Amos 4

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Dave Burnette's Commentary

Amos Chapter 4

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Amos

Date Penned: BC 760-750

Overview: Everyone Answers to God (c 1-9)

Theme: Reasons for Judgement (c 3-6)

Message: The People Refuse to Turn to God (v 1-15)

Amos: Chapter 4 Commentary

(4:1) Israel's Wealthy women were compared to the cows (kine) of Bashan - pampered, sleek, and well fed (Psalms 22) These women selfishly pushed their husbands to oppress the helpless in order to supply their lavish life-styles.

(4:4) Amos sarcastically invited the people to sin in Bethel and Gilgal where they worshiped idols instead of God. At Bethel, God had renewed his covenant to Abraham with Jacob (Genesis 28) Now Bethel was the religious center of the Northern Kingdom, and Jeroboam had placed and idol there to discourage the people from traveling to Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom for worship (1 Kings 12) Gilgal was Israel's first campground after entering the Promised Land (Joshua 4) Here Joshua renewed the covenant and the rite of circumcision, and the people celebrated the Passover (Joshua 2) Saul was crowned Israel's first King in Gilgal (1 Samuel 11)

(4:5) The Israelites were tithing and thanking God for the wealth they had achieved by oppressing the poor. Wealth is not necessarily a blessing from God. It is good to thank God for prosperity, but God must also be involved in the process leading to prosperity.

(4:6-13) No matter how God warned the people - through famine, drought, blight, locust, plagues, or war - they still ignored him. Because they didn't get the message, they would have to meet him face-to-face in judgement. No longer would they ignore God, they would have to face the One they had rejected, the One they had refused to obey when he commanded them to care for the poor. One day each of us will meet God face-to-face to account for what we have done or refused to do. Have you listened to his Word? Are you prepared to meet him?

Dave Burnette's Life Application

Are You Listening?

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue with the book of Amos with Chapter 4. In our text today we see how the people refuse to turn to God because their hearts were wicked. No matter how God warned the people they refused to repent because they would not listen to God. In making application we see that the Lord is speaking but we fail to listen. How about you? Do you listen to the Lord? Let us learn from our text today and the example of Israel to see that the Lord is speaking to us through His word so we need to listen to receive His instruction, blessing, and favor.

Amos 4

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Amos 4

¹Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

²The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.

³And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.

⁴Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:

⁵And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

⁶And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

⁷And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

⁸So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

⁹I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

¹⁰I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

¹¹I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

¹²Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

¹³For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

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