Amos Chapter 5
Amos 5:1–3 – The Offerings God Hates
“Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel.
The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
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.”
Amos begins this section with a lamentation, not a cold prophecy. It is funeral language. God is not speaking with delight over judgment but with grief. Israel is pictured as “the virgin of Israel,” meaning she was intended for purity, covenant blessing, and fruitfulness, yet she has fallen and lies forsaken with no one to lift her up. This emphasizes both her vulnerability and the finality of the judgment—no human ally, no foreign nation, and no idol can raise her up. Her rebellion has left her abandoned, powerless, and exposed.
The phrase “virgin of Israel has fallen” paints the tragedy of a young woman cut off before her time. Israel had been chosen to bear spiritual fruit and reflect the glory of God to the nations, yet through idolatry and injustice she forfeited her protection. She lies on her land, but even the promised land cannot save her when she rejects the LORD of the land.
God then declares the severity of the coming judgment: “The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten.” This speaks of military devastation. Cities once strong and confident would send out large armies—but only a remnant would survive. Ninety percent of the men would be wiped out. National strength would become national ruin. What was once pride and security collapses into weakness and mourning. This is not random tragedy; it is divine judgment because Israel refused to return to the LORD.
Amos shows us a nation under judgment before the judgment arrives. The funeral song is sung while the nation is still alive, warning them that death is certain unless they repent. This sets the tone for the rest of the chapter where God will say, “Seek ye Me, and ye shall live.”
Amos 5:4–9 – An Invitation to Seek the LORD
“For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and live: 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. 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. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 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: That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.”
The heart of God is revealed in the simple and direct command, “Seek Me and live.” In the midst of looming judgment, God does not call Israel to ritual, sacrifice, or tradition. He calls them to Himself. Life is found in God, not in religious sites or ceremonies. Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba had once been locations of genuine encounters with God, but now they had become centers of empty ritual and disobedience. To seek those places instead of seeking God was to seek death rather than life. It is possible to cling to the memory of spiritual experiences while being far from the God who gave them.
Bethel was where Jacob saw the ladder between heaven and earth. Gilgal was where Israel first camped after crossing the Jordan and where God rolled away their reproach. Beersheba was tied to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet God says not to go there, because holy places mean nothing when the people are unholy. Past blessings do not cancel present rebellion. God warns that if they refuse to seek Him, He will break out like fire in the house of Joseph, consuming even the strongest tribes of Israel with none to quench the judgment.
He accuses them of turning “judgment to wormwood” and laying righteousness to rest in the earth. Wormwood is a bitter plant, symbolizing how justice had been corrupted and made poisonous. Courts were no longer places of righteousness but instruments of oppression. The nation still claimed to worship God, but their society denied His character.
To remind them who they are rejecting, Amos declares the greatness of God. He is the One “that maketh the seven stars and Orion.” He set the constellations in the heavens and orders the cycles of light and darkness. He can turn the shadow of death into morning, and He can turn morning into night. He calls the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the earth, showing His sovereign control over nature. “The LORD is His name.” This name is covenant and power, mercy and justice. And this God who made the stars is also the One who “rains ruin upon the strong, so that fury comes upon the fortress.” He can save or destroy. He can lift the weak against the mighty, and He can tear down any fortress.
Israel stood at a crossroads. Seek God and live, or cling to religion, injustice, and pride—and perish. The invitation is merciful, but it is urgent.
Amos 5:10–15 – The Cause, the Curse, and the Cure
“They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
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.
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.
Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
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.
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.”
God now explains why judgment is coming, what that judgment will be, and how it can still be avoided. The first indictment is moral collapse. “They hate him that rebuketh in the gate.” The gate of the city was the courthouse, the place where justice was supposed to prevail. Yet in Israel, anyone who spoke righteousness was despised. Honesty was no longer welcomed; truth-tellers became enemies. Those who rebuked sin were hated. This shows a culture that not only sins but also rejects correction.
The cause of judgment is clear: they trampled the poor, imposed unjust taxes, and accepted bribes. Instead of defending the weak, they exploited them. Justice had become something that could be bought. The rich were powerful enough to silence the poor at the gate. God says plainly, “I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.” Their wealth did not hide their wickedness from Him.
