Amos 5:14 says, 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. To seek good and other evil calls for making a decision, and after we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we must do as the people of Israel were called on to do, and that is to seek good. Once we accept Him, the Holy Spirit will always lead us to do good. Verse fifteen adds, 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. Amos told the people of Israel that God called on them to hate evil and love good and if they did, God would be gracious to the remnant of Israel. If we want God to be gracious to us today, we need to hate evil and love good. We, like they, are also called on to establish honest judgment in all our interactions with others. Verse sixteen states, 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. God said because of the sins of the people of Israel that they were about to face His judgment. If we do not accept God's gracious gift of salvation, then one day we will face His judgment. Verse seventeen adds, And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. God said their wailing would be everywhere because God was going to pass through in judgment of them. Verse eighteen says, 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. The people of Israel thought that when the day of God's judgment came that He would restore them, but God said this was not the case. Like the people of Israel, many people today think that as long as they call themselves God's people that He has to bless them in all that they do, and yet they still worship the things of the world ahead of Him. Verse nineteen states, 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. God said that they might escape one dangerous situation, but they were not safe as long as they continued to sin against God. Verse twenty asks, Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? When God came in judgment, He asked if the people thought it would be a time of light, then answered by saying that it would be a time of very great darkness. Anytime we are out of God's will, we will be wandering around in a great spiritual darkness. Verse twenty-one declares, I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. God said He hated what the people of Israel were calling worship, and we need to insure today that our worship is not something God hates. We must make sure that it glorifies God. Verse twenty-two continues, 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. God will never accept our offerings if they are given for the wrong reason or with the wrong attitude. Verse twenty-three declares, Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. God said that they should not even play music to Him, because He wouldn't hear it. We need to make sure the music we use to worship God is acceptable to Him. Verse twenty-four adds, But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Like God called on the people of Israel to let judgment and righteousness to flow freely, so does He call on us to do today. Verse twenty-five asks, Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? God asked if the people of Israel offered Him sacrifices in the wilderness. The answer for the most part was no. God wanted their obedience to Him and not just empty sacrifices that they were offering. If we are not following God's teachings, then whatever we do in the name of worshipping Him will never be acceptable. Verse twenty-six adds, But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. God said instead of worshipping Him that they had allowed idols to become the focus of their worship. Verse twenty-seven concludes, Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. God said He would cause them to go into captivity, and if we do not accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our life, one day God will cause us to go away into everlasting captivity in hell.
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