Amos 5:15

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. HATE THE EVIL, AND LOVE THE GOOD - (Isaiah 1:16; , "Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good"). AND ESTABLISH JUDGMENT IN THE GATE - justice in the place where causes are tried. IT MAY BE THAT THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS WILL BE GRACIOUS - so "peradventure" (). Not that men are to come to God with an uncertainty whether or no He will be gracious; the expression merely implies the difficulty in the way, because of the lack of true repentance on man's part, so as to stimulate the zealous earnestne...

The Prophet inculcates the same truth; and he did this designedly; for he saw that nothing was more difficult than to bring this people to repentance, who, in the first place, were by nature refractory; and, in the second place, were hardened by long habit in their vices. For Satan gains dominion by degrees in the hearts of men, until he renders them wholly stupid so that they discern not between right and wrong. Such, then, was the blindness which prevailed among the people of Israel: it was therefore necessary often to goad them as Amos does here. Hence he bids them _to hate evil and to love good. _And this order ought to be preserved, when we desire really to turn to God and to repent. Amos here addresses perverse men, who were so immersed in their own wickedness, that they distinguished no longer between light and darkness: it was therefore not without reason that he begins with this...

7-17 The same almighty power can, for repenting sinners, easily turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, and as easily turn the prosperity of daring sinners into utter darkness. Evil times will not bear plain dealing; that is, evil men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain even to speak to them. Those who will seek and love that which is good, may help to save the land from ruin. It behoves us to plead God's spiritual promises, to beseech him to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us. The Lord is ever ready to be gracious to the souls that seek him; and then piety and every duty will be attended to. But as for sinful Israel, God's judgments had often passed by them, now they shall pass through them....

Verse 15. _HATE THE EVIL, AND LOVE THE GOOD_] What _ruins_ you, _avoid_; what _helps_ you, _cleave_ to. And as a proof that you take this advice, purify the _seats of justice_; and then expect God to be gracious to the _remnant of Joseph_-to the posterity of the ten tribes....

HATE THE EVIL AND LOVE THE GOOD - Man will not cease wholly to “seek evil,” unless he “hate” it; nor will he “seek good,” unless he “love” it. Jerome: “He ‘hateth evil,’ who not only is not overcome by pleasure, but hates its deeds; and he ‘loveth good,’ who, not unwillingly or of necessity or from fear, doth what is good, but because it is good.” Dionysius: “Evil of sin must be hated, in and for itself; the sinner must not be hated in himself, but only the evil in him.” They hated him, who reproved them; he bids them hate sin. They “set down righteousness on the ground;” he bids them, “establish,” literally, “set up firmly, judgment in the gate.” To undo, as far as anyone can, the effects of past sin, is among the first-fruits of repentance. IT MAY BE THAT THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS WILL BE GRACIOUS - o: “He speaks so, in regard of the changeableness and uncertainty, not in God, but in man....

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-CH. 6:14 § 8. _Third address_:_ the prophet utters a lamentation over the fall of Israel_. (Amos 6:1.) He calls her to repentance, while he shows wherein she has declined from the right way. To make this plain, he contrasts God's power and majesty with the people's iniquity, instances of which he gives (Amos 6:4). The only condition of safety is amendment (Amo 6:13 -15); and as they refuse to reform, they shall have cause to lament (verses 16, 17). This threat is enforced by the two emphatic "woes" that follow, the first of which demonstrates the baselessness of their trust in their covenant relation to God (verses 18-27); the second denounces the careless lives of the chiefs, who, revelling in luxury, believed not in the coming judgment ...

HATE THE EVIL, AND LOVE THE GOOD,.... Evil is not only not to be sought, but to be hated, especially the evil of sin, because of its evil nature, and pernicious effects and consequences; and, if it was for no other reason but because it is hateful and abominable unto God, therefore they that love him should hate evil, even with a perfect hatred; as all good men do, though it is present with them, and cleaves unto them, and they do it, Psalms 97:10; and "good" is to be loved for its goodness' sake; and the good effects of it; a good God is to be loved, and all good men, and all good things; the good word of God, and his commands and ordinances; and highly to be esteemed, and affectionately regarded: AND ESTABLISH JUDGMENT IN THE GATE; openly, publicly, in every court of judicature, which used to be kept in the gates of cities; not only execute judgment and justice in all,

Amos 5:4. _For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:_ And that it 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.» Amos 5:5. _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 nought._ 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

REMNANT (_ See Scofield) - (Jeremiah 15:21). _...

CHAPTER 5 The Third Discourse _ 1. The lamentation (Amos 5:1) _ 2. Seek the Lord and ye shall live (Amos 5:4) 3. The wailing (Amos 5:16) 4. The captivity announced (Amos 5:21) Amos 5:1. This chapter begins with a lamentation over the fallen daughter of Israel. “She shall no more rise” has been used as an argument against the future and literal restoration of Israel. The prophet has only the present government of God over that generation in view and does not deny at all a future rising as so abundantly predicted in the prophetic Word. “The