This chapter is a lamentation, the funeral song for Israel, Micah 2:4. Israel will fall and rise no more, but this wasn’t to happen for some years yet, but God speaks as though it has already taken place.
This is because God is talking about His judgment, Amos 5:1. At the end of Israel’s prosperity during the reign of Jeroboam II, Amos came and proclaimed this prophecy of death.
Note the word, ‘fallen’, Amos 5:2, which appears to be used in reference to fallen in battle, 2 Samuel 1:19 / 2 Samuel 1:25 / 2 Samuel 1:27 / 2 Samuel 3:34 / Lamentations 2:21 / Revelation 18:2.
The words, ‘Virgin Israel’, Amos 5:2, mean that previously they had been unconquered but now they are going to fall never to rise, Revelation 18:2. Ninety per cent of the people are going to be wiped out, Amos 5:3.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Israelite cities that had sent 1,000 soldiers against Israel’s enemy saw only 100 survive, and smaller towns that sent out only 100 soldiers saw only 10 come home alive. No nation could survive such devastating defeat in war.’
Here we read of a call to repentance. Even while God is saying He is going to destroy Israel, He calls to those who would follow Him to repent, Jeremiah 18:1-10.
He is still giving them a chance. He encourages the people to seek the Lord and abandon idolatry to live, Amos 5:4 / Psalms 69:32 / Amos 4:4 / Amos 5:6 / Zephaniah 2:3 / Hosea 4:15.
Bethel, Genesis 28:11-19 / Genesis 35:1-7, Gilgal, Joshua 5:1-12, and Beersheba, Genesis 21:22-33 / Genesis 26:23-33 / Genesis 46:1-5, were all places which were rich in history with God and His people.
Now Bethel, Amos 3:14 / Amos 4:4 / Hosea 10:15 / Hosea 13:1-3, Gilgal, Hosea 4:15 / Hosea 9:15 / Hosea 12:12, and Beersheba, Amos 8:14, have become the centres of idolatry, Amos 5:5.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Bethel’ means ‘house of God,’ but it would become ‘Beth Aven,’ meaning ‘house of nothing.’ ‘Aven’ (nothing) often referred to the powerless spirits of wickedness, Isaiah 41:22-24 / Isaiah 41:28-29.’
Beersheba is in the Southern Kingdom, yet it is listed here, Amos 5:5, and in Amos 8:14, for destruction. Beersheba had a long historical association; it was where Abraham had lived. Idolatry was the creation of an idea of a god after their own imagination and desires.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jeroboam I pretended that it was too much for Israel to go up to Jerusalem; and yet Israel thought it not too much to go to the extremist point of Judah toward Idumea, perhaps four times as far south of Jerusalem, as Jerusalem lay from Bethel!’
The judgment is likened to fire, Amos 5:6 / Deuteronomy 4:24 / Isaiah 10:17 / Jeremiah 4:4 / Lamentations 2:3. The house or tribes of Joseph is a phrase referring to the Northern Kingdom, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, Amos 5:6 / Amos 5:15.
Justice and righteousness are being overturned, which shows God’s ability to complete this justice, Amos 5:7. The NIV uses the word ‘bitterness’, but some translations use the word ‘Wormwood’, Amos 5:7, which was a bitter plant. Here it is used symbolically of the injustice that was in the society, Deuteronomy 29:18 / Deuteronomy 29:20.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These figures picture their total contempt for what was right, Proverbs 1:3 / Proverbs 2:9 / Proverbs 8:20 / Proverbs 21:3 / Isaiah 1:21 / Isaiah 5:7 / Isaiah 28:17. Right conduct was the proper action, and justice was the result, but the Israelites had despised both in their courts. Instead of the judicial system functioning like medicine, healing wrongs and soothing the oppressed, the Israelites had turned it into poison.’
