◄ Amos 5:6 ►
Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.
Study Bible
Seek the LORD
The Hebrew word for "seek" is "דָּרַשׁ" (darash), which implies a diligent pursuit or inquiry. In the context of Amos, this is a call to actively pursue a relationship with God, not merely a passive acknowledgment. Historically, Israel was in a period of spiritual decline, and this call to "seek" is a plea for repentance and return to covenant faithfulness. The emphasis is on a sincere and earnest search for God, which is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, urging believers to prioritize their relationship with the divine.

and live
The Hebrew word for "live" is "חָיָה" (chayah), which means to live, to have life, or to revive. This is not just a physical existence but a call to spiritual vitality and flourishing. In the context of Amos, it is a promise that seeking God will lead to true life, contrasting with the spiritual death that comes from idolatry and injustice. The historical backdrop is one of impending judgment, and this phrase offers hope and a way to avert disaster through genuine repentance and alignment with God's will.

or He will sweep through the house of Joseph
The "house of Joseph" refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, often associated with the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, descendants of Joseph. The imagery of God sweeping through suggests a powerful and unstoppable force, akin to a flood or a consuming fire. This is a warning of impending judgment due to the nation's persistent sin and rebellion. Archaeologically, this period was marked by social injustice and religious syncretism, and the prophet Amos warns that God's judgment is imminent unless there is a change.

like a fire
Fire in the Bible often symbolizes God's judgment and purification. The Hebrew word "אֵשׁ" (esh) conveys both destruction and the potential for renewal. In Amos, fire represents the consuming nature of God's wrath against sin. Historically, fire was a common method of warfare and destruction, making this a vivid and terrifying image for the original audience. Theologically, it underscores the seriousness of God's call to repentance and the consequences of ignoring it.

with no one to extinguish it
This phrase emphasizes the totality and inevitability of God's judgment if the people do not repent. The imagery of an unquenchable fire suggests that once God's judgment begins, it cannot be stopped by human means. This serves as a stark warning to the Israelites of the futility of relying on their own strength or alliances. Scripturally, it echoes other prophetic warnings where God's judgment is portrayed as overwhelming and inescapable, reinforcing the urgency of seeking the Lord.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD
The covenant God of Israel, Yahweh, who calls His people to repentance and righteousness.

2. House of Joseph
Refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, often symbolized by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, descendants of Joseph.

3. Bethel
A significant religious center in the Northern Kingdom, known for its idolatrous practices despite its historical significance as a place where Jacob encountered God.

4. Amos
A prophet from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, sent by God to deliver a message of judgment and a call to repentance to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

5. Fire
Symbolizes God's judgment and wrath, which is unquenchable and purifying, consuming sin and rebellion.
Teaching Points
The Urgency of Seeking God
The command to "seek the LORD and live" underscores the urgency of turning to God. It is a call to prioritize our relationship with Him above all else.

Consequences of Ignoring God
The imagery of fire sweeping through the house of Joseph serves as a stark warning of the consequences of ignoring God's call to repentance. It reminds us that God's judgment is real and inevitable for those who persist in rebellion.

The Futility of Idolatry
Bethel, once a place of divine encounter, became a center of idolatry. This transformation warns us of the dangers of allowing anything to take the place of God in our lives.

Repentance as a Path to Life
The promise of life for those who seek the LORD highlights repentance as a path to restoration and blessing. It is a call to turn away from sin and towards God's righteousness.

God's Relentless Pursuit
Despite the impending judgment, God's call to seek Him reveals His desire for reconciliation and relationship with His people. It is a testament to His grace and mercy.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does it mean to "seek the LORD" in the context of your daily life, and how can you prioritize this pursuit?

2. How does the imagery of fire in Amos 5:6 relate to other biblical descriptions of God's judgment, and what does it teach us about His character?

3. In what ways can modern believers fall into the trap of idolatry, similar to the people of Bethel, and how can we guard against it?

