4. The fourth message on unacceptable worship 5:18-27This lament also has a chiastic structure. It centers on a call for individual repentance.A A description of inevitable judgment Amos 5:18-20B An accusation of religious hypocrisy Amos 5:21-22C A call for individual repentance Amos 5:23-24B’ An accusation of religious hypocrisy Amos 5:25-26A’ A description of inevitable judgment Amos 5:27 read more
Rhetorically Amos stated that the coming day of the Lord would be a day characterized by darkness and gloom (despair) rather than by bright light (joy; cf. Joel 2:1-2; Joel 2:10-11; Zephaniah 1:14-15).A brighter day of the Lord was also coming (cf. Amos 9:11-15; Jeremiah 30:8-11; Hosea 2:16-23; Micah 4:6-7; Zephaniah 3:11-20), but first a dark one would appear. The Israelites wanted to hasten the good day of the Lord, but they wanted to forget about the bad one. This prophecy found fulfillment... read more
The Third Address1-6. A lament, a warning, and an invitation. 7, 10-20. Denunciation of injustice and oppression, with threats of pestilence and judgment. 21-27. A repudiation of their attempt to please God by mere ritual.1, 2. Lamentation] a technical term for mournful poetry consisting of short lines of unequal length: here, for instance (Amos 5:2), the dirge consists of four lines, the first and third having three accents, the second and fourth two. Virgin] because, though often defeated,... read more
(20) Darkness.—In the form of an interrogative, the condemnation contained in Amos 5:18 is emphatically reasserted. The term rendered “very dark” is that used to denote the gross Egyptian darkness that might be felt (Exodus 10:22), the awful gloom, such as fell on Jerusalem at the Crucifixion, which is always accompanied by the sense of confusion, terror, and intolerable suspense. (Comp. the graphic metaphorical language of Isaiah 5:30.) read more
The Works of God Amos 5:8 The text brings the works of God and the name of God into one focus, and makes use of both as an argument with man to raise himself from the low and unworthy pretences of religion to Him Who sits high above the magnificence of all material forms, yet deigns to listen to the whisper of a kneeling child. I. Seek Him because He is Immutable. This is declared by 'the seven stars and Orion,' and by all the constellations among which the Pleiades are set. It is a... read more
2. FOR WORSHIP, JUSTICEAmos 5:1-27In the next of these groups of oracles Amos continues his attack on the national ritual, and now contrasts it with the service of God in public life-the relief of the poor, the discharge of justice. But he does not begin with this. The group opens with an elegy, which bewails the nation as already fallen. It is always difficult to mark where the style of a prophet passes from rhythmical prose into what we may justly call a metrical form. But in this short wail,... read more
CHAPTER 5 The Third Discourse 1. The lamentation (Amos 5:1-3 ) 2. Seek the Lord and ye shall live (Amos 5:4-15 ) 3. The wailing (Amos 5:16-20 ) 4. The captivity announced (Amos 5:21-27 ) Amos 5:1-3 . 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... read more
AMOS GENERAL OVE RV IEW OF THE BOOK The opening verse shows that Amos, like Hosea, was a prophet sent to Israel, though his home, Tekoa, was in Judah. He was contemporary with Hosea for a while, though the latter prophesied longer than he. After the introduction (Amos 1:1-3 ) there follows a series of messages concerning Gentile nations (Amos 1:4 to Amos 2:3 ), each beginning with the words “For three transgressions.., and for four, I will not turn away the punishment,” an orientalism,... read more
Moral Discipline Amos 5:0 "Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel" ( Amo 5:1 ). This is a dirge. It is as if a man were present at his own burial, hearing the solemn words, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust;" the whole lot over, the whole tale run off, its very last syllable uttered, whispered, and all this poor little cloud-life behind; a dirge, a lamentation, a wail as of the heart. That may be beautiful, or it may be lacking in every line of... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Amos 5:18-20
A description of inevitable judgment 5:18-20 read more