Amos 5:4-5

Yahweh invited the Israelites to seek Him so they might live. Even though national judgment and death were inevitable, individuals could still live. Announcements of impending judgment almost always allow for the possibility of individual repentance (cf. Jeremiah 18:1-10). The Israelites should not seek the Lord at the popular Israelite shrines at Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba in southern Judah, however. All these worship centers stood at cites that were important in Israel’s earlier history, but God had commanded His people to worship Him at Jerusalem. There is a play on words regarding Bethel. "Bethel" means "house of God," but it would become "Beth Aven," meaning "house of nothing." "Aven" (nothing) often referred to the powerless spirits of wickedness (cf. Isaiah 41:22-24; Isaiah 41:28-29).

"During my years of ministry, I’ve been privileged to speak at many well-known conference grounds in the United States, Canada, and overseas. I’ve met people at some of these conferences who actually thought that their physical presence by that lake, in that tent or tabernacle, or on that mountain would change their hearts. They were depending on the ’atmosphere’ of the conference and their memories of them, but they usually went home disappointed. Why? Because they didn’t seek God." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 357.]