Amo 5:26 | KingComments | STEP | When the LORD asks in the previous verse: “Did you present Me with sacrifices?”, that question echoes God’s exclusive right to sacrifice. He asks, as it were: ‘Have you sacrificed only to Me and to no one else?’ If God is not served completely and alone, He is not served at all. This principle is always valid. God never shares His honor with anyone or anything else. That is why it is hurtful to give honor to other gods together with a service to God. The previous verse deals with Israel’s behavior in the wilderness. Maybe there is a thought of grace connected to that verse, in this verse it is unthinkable. Amos points to sheer idolatry. That Israel committed idolatry in the wilderness is clear through the history with the golden calf ( ). The service with the golden calf in Bethel in Amos’ time is only a renewal of the golden calf in the wilderness. The golden calf then and that in Bethel under Jeroboam II shows the spiritual bond that exists between the condition of the people in the time of Amos and their original position when they were brought out of Egypt by the grace and power of the LORD. It did not stop with the golden calf. After the punishment for sin with the golden calf, they did not stop serving the idols. Amos speaks about how they surrendered all their history to idolatry. Stephen quotes these verses from Amos in his speech to the Council to prove this ( ). The people boasted of a service to God, but the power of the quote is that they did not sacrifice to God, but to the idols. The people have always served the idols. Their origin is connected with the idols. Abraham’s family served the idols before God called Abraham ( ). The people served them in Egypt ( ) and also in the wilderness ( ). There is a clear reproach in this verse that Israel was guilty of idolatry early in its existence. Stubbornly, in ever new forms, they persisted in it. In what Amos says here, there is another principle that contains an important lesson for us. The principle is that God, when He judges, always goes back to the first sin. The lesson is that it is important for an astray Christian to go back to the moment when he went outside of fellowship with God for the first time. The moment of the deviation must be sought and confessed. The root must be judged, not just the deed.

‏ Amos 5:26

Idolatry in the Wilderness

When the LORD asks in the previous verse: “Did you present Me with sacrifices?”, that question echoes God’s exclusive right to sacrifice. He asks, as it were: ‘Have you sacrificed only to Me and to no one else?’ If God is not served completely and alone, He is not served at all. This principle is always valid. God never shares His honor with anyone or anything else. That is why it is hurtful to give honor to other gods together with a service to God.

The previous verse deals with Israel’s behavior in the wilderness. Maybe there is a thought of grace connected to that verse, in this verse it is unthinkable. Amos points to sheer idolatry. That Israel committed idolatry in the wilderness is clear through the history with the golden calf (Exo 32:1-6).

The service with the golden calf in Bethel in Amos’ time is only a renewal of the golden calf in the wilderness. The golden calf then and that in Bethel under Jeroboam II shows the spiritual bond that exists between the condition of the people in the time of Amos and their original position when they were brought out of Egypt by the grace and power of the LORD.

It did not stop with the golden calf. After the punishment for sin with the golden calf, they did not stop serving the idols. Amos speaks about how they surrendered all their history to idolatry. Stephen quotes these verses from Amos in his speech to the Council to prove this (Acts 7:39-43). The people boasted of a service to God, but the power of the quote is that they did not sacrifice to God, but to the idols. The people have always served the idols. Their origin is connected with the idols. Abraham’s family served the idols before God called Abraham (Jos 24:2). The people served them in Egypt (Jos 24:14) and also in the wilderness (Amos 5:25-27).

There is a clear reproach in this verse that Israel was guilty of idolatry early in its existence. Stubbornly, in ever new forms, they persisted in it.

In what Amos says here, there is another principle that contains an important lesson for us. The principle is that God, when He judges, always goes back to the first sin. The lesson is that it is important for an astray Christian to go back to the moment when he went outside of fellowship with God for the first time. The moment of the deviation must be sought and confessed. The root must be judged, not just the deed.