Amo 5:1 | KingComments | STEP | In a dirge, God expresses His sorrow, because His people are incorrigible and He has to remove them from the land. When the bond with Him is broken, death has entered. In spite of that, there is still several times the call to seek Him and to live. Amos presents to the people their iniquities and places them in the light of the majesty of the LORD. The complete blindness of the people is shown by the fact that they long for the day of the LORD. By their erroneous thinking they believe that that day will be judgment on their enemies and a blessing for them. In expressive language Amos makes this fatal mistake clear to them. Amos also deprives them of the illusion that the LORD will appreciate their religious feasts. In harsh terms, the LORD makes His disgust clear. The cause of their idolatry lies at the very beginning of their history. He takes them back there. Then He shows that they have not changed since that time. Finally, their incorrigible behavior leads to the fact that they will all be led into exile. For the third time the call sounds: “Hear this word.” First, this call was addressed to all the people, when God sent His prophets to them ( ). They did not listen to them. Then He called Filistea and Egypt to testify against the people. Then the call was addressed to Samaria, where there is an insatiable hunger for material prosperity ( ). He is also directed against the abominable mixing of the service of the LORD with the service of the idols. After these unsuccessful attempts to reach the hearts of the people through His word, God again makes His voice heard. Though still intended as a warning this time, the word now contains a dirge or a lamentation about the inevitable fall. God sings a lamentation through Amos. Jeremiah also lets hear a lamentation, but he stands on the ruins of Jerusalem. Amos stands among a people bathed in opulence, while for them the air is clean. The word ‘dirge’ can also be translated as ‘corpse song’. It is a song about someone who has died (cf. ; ). The song is sung because the eye of the prophet sees the doom as already present and the popular existence of Israel has come to an end. Amos here is a real pessimist in the eyes of the fat people. The “house of Israel” is the same as the house of Joseph ( ) and refers to the ten tribes.

‏ Amos 5:1

Introduction

In a dirge, God expresses His sorrow, because His people are incorrigible and He has to remove them from the land. When the bond with Him is broken, death has entered. In spite of that, there is still several times the call to seek Him and to live. Amos presents to the people their iniquities and places them in the light of the majesty of the LORD.

The complete blindness of the people is shown by the fact that they long for the day of the LORD. By their erroneous thinking they believe that that day will be judgment on their enemies and a blessing for them. In expressive language Amos makes this fatal mistake clear to them.

Amos also deprives them of the illusion that the LORD will appreciate their religious feasts. In harsh terms, the LORD makes His disgust clear. The cause of their idolatry lies at the very beginning of their history. He takes them back there. Then He shows that they have not changed since that time. Finally, their incorrigible behavior leads to the fact that they will all be led into exile.

A Dirge

For the third time the call sounds: “Hear this word.” First, this call was addressed to all the people, when God sent His prophets to them (Amos 3:1). They did not listen to them. Then He called Filistea and Egypt to testify against the people. Then the call was addressed to Samaria, where there is an insatiable hunger for material prosperity (Amos 4:1). He is also directed against the abominable mixing of the service of the LORD with the service of the idols.

After these unsuccessful attempts to reach the hearts of the people through His word, God again makes His voice heard. Though still intended as a warning this time, the word now contains a dirge or a lamentation about the inevitable fall. God sings a lamentation through Amos. Jeremiah also lets hear a lamentation, but he stands on the ruins of Jerusalem. Amos stands among a people bathed in opulence, while for them the air is clean.

The word ‘dirge’ can also be translated as ‘corpse song’. It is a song about someone who has died (cf. 2Sam 1:17; 2Chr 35:25). The song is sung because the eye of the prophet sees the doom as already present and the popular existence of Israel has come to an end. Amos here is a real pessimist in the eyes of the fat people.

The “house of Israel” is the same as the house of Joseph (Amos 5:6) and refers to the ten tribes.