Amos

Amos 5: God calls Israel to seek Him

Begin in prayer

Before we hear God’s call to seek Him and live, please pause with your children. Ask Him to show us the sins our worship cannot cover and to draw our attention to Jesus.

Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding.

Jeremiah 3:22

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your call to seek You, and show us Jesus, whose sacrifice saves His people from sin. Give us hearts that love what is good and care for the needy. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Amos begins a lamentation over Israel, speaking of the nation as fallen with no one to raise her. Yet God calls the house of Israel to seek Him and live. They trample the poor, take bribes, and turn aside the needy in the courts, while expecting God’s day to favour them. That day will bring darkness and mourning, like escaping a lion only to meet a bear. God hates their feasts and refuses their offerings while justice is cast aside. He will cause Israel to go into captivity beyond Damascus.

As you read Amos 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God calls sinful Israel to seek Him and live, and He demands what is right.

A lamentation is a song of grief, and Amos sings over Israel as though her fall has already happened. Into that grief comes God’s call to seek Him and live. Seeking Bethel or Gilgal means returning to places of worship that God will judge. Seeking the LORD means turning to Him, with hatred of evil and love of good. The gate was where cases were heard, so corrupt courts made the poor suffer where they should have found justice. They say the LORD is with them (verse 14), so the covenant God asks His people for justice that rolls on like rivers. Verse 15 says “It may be” that He will be gracious to Joseph’s remnant, leaving mercy in God’s hands. They cannot buy it with reform or sacrifice. The God who calls sinners to Himself must give the life they need.

How does Amos 5 show us that God calls sinful Israel to seek Him and live, and He demands what is right?

God calls fallen Israel to seek Him for life.

The lament leaves Israel fallen with no one to raise her (verse 2). God’s call “Seek me, and you will live” speaks into that helplessness. The places where they worship cannot give life or shelter them from His fire. They must turn to the LORD Himself. Jesus came to give this life, so seeking God now means coming to Him.

God calls for justice where the poor are being wronged.

The needy are turned aside in the courts while bribes buy favour (verse 12). God commands hatred of evil, love of good, and justice in those courts. He knows both the number of their offences and the greatness of their sins. Seeking Him cannot go together with defending the evil He brings to light.

God’s day brings darkness to those who reject Him.

Israel longs for the day of the LORD, yet Amos calls it darkness (verses 18 to 20). His lion, bear and snake picture shows danger from which they cannot escape. God hates their feasts and refuses to hear their songs while they cast righteousness down. The idols they carried will not prevent captivity beyond Damascus (verses 26 and 27).

Memorise

Seek me, and you will live.

Amos 5:4

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what wrong do I need Jesus to forgive and help me leave?

“Seek me, and you will live”. God calls the people whose sins He knows. They trample the poor and take bribes. Their feasts cannot please Him while they reject justice. He says, “let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream”.

God refused Israel’s songs while they trampled the poor, and He sees our sin as well. Christ alone lived without sin. On the cross He suffered for His people’s wrongs and bore their guilt. His sacrifice settled His people’s debt once for all. God raised Jesus from the dead. The living Saviour gives what our worship could never earn.

Come to Jesus today. Turn from doing wrong and believe in Him. To those who seek Him in faith, He grants forgiveness. Ask Him for a heart that loves good and cares for the needy. The life He gives bears fruit in what is right.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God calls sinners to Himself for life, and good deeds cannot purchase His mercy. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His call to seek Him and live, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so invite each one to pray briefly if they want to.

“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Lord God, thank You for calling sinners to seek You. Please help each of us turn from sin and believe in Jesus. Give us hearts that love what is good. This week, help us treat others fairly and care for those who need help. Amen.