Pleiades and Orion, Amos 5:8, were groups of stars used to indicate changes in the seasons, Genesis 1:26-27 / Job 9:9 / Job 38:31. God can change day into night; He can call for the sea to cover the land, which is possibly a reference to the flood of Noah when God poured down rain for forty days, Amos 5:8.
Deane, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Here is an allusion to the flood and similar catastrophes, which are proofs of God’s judicial government of the universe, when, ‘he maketh his creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies.’ God doeth all these marvellous things, and men presume to scout his law and think to be unpunished.’
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘We should not understand this as a reference to the moisture that rises from the sea and then falls upon the earth as rain. The words suggest the thought of terrible inundations of the earth by the swelling sea, and the allusion to the judgment of the flood can hardly be overlooked.’
God is the Creator of all things, and so, higher than all He created. These statements show the transforming power of God’s judgment.
God is going to punish their unrighteousness. Some versions refer to the ‘gate’, the NIV says, ‘court’, Amos 5:10, but they mean the same. The gate of the city was where people gathered for judgment to be made, 2 Samuel 15:2 / Ruth 4:1-2.
Hubbard, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Judicial decisions for each community were taken at the gate of the city, where the heads of families and other elders assembled to hear witnesses, arbitrate disputes, decide controversies and generally dispense justice. The space on the inner side of the gate, together with rooms or alcoves in the gate area itself, was used as courtrooms.’
They hated the one who reproves in court, they hated a righteous judge, and they despised those who spoke the truth, Amos 5:10. They oppressed the poor, Habakkuk 3:24, and God warns those who have become rich through oppression will not live in their mansions made of stone or drink wine from their vineyards, Amos 5:11 / Micah 6:15. They maintained their luxurious lifestyle by exploiting the poor, Exodus 23:2 / Exodus 23:6.
God knows their many sins, He knows what they are doing, taking bribes and turning aside from the needy, Amos 5:12. The poor who weren’t able to pay any bribes didn’t receive any justice, Amos 5:12.
Wolfe, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Usually, the last stand of respectability in a declining nation is found in her judiciary. With the degeneration of Israel’s legal machinery, the fate of the nation seemed certain.’
He says, if they are disturbed about what is going on, they should keep their mouth shut, Amos 5:13 / Habakkuk 2:3. They should keep silent as they wait on the vengeance of God. When the Northern Kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians, the rich and their possessions were taken, and the poor were left in the land to care for it.
They are now encouraged to seek good, not evil, then they will live, Amos 5:14 / Amos 5:4-6 / Micah 8:11, that is, God will be with them, Numbers 23:21 / Deuteronomy 20:4 / Deuteronomy 31:8 / Judges 6:12 / Isaiah 8:10 / Zephaniah 3:15 / Zephaniah 3:17. They are to hate evil, love good, and make sure that the courts maintain justice, Amos 5:14.
McFadden, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The root of the social problem, as someone has said, is not defective social arrangement, but sin and no fundamental improvement can be effected by a change in the environment, but only by a change in the men.’
After Tiglath-Pileser swept through the Northern Kingdom in 732-31 B.C., he left only a remnant of Ephraim in the land, Amos 5:15. The remnant was the poor who were to farm the land for the Assyrians.
This is an announcement of the judgment and its effects. The dead would be so prevalent that the farmers would be called to mourn over their dead relatives in the cities, Amos 5:16.
The professional mourners would be hired to lament both death and destruction, Jeremiah 9:17-18 / Matthew 9:23. There will be wailing, mourning and lamentation when God passes through their midst, Amos 5:16-17 / Exodus 11:4-7 / Exodus 12:12-13.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Amos was reminding Israel that God had been passing by in judgment, as he did that night in Egypt. But now, he would not pass by them anymore. He would pass through their midst and leave a trail of tears as he had in the homes of the Egyptians.’
Here we read of a message of woe. The first three messages began with the words, ‘hear this’, Amos 3:1 / Amos 4:1 / Amos 5:1, and the fourth message begins with the words, ‘woe to you’, Amos 5:18.
