Amos 5:4-5 This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
Matthew 7:5 (You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.) speaks to the futility of trying to tell someone the error of his ways. Humans are very good at justifying our actions to the point that we will ignore our blatantly bad behavior while actively trying to correct others. If I’m convinced I’m right, you will never convince me otherwise.
Amos 5:6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
Amos’s audience is convinced they are giving God His due. They hold religious festivals as they should, but God knows their hearts; therefore, He knows they are just going through the motions with Him, and He says, emphatically, that what they are doing is not ok and will not end well. “Seek the Lord and live” (v6).
Amos 5:14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Lord, Thank You for the abundant compassion and fierce love that I see as I read Your word. I thought Your anger was because they put others before You, but I am understanding that it is because You know that that behavior will ultimately be to their harm because it does not lead to You—our Creator and Savior. Forgive me. Guide me. Protect me. Draw me closer. Amen.
Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
Have a blessed day.