◄ Amos 5:4 ►
For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live!
Study Bible
For thus says the LORD
This phrase introduces a direct message from God, emphasizing the divine authority and urgency of the command. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "YHWH," the sacred and personal name of God, which underscores His covenant relationship with Israel. This introduction is a common prophetic formula, indicating that what follows is not merely human advice but a divine imperative. Historically, this reflects the period of the divided kingdom, where prophets like Amos were sent to call the people back to faithfulness.

to the house of Israel
The "house of Israel" refers to the Northern Kingdom, which had fallen into idolatry and social injustice. This phrase is significant as it identifies the audience of the prophecy, reminding them of their identity as God's chosen people. The term "house" implies a familial and covenantal relationship, which Israel has neglected. Archaeological findings from this period reveal a society that had become prosperous yet morally and spiritually corrupt, highlighting the need for this prophetic call.

Seek Me
The Hebrew word for "seek" is "darash," which implies a diligent pursuit or inquiry. This is not a casual or superficial search but a deep, intentional turning towards God. In the context of Amos, this call to "seek" is a call to repentance and a return to covenant faithfulness. It contrasts with the people's tendency to seek idols or rely on their own strength. Scripturally, seeking God is associated with life, blessing, and restoration.

and live
The promise of life is contingent upon seeking God. The Hebrew word "chayah" for "live" encompasses not just physical survival but a flourishing, abundant life in the presence of God. This reflects the Deuteronomic theme where obedience to God leads to life and blessing, while disobedience leads to death and curse. In the historical context of Amos, this was a call to avert impending judgment by returning to God. Theologically, it points to the ultimate life found in relationship with God, fulfilled in the New Testament through Jesus Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, a small town in Judah, who was called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during a time of prosperity and moral decay.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who calls His people to repentance and a relationship with Him, emphasizing His desire for their spiritual renewal and life.

3. House of Israel
Refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had turned away from God, engaging in idolatry and injustice, and was being called back to faithfulness.

4. Bethel
A significant religious center in the Northern Kingdom, often associated with idolatrous practices that Amos condemns in his prophecies.

5. Judgment and Repentance
The central themes of Amos's message, highlighting the impending judgment due to Israel's sins and the call to repentance as the path to life.
Teaching Points
The Call to Seek God
God desires a relationship with His people, urging them to seek Him earnestly. This involves turning away from sin and idolatry and pursuing a life centered on Him.

The Promise of Life
Seeking God is directly linked to life. This is not just physical survival but a spiritual vitality and fulfillment found in a relationship with God.

Repentance as a Pathway
True repentance involves a change of heart and direction, moving away from sin and towards God. It is a necessary step for experiencing the life God promises.

The Danger of Complacency
Israel's prosperity led to spiritual complacency and moral decay. Believers today must guard against allowing comfort and success to lead them away from God.

The Urgency of the Call
The call to seek God is urgent. Delaying repentance can lead to missed opportunities for spiritual renewal and the blessings of life in God.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does it mean to "seek" the Lord in the context of Amos 5:4, and how can we apply this in our daily lives?

2. How does the call to seek God in Amos 5:4 relate to the concept of repentance, and why is repentance crucial for spiritual life?

3. In what ways might modern believers fall into the same complacency that the house of Israel did, and how can we guard against it?

4. How do the promises associated with seeking God in Amos 5:4 compare with those found in other scriptures like Deuteronomy 4:29 and Matthew 6:33?

5. Reflect on a time when seeking God led to a significant change or renewal in your life. How can this experience encourage others in their spiritual journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 4:29
This verse emphasizes seeking the Lord with all one's heart and soul, promising that those who do so will find Him, echoing the call in Amos to "Seek Me and live."

Isaiah 55:6-7
These verses encourage seeking the Lord while He may be found and turning from wicked ways, aligning with Amos's call for repentance and seeking God.

