in the evil they practiced. You will know them by their fruit (Matthew 7.15-20). We will know them by their character, attitude, actions, and the signs of not knowing the true God will become evident. Verse 14 of our text for today, “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live.” Verse 15, “Hate evil.” The evil actions of Israel made their worship a vain attempt to gain favor with God. God would not have anything to do with their worship because of their sinful ways.

 

²¹“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even 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. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

 

One of the many problems in the world today is that people seek everything but God. Even Christians will walk on the wrong paths seeking gain or glory or things for themselves that have little or nothing to do with God. We can get caught up in the world and what we love is what we will seek...so John writes in 1 John 2.15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” We might say, do not seek the world, do not seek the ways of the world. But how quickly are we tempted to seek the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, or the pride of life, which is sometimes translated as the pride of riches? Seek God, not evil. Seek God, not worldly things. Seek God for only in God is life.

 

• Seek Justice and Righteousness

 

This section of Amos ends with what Israel (and we) should seek. God says He will not receive their empty worship but here is what they need to do, ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. A common theme we are seeing running through the prophets is one of repentance. Turn away from sin and turn to God. “Repent,” said Jesus, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4.17). Stop what you are doing and return to God and God’s way. Within that common theme are the themes of justice and righteousness. Righteousness is about making things right. In the case of the prophets it is about making things right for the poor and in their faulty worship of false gods. Justice means the actions taken to make those things right. There is something to do...let justice and righteousness flow like a river, flow into our lives and out of our lives. And all that comes from seeking the Lord of life, the Lord of justice, the Lord of righteousness.

 

• What Shall We Seek?

 

The words of the prophets are just as vital to our lives as they were thousands of years ago for Israel and the nations. The nations today really need to hear and heed these words as well. And so do we. Repentance is always a good message to heed. To seek the Lord and live is always a good message to hear again. To let justice and righteousness flow like a river is a good Word for us. I think of the words of Amos 5.15 about loving what is good and establishing justice and I hear those tones in Paul’s words in Romans 12.9, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

 

What we seek will shape our being and our doing. What we seek will transform us into whatever that thing or person or god is. So for instance, Psalm 135.15-18 on the worship of false gods, those of stone or wood, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ¹⁶They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; ¹⁷they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. ¹⁸Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” We become like what or who we worship, or seek, or adore. Idol worshipers become like the idols they worship, unable to speak or see or hear or even breath. There is no breath in them because there is no life in them.

Jesus told us to seek first His kingdom and righteousness in Matthew 6.33 in contrast to what Gentiles (unbelievers) seek. In Matthew 7.7 we are taught to seek and we will find. The same images of seeking that which is of God in Amos are echoed in the New Testament, in the words of Jesus and Paul and others.

I think it is worth our time here to read the final image in Amos is one of hope, 9.11-15,

 

“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, ¹²that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. ¹³“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. ¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. ¹⁵I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.”

 

Restoration of the house of David is the restoration found in Jesus Christ, from the line of David. The coming of the Messianic King is the restoration of God’s people, the restoration of all things. People will come to Him from all nations, Jews and Gentiles, one in Christ Jesus. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. It’s all here in Amos, in the gospels, in the Bible for all to see, the Lord of life, the Lord of all. Seek the Lord and live. Amen.