Verses 1-3 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
The Hebrew word translated as “lamentation” is “qiynah” and it means lamentation, dirge, or elegy. In English, a lamentation is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow or a weeping. In English, a dirge is a lament for the dead such as one forming part of a funeral rite. In English, an elegy is a poem typically a lament for the dead. The words given to the prophet Amos by God Almighty are in the form of a lament for the nation Israel because God saw this nation as being dead, both spiritually and physically. If God says something, it doesn’t change, and here Israel who was once chosen by God to be a spiritual virgin representing righteousness to the pagan nations of the world is now a harlot or whore who has embraced idolatry and the devilish practices of those pagan nations it was supposed to influence for good, so it is fallen and God says it “shall no more rise”. Israel or the 10 northern tribes were taken captive by Assyria around 722 BC.
Application: God judged Israel in the days of Amos and said the nation was fallen and would never rise to power again. So ask yourself, “Why is there a nation called Israel occupying Palestine today, established by politicians and illuminists in 1948? Did God lie? Did He change His mind and His decree of judgement? Or could it be that the name hasn’t changed but the people using it are imposters? You decide.
Verses 4-9 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. 6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars 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: The LORD is his name: 9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
God always gives people a choice: keep rebelling and die or walk with Me and live. Here God, after pronouncing judgement and death to the nation Israel, again commands the people of Israel to seek Him so that they can live and not be destroyed. He is still offering a way out. All they have to do is sincerely turn back to Him. Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba had become centers for idol worship and God was not to be found in these places, so God cautioned Israel not to go to these centers of pagan worship, and for a second time, God tells Israel to seek Him. The character of the nation Israel is then exposed: there was no righteousness or justice in the land. For a third time God tells the people of Israel to seek Him. He then has the prophet Amos describe His creative powers and His control of the elements which is a stark contrast to the dead idols they have been worshiping at the various religious centers.
Application: How many times have you, the reader, heard someone state, “If God was a loving God, He would not send people to Hell”? What people forget is that every living man or woman has a choice between two paths to travel during their physical life here on Earth. They can choose to follow and walk with God, or they can choose to follow and walk with Satan. If they choose Satan, then they have chosen Hell and God just honors their choice when they physically die and face Him for final judgement and sentencing. Just as the nation Israel chose to ignore the prophet Amos’ words and the warnings from other prophets and follow after Satan and his idols, so people today are free to ignore the warnings in Scripture and follow after Satan and unrighteousness and the idols of wealth, power, fame and addictions of all kinds.
Verses 10-15 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 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.
In ancient days, court was held at the city gates for all to see and to participate as necessary. Apparently, the system of judging in Israel was corrupt and those who spoke truth were hated and loathed. The poor were mistreated and bribery was a way of life. So the nation was evil and full of sin and the society being fostered was in total contrast to the laws of Moses and the 10 Commandments of God. But God gave hope once again that if the people and nation would repent and seek righteousness and seek Him, they would live and God would be with them once again. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Application: There are similitudes of prophecy in which a prophecy from the LORD via His prophets that was initially given to a specific people or nation can also apply later to another people or nation. Socially, economically, and religiously the nation Israel was corrupt and getting worse every day. Today, the same conditions can be seen in the western nations and elsewhere as morality and righteousness have been replaced with political correctness, social depravity, political wickedness, and perverted judgement.
Verses 16-20 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Apparently the people of Israel did not understand what the “day of the LORD” would be, and they were expecting God to provide victory for them and were not expecting judgement with its resultant punishment. This phrase occurs over and over in the Old Testament prophetic books and it is a warning of judgement and punishment. “For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: Isaiah 2:12 “Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” Isaiah 13:6 “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9 “Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Joel 1:15 “For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.” Obadiah 15 From these examples the “day of the LORD” is not a time that the wicked and rebellious should be looking for and wanting. The verses above present a picture of distress and trouble which was to come upon the nation Israel.
Application: Churches today teach all about God’s love for His people and often neglect to teach about God’s judgement. As a result, Christian believers often expect to escape all punishment for their sins/transgressions. God’s sends warnings to help believers repent, but often they are ignored and then believers are surprised and distressed when disciplining punishment occurs.
Verses 21-27 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. (Amos 5)
The Israelites were continuing to perform animal sacrifices, etc., but they were also sacrificing to pagan gods. Some of those blood sacrifices were living people including children. To use a colloquial saying, they had one foot in Mosaic teachings and one foot in pagan practices. This caused God to use the words “hate” and “despise” when referring to their religious activities.
Application: Like the ancient Israelites, people today also believe they can be “born again Christians” while maintaining sin in their lives and religious practices that are contrary to the Word of God. God has not changed, and so it is reasonable to conclude that He also hates and despises the hypocrisy of these people. Christian believers cannot have one foot in the Church and the spiritual kingdom of God, and one foot in the world that is the Devil’s domain. It is all for Jesus or nothing at all.
Moloch, or Molech first appears in Scripture in Leviticus 18:21. “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.” Moloch’s origin is up for debate, but this idol/god was worshipped by many different cultures, including the Hebrews. The worship included infanticide. The statue resembled a bull with horns on the body of a man (anthropomorphic) whose arms and hands were outstretched to receive the infants and children that were placed there after the statue was heated to a glowing red flame. The worshipers then stood around and listened to the screams of the child being burned alive. Is it any wonder that God judged the nation Israel and destroyed it through captivity to the pagan and cruel nation of Assyria?
Chiun only appears in verse 26 above in the Old Testament and nowhere else. The Hebrew word is “Kiyuwn” and it means an image or a pillar. In the New Testament the Greek word used is Remphan. “Yes, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.” Acts 7:43 These words were those of the martyr Stephen who is described as, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. . .”. Acts 6:5
Application: So what was this star of Remphan. Since, according to Stephen, the Hebrew people were worshiping it when in the wilderness for 40 years, it was in existence long before King David and King Solomon were ruling the nation Israel. This is pointed out because the star of Remphan is thought to be the six pointed star that has been placed on the flag of the current nation calling itself Israel. It never was the “star of David” or the “seal of Solomon”. It was and will always be representative of a pagan god and of devil worship regardless of how the modern day, organized evangelical Christian churches try to make it otherwise. It is a hexagram which is sacred to witches and the churches of Wicca. It is star-shaped formed by two intersecting equilateral triangles which form six lines, six points, and six angles, all representing 666. Is it not time for the Christian churches to wake up and realize how Satan and his synagogue has infiltrated the thinking and therefore the actions of Christian believers? Is it not time in these last days to start to realize that most everything that has been told or taught to people is a lie, and that the only place where truth can be found is in the pages of Scripture, which in English is the non-copyrighted King James Bible?