Amos 4:1-5

REASON CALLS FOR REPENTANCE GOD'S HOLINESS DEMANDS PUNISHMENT FOR EVIL

TEXT: Amos 4:1-5

1

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.

2

The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.

3

And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.

4

Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days;

5

and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.

QUERIES

a.

Who is Amos calling kine of Bashan?

b.

How would Israel be taken away with hooks?

c.

Is the prophet authorizing the people to transgress?

PARAPHRASE

Listen to Me, you fat cows of Bashan living in Israelyou sensuous women who encourage your husbands to rob and oppress the poor and crush the needyyou debauched women who nag your husbands to supply you with intoxicants: The Lord God affirms most certainly that by His holiness which cannot tolerate unrighteousness, He is bringing days of judgment upon you. Your enemies will come and violently tear you away from your place of comfort and ease just as a fisherman hooks a fish and takes it out of its natural habitat. You will be taken prisoner out of your city not through the gates because they will have been destroyed; no, you will go out through the great gaping holes in the walls of your city. And because of your sins you will have thrown yourselves into captivity toward Hermon. God ahead and sacrifice to idols at Bethel and Gilgal; if you offer slain sacrifices every morning, and tithe every three days you only multiply your apostasy from the living God. You have so completely perverted true religion that you think you can, by your excessive zeal in offering even leavened sacrifices and by legally commanding freewill offerings, continue on in your sins, fooling the Holy God. This is not because you don-'t know what God's holiness means, but because you love to do evil.

SUMMARY

God's holy nature, which they knew but refused to live up to, warns them of the impending judgment upon their unholiness.

COMMENT

Amos 4:1. YE KINE OF BASHAN. THAT SAY UNTO THEIR LORDS, BRING, AND LET US DRINK, Most commentators feel that Amos is referring to the sensuous women of Israel when he calls them cows of Bashan. Bashan was noted for its fat, sleek, cattle well-fed on Bashan's luxurious pasture lands (cf. Deuteronomy 32:14; Micah 7:14; Numbers 32). These indulgent women were pampered by their husbands (lord) who in turn had to oppress the poor and crush the needy to supply their wives with the means of debauchery, (cf. Amos 6:1-7). Compare Isaiah 3:16 ff; Isaiah 32:9-13 for further description of the wantonness of the women of Israel. There are many cows of Bashan today in the world. Sensuous women who tempt their husbands to evil scheming in order that they may have the means to continue in their libertine living.

Amos 4:2-3 THE LORD. HATH SWORN BY HIS HOLINESS. THEY SHALL TAKE YOU AWAY WITH HOOKS. YE SHALL CAST YOURSELVES INTO HARMON. These poor and needy have no recourse for justice. They are exploited even by the judges who should stand for justice. But the Lord, because He is holy, righteous, just, merciful, rises up as their Vindicator. The Perfect Holiness of Jehovah cannot tolerate evil (Psalms 5:4-5; Psalms 11:5), especially in a people whose call and blessing was that they should be a holy people! The rich of Israel were making no attempt to be holy in their living. We must be holy if we wish to be in communion with God (cf. Romans 6:19; Hebrews 12:14; Isaiah 6:3; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 Peter 2:5; 2 Peter 3:11, etc.). We like the way John wrote it, Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous, (1 John 3:7). There is the imputed holiness God gives us through what Christ accomplished on our behalf; on the other hand there is a holiness of living and thinking which we ourselves must workmotivated and energized, of course, by that holiness of His which He freely bestows upon us through the Gospel.

Because of their unholiness God would allow their enemy (the Assyrians) to come and violently jerk them out of their luxurious fish-bowl like a man who hooks a fish jerks it out of the water. They will be violently torn from their pleasant surroundings and caused to flounder and thresh in agony as a fish out of water. Amos is not referring to rings literally placed in the ears and noses of slaves, as was the custom then, but he is simply describing the sudden and awful change of circumstances that are about to come upon these debauched rich.
The gates of their cities will be so utterly destroyed and piled high with debris from war's destructive forces and their walls so completely torn down that the people will be marched off to captivity through the great gaping holes in the walls instead of the gates. These people of Israel, because of their sins, brought upon themselves this captivity. They are said to have cast themselves into this foreign land Harmon (which most translators believe is the territory beyond Mt. Hermon, or Damascus and beyond.)

Amos 4:4-5 COME TO BETH-EL, AND TRANSGRESS; TO GILGAL, AND MULTIPLY TRANSGRESSION;. SACRIFICE EVERY MORNING. TITHES EVERY THREE DAYS. SACRIFICE THAT WHICH IS LEAVENED. PROCLAIM FREEWILL-OFFERINGS. FOR THIS PLEASETH YOU. Amos uses the figure of speech called irony here to show Israel the folly of her sins. Irony is a kind of ridicule which exposes the errors or faults of others by seeming to adopt, approve, or defend them. Other examples of the use of irony in the Bible are Job 12:2; 1 Kings 18:27; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Judges 10:14; 1 Kings 22:15; 1 Corinthians 4:8. Amos was not approving or authorizing the people to sin! He as much as says, Go ahead and do the sins you are doing, you are only multiplying God's displeasure with you in so doing! They were presuming upon the forbearance and patience of God. and by their hard and impenitent heart storing up wrath for themselves. (cf. Romans 2:4-5).

They had so perverted true religion of Jehovah they thought that by their superabundance of offerings they could fool God into thinking they were righteous. They did not stop with offering sacrifices of unleavened cakes upon the altar; to make sure they offered an abundance they even offered some of the leavened cakes (forbidden by the Mosaic law) as well. Not only this but the offerings which were supposed to be motivated out of a purely spontaneous impulse (freewill-offerings) (cf. Leviticus 22:18 ff; Deuteronomy 12:6) they forced from people by making laws regarding freewill offerings! This was entirely the wrong attitude toward the Holy One of Israel, for He looks not on the outward man but upon the heart! Isaiah just a few short years later brought scathing denunciation against such conduct (Isaiah 1:1 ff). Israel is less sensible than the ass or the ox! They do not know God! But this is not because God has not revealed Himselfnot because they have no opportunity to know Himnot because He is unknowable! No; they love to have it so! This type of religion pleases them. It soothes their consciences. Men who do evil, hate the light and love the darkness, because their deeds are evil and if they should come to the light their deeds would be exposedthen they would see how utterly vain and foolish their deeds are (cf. John 3:18-21). Any man who thinks God is pleased with a trust in forms and rituals is foolish. Of course, there are certain specific forms of doctrine which we are obliged, by the very nature God Himself (holy, loving, trustworthy, omnipotent) to perform. But our faith is not in the act or rite itself but in the Person who commanded it! Again, if we refuse to do the thing which God has clearly commanded in the New Testament, it simply shows we do not trust the Person who commanded itwe trust our own wisdom more! On the other hand, a mere perfunctory repetition of rituals does not necessarily mean we trust God the Person either. Sooner or later, just how much we trust Him, love Him and want to be like Him shows up in our daily living! This was true of Israel then, and it is true of all men now. For a list of Old Testament saints who trusted God and what that trust led them to do, see Hebrews, the eleventh chapter.

QUIZ

1.

What does the phrase kine of Bashan describe?

2.

Where did their lords get the drink demanded by these cows of Bashan?

3.

Why does the Lord swear by His holiness that they shall be judged?

4.

Why would they go out at the breaches?

5.

To what extent had these people perverted the worship of God?

6.

Why is God not pleased with mere repetition of religious ritual?