Charles Spurgeon Commentary Amos 5
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Amos 5
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Amos 5
"For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;" — Amos 5:4 (ASV)
And that is just the message of God to professing Christians now: Seek ye me. Get away from your mere ceremonies, from trusting in your outward performances, and get to God himself. Get beyond your fellow-worshippers and your ministers, beyond your sanctuaries and your supposed holy places, and get in spirit and in truth to God himself: Seek ye me, and ye shall live.
"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." — Amos 5:5 (ASV)
But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nothing.
These were the places where the calves and other idols were set up for the worship of God by means of visible symbols. That was the Romanism of that day.
Pure spiritual worship was ordained by God, but that was not enough for the idolatrous Israelites. They felt they must set up the image of an ox, the emblem of power — not that they would worship the ox, they said, but that they might worship the God of power through that symbol.
And that is the plea of Roman Catholics today: "We do not worship that cross; we do not worship that image; but these things help us. They are emblems." But they are absolutely forbidden by God: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
The first commandment forbids us to have any other God than Jehovah; the second forbids us to worship him through any emblem or symbol whatsoever.
"Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth," — Amos 5:6-7 (ASV)
Here you have another great truth—that, in order to seek God correctly, we must turn away from sin. All the ritualism in the world will not save us, or be acceptable to God; there must be purity of life, and holiness of character; justice must be done between people, and we must seek to be right before the righteous and holy God.
"[seek him] that maketh the Pleiades 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 (Jehovah is his name);" — Amos 5:8 (ASV)
Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, —
The Creator of the spring-bringing Pleiades, and of the winter-bringing Orion, —
"[seek him] that maketh the Pleiades 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 (Jehovah is his name); that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress." — Amos 5:8-9 (ASV)
And turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is His name: that strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
The God of the weak, the Defender of the oppressed. You who oppress the poor and tread down the people, seek Him, and wash your hands from the stains of your past injustice.
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