Israel thought of the Day of the Lord as the time when God would judge their enemies, but they thought it wouldn’t be applicable to them. But this is a warning that they, too, will face that judgment. It will be a dark time for Israel, Amos 5:18 / Isaiah 5:30 / Jeremiah 46:10 / Joel 3:1-17 / Zephaniah 3:8 / Zechariah 14:1-3.
There is no escape; if they avoid one danger, it will only be to be faced with another. The wicked of Israel were caught in a trap. If he flees from a lion, he will meet a bear. If he flees from the bear and thinks he is safe in his house, he will confront a snake, Amos 5:19 / Matthew 7:10.
The Day of the Lord won’t be daylight; it will be darkness, pitch-darkness, Amos 5:20 / Joel 2:1-2 / Joel 2:10-11 / Zephaniah 1:14-15. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Assyrians overran Israel and took most of the people into exile in 722 B.C.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The coming day of the Lord would mean inescapable tragedy for Israel. The Israelites may have thought they had escaped one enemy, but they would have to face another. They might think they were secure and safe in their homeland, but deadly judgment would overtake them in that comfortable environment. There would be no safe haven from God’s coming judgment, even though they frequented the temple.’
God despises their feasts, their sacrifices and their assemblies, Amos 5:21-22 / Leviticus 26:31 / Malachi 6:6. These would be their annual festivals, with the associated times of worship. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which correspond to Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.
Notice God says, ‘I will not accept,’ ‘I will not look,’ and ‘I will not listen,’ Amos 5:22-23. He won’t accept their burnt and grain offerings. He has no regard for them, Amos 5:22 / Malachi 1:8 / Matthew 5:23-24. Their singing and music were also rejected by God, Amos 5:23.
They didn’t worship Him alone; they worshipped other gods as well. The worship that took place at Bethel and Dan was based on the temple worship in Jerusalem, but it had been corrupted. Jeroboam I, soon after the kingdom was divided, set up golden calves to worship in Bethel and Dan, 1 Kings 12:25-33.
The form of worship was the same, the same festivals were remembered, and they worshipped God, but they didn’t worship Him in the way they should have done, John 4:24.
They are simply an outward show that has no meaning, Amos 5:15 / Isaiah 1:13-14 / Proverbs 15:8. God says, Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24.
There are two views as to what this means.
1. Justice and righteousness seem to refer to the flooding of the land with the judgement and righteousness of God.
This is God’s judgment coming in a flood because of their false worship, Isaiah 10:22.
2. The people are being called to replace their idolatrous worship with justice and righteousness.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following concerning Amos 5:24.
‘With Hosea 6:6 and Micah 6:8, this text stands as one of the great themes in prophetic literature with regard to the nature of sacrifices and true religion. God is not pleased by acts of pomp and grandeur but by wholehearted devotion and complete loyalty.’
The people had been guilty of idolatry from the time of their wilderness wanderings. They had not worshipped in the way God wanted them to, Amos 5:25. Amos 5:26 has been a difficult verse for the translators. Various names are mentioned, which seem to be the names of idols.
‘Sakkuth Kaiman.’ RSV
‘Moloch Chiun.’ AV
‘Shrine of your king pedestal of your idols.’ NIV
The footnote for Amos 5:26 has the following.
‘Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols’
They all refer to the idolatry of Israel, idols which they had made for themselves. They had transferred worship that was due to God to these idols, Acts 7:42-43. All this idolatry will have consequences; they will go into exile beyond Damascus, which refers to Assyria.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning Amos 5:27.
‘The terrible consequences of rebellion against God grew steadily worse. Injustice, crime, and immorality of all degrees soon led to complete anarchy in the land. In 722-721 B.C., the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom were subjugated by the Assyrian king and the people were deported to Assyria, never to return as a nation.’
Sunukjian, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The horror of ‘exile’ was more than the ruin of defeat and the shame of capture. For Israel, it meant being removed from the land of promise, the land of God’s presence. Exile, in effect, was excommunication.’