Because of this, God pronounces the curse. “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.” They had taken from others to build their comforts, but they would never enjoy them. God would send an enemy who would conquer the land and occupy their houses, vineyards, and fields. What was gained through injustice would be lost through judgment.
The spiritual climate had grown so hostile that “the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.” Those who feared God knew it was dangerous to speak. Silence became wisdom because truth only brought persecution. This is one of the signs of a decaying society — when righteousness goes unspoken because evil is too powerful.
Yet even in judgment, God extends mercy. Here is the cure: “Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live… Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.” Repentance is practical. It is not merely words, but a turning of the heart that restores justice, righteousness, and compassion. If they would do this, “it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” God leaves the door of mercy open, even if only a remnant will enter.
This section reveals God’s heart — He sees oppression, He judges it, and yet He calls sinners to return. Judgment is certain, but repentance can still bring grace.
Amos 5:16–20 – Wailing and Woe in the Day of the LORD
“Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus;
There shall be wailing 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.
And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.
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.
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.
Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?”
This passage shifts from warning to vivid description of what happens when judgment arrives. God declares that wailing will fill every street and highway. People will cry out “Alas! Alas!”—the cry of hopeless grief. Mourning will not be isolated to homes or funerals; it will cover the entire land. The disaster will be so great that even farmers, who normally work the fields rather than attend funerals, will be called to mourn because there will not be enough professional mourners to match the scale of death. Vineyards, places of joy and harvest, will become places of lamentation. God says plainly, “For I will pass through thee.” This is the same language used in the Passover in Egypt, but here God passes through His own people—not in protection, but in judgment.
Then comes a direct rebuke: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD!” Many in Israel talked about the day of the LORD as if it were a moment of national vindication, where God would destroy their enemies and bless them. They treated it like a religious slogan. Amos confronts this false confidence. For a rebellious and unrepentant people, the day of the LORD would not be light, but “darkness, and not light.” It would bring wrath, not reward.
Amos uses striking imagery to describe how inescapable this judgment will be. It will be “as if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him.” Escape from one danger only leads to another. Or like a man who makes it safely home, leans against a wall to rest, only to be bitten by a serpent hidden in the stones. The message is clear—there will be no safety, no refuge, no escape apart from repentance. The day of the LORD will be “very dark, and no brightness in it.”
Light and darkness here do not refer to righteousness and sin, but to safety and disaster. Israel assumed they were safe because they were God’s people. But identity without obedience brings judgment, not blessing.
This section is a sobering reminder that religious language and traditions cannot shield a person or a nation from the consequences of rejecting God. To long for the day of the LORD while living in rebellion is to invite disaster.
Amos 5:21–27 – Empty Religion and Certain Captivity
“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
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.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.”
God uses the strongest possible language: “I hate, I despise your feast days.” These were feasts ordained in the Law of Moses—Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles—yet God rejects them. Why? Because the hearts of the people were far from Him. They performed sacrifices, sang worship songs, and attended sacred assemblies, yet their daily lives were marked by injustice, oppression, idolatry, and hypocrisy. God does not accept worship from hands stained with unrighteousness. Ritual without righteousness is an insult to Him.
Their offerings—burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings—were all outwardly correct, but God said, “I will not accept them.” Their music—harps and songs—sounded beautiful in their temples, but to God it was “noise.” He would not listen. Israel thought worship was about ceremony; God reminds them that true worship begins with obedience, justice, and a pure heart.
Instead of their hollow religion, God says, “Let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” This is the kind of worship God desires: justice that flows continually and righteousness that does not dry up when it is inconvenient. It is not a momentary act of kindness, not a seasonal religious gesture, but a constant stream of godly living that reflects His character.
God then asks a piercing question: “Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years?” The answer implied is no—not in the way they were doing now. Worship in the wilderness was simple faith and obedience, not lavish rituals. Yet even then, Israel carried idols. “Ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images.” These names refer to false gods—probably Saturn-type star deities, associated with secret idolatrous shrines. Israel outwardly followed God, but inwardly clung to idols. Their religion was divided—and God rejects divided worship.
Therefore, God declares judgment: “Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus.” Beyond Damascus means far beyond their borders, referring to Assyria. Their religious performance could not save them from judgment. Only repentance could—but they chose ritual instead of righteousness.