Matthew 6:33
Jesus instructs to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, which parallels the call in Amos to prioritize seeking God for true life.
Sermons
Seek the LordJ.R. Thomson Amos 5:4
Seeking the LordA. Rowland Amos 5:4
The Sins of SocietyAlexander MaclarenAmos 5:4
The Search Which Ends in Life, and the Search Which Ends in RuinJ. Telford, B. A.Amos 5:4-5
People
Amos, Joseph
Places
Beersheba, Bethel, Damascus, Gilgal, Gomorrah
Topics
Hearts, Says, Seek, Thus
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 5:4

     6663   freedom, of will

Amos 5:4-6

     7233   Israel, northern kingdom
     8160   seeking God

Amos 5:4-15

     5541   society, negative

Library
April 15 Morning
Their Redeemer is strong.--JER. 50:34. I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.--I have laid help upon one that is mighty.--The Lord. . . thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.--Mighty to save.--Able to keep you from falling.--Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.--He is able . . . to save them …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Sins of Society
'For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live: 5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el 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 Beth-el. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8. Seek Him that maketh the seven stars …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Evidences Internal and Experimental.
1. The external evidences of revealed religion are, in their proper place and sphere, of the highest importance. Christianity rests not upon theory, but upon historical facts sustained by an overwhelming mass of testimony. It is desirable that every Christian, so far as he has opportunity, should make himself acquainted with this testimony for the strengthening of his own faith and the refutation of gainsayers. Nevertheless, many thousands of Christians are fully established in the faith of the gospel …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether, by Penance, Man is Restored to his Former Dignity?
Objection 1: It would seem that man is not restored by Penance to his former dignity: because a gloss on Amos 5:2, "The virgin of Israel is cast down," observes: "It is not said that she cannot rise up, but that the virgin of Israel shall not rise; because the sheep that has once strayed, although the shepherd bring it back on his shoulder, has not the same glory as if it had never strayed." Therefore man does not, through Penance, recover his former dignity. Objection 2: Further, Jerome says: "Whoever …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Kingdom of Judah.
II K. 18-25; II Chron. 28-36. Note: This period covers the time from the fail of Israel to the fall of Judah. It begins in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, whose name is given as the first king of the period since most of his reign was in this instead of the former period. The Kings of this Period. 13. Hezekiah, 2 K. 18:1-20-21; 2 Chron. 29:1-32:33. Reigned 29 years and died. 14. Manasseh, 2 K. 21:1-18; 2 Chron. 33:1-20. Reigned 55 year and died. 15. Amon, 2 K. 21:19-26; 2 Chron. 33:20-25. …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether the Old Law Should have Been Given to the Jews Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law should not have been given to the Jews alone. For the Old Law disposed men for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2065]AA[2],3). But that salvation was to come not to the Jews alone but to all nations, according to Is. 49:6: "It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Degrees of Sin
Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. He that delivered me unto thee, has the greater sin.' John 19: 11. The Stoic philosophers held that all sins were equal; but this Scripture clearly holds forth that there is a gradual difference in sin; some are greater than others; some are mighty sins,' and crying sins.' Amos 5: 12; Gen 18: 21. Every sin has a voice to speak, but some …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Books of the Old Testament as a Whole. 1 the Province of Particular Introduction is to Consider the Books of the Bible Separately...
CHAPTER XVIII. THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. 1. The province of Particular Introduction is to consider the books of the Bible separately, in respect to their authorship, date, contents, and the place which each of them holds in the system of divine truth. Here it is above all things important that we begin with the idea of the unity of divine revelation--that all the parts of the Bible constitute a gloriously perfect whole, of which God and not man is the author. No amount of study devoted …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
(Borders of Samaria and Galilee.) ^C Luke XVII. 11-37. ^c 11 And it came to pass, as they were on their way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. [If our chronology is correct, Jesus passed northward from Ephraim about forty miles, crossing Samaria (here mentioned first), and coming to the border of Galilee. He then turned eastward along that border down the wady Bethshean which separates the two provinces, and crossed the Jordan into Peræa, where we soon …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord Coming to his Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap, -- and he shall purify the sons of Levi -- that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. W hereunto shall we liken the people of this generation? and to what are they like? (Luke 7:31) …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

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