4. How do the promises of finding God in Deuteronomy 4:29 and Jeremiah 29:13 encourage you in your spiritual journey?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's mercy after turning back to Him. How can this experience motivate you to seek Him more earnestly?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 4:29
Emphasizes seeking the LORD with all your heart and soul, promising that God will be found by those who earnestly seek Him.

Isaiah 55:6-7
Calls people to seek the LORD while He may be found, urging the wicked to forsake their ways and return to God for mercy.

Jeremiah 29:13
Assures that those who seek God with all their heart will find Him, highlighting the relational aspect of seeking God.

Hebrews 12:29
Describes God as a consuming fire, reinforcing the imagery of divine judgment and holiness.

Matthew 6:33
Encourages believers to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, promising that all other needs will be provided.
Sermons
The Search Which Ends in Life, and the Search Which Ends in RuinJ. Telford, B. A.
People
Amos, Joseph
Places
Beersheba, Bethel, Damascus, Gilgal, Gomorrah
Topics
Bethel, Beth-el, Break, Bursting, Causing, Consume, Consumed, Destruction, Devour, Family, Fear, Fire, Forth, Joseph, Lest, None, O, Prosper, Quench, Quencher, Seek, Sweep
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 5:4-6

     7233   Israel, northern kingdom

Amos 5:4-15

     5541   society, negative

Library
April 15 Morning
Their Redeemer is strong.--JER. 50:34. I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.--I have laid help upon one that is mighty.--The Lord. . . thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.--Mighty to save.--Able to keep you from falling.--Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.--He is able . . . to save them …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Sins of Society
'For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live: 5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8. Seek Him that maketh the seven stars …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Evidences Internal and Experimental.
1. The external evidences of revealed religion are, in their proper place and sphere, of the highest importance. Christianity rests not upon theory, but upon historical facts sustained by an overwhelming mass of testimony. It is desirable that every Christian, so far as he has opportunity, should make himself acquainted with this testimony for the strengthening of his own faith and the refutation of gainsayers. Nevertheless, many thousands of Christians are fully established in the faith of the gospel …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether, by Penance, Man is Restored to his Former Dignity?
Objection 1: It would seem that man is not restored by Penance to his former dignity: because a gloss on Amos 5:2, "The virgin of Israel is cast down," observes: "It is not said that she cannot rise up, but that the virgin of Israel shall not rise; because the sheep that has once strayed, although the shepherd bring it back on his shoulder, has not the same glory as if it had never strayed." Therefore man does not, through Penance, recover his former dignity. Objection 2: Further, Jerome says: "Whoever …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Kingdom of Judah.
II K. 18-25; II Chron. 28-36. Note: This period covers the time from the fail of Israel to the fall of Judah. It begins in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, whose name is given as the first king of the period since most of his reign was in this instead of the former period. The Kings of this Period. 13. Hezekiah, 2 K. 18:1-20-21; 2 Chron. 29:1-32:33. Reigned 29 years and died. 14. Manasseh, 2 K. 21:1-18; 2 Chron. 33:1-20. Reigned 55 year and died. 15. Amon, 2 K. 21:19-26; 2 Chron. 33:20-25. …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether the Old Law Should have Been Given to the Jews Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law should not have been given to the Jews alone. For the Old Law disposed men for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2065]AA[2],3). But that salvation was to come not to the Jews alone but to all nations, according to Is. 49:6: "It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Degrees of Sin
Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. He that delivered me unto thee, has the greater sin.' John 19: 11. The Stoic philosophers held that all sins were equal; but this Scripture clearly holds forth that there is a gradual difference in sin; some are greater than others; some are mighty sins,' and crying sins.' Amos 5: 12; Gen 18: 21. Every sin has a voice to speak, but some …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Books of the Old Testament as a Whole. 1 the Province of Particular Introduction is to Consider the Books of the Bible Separately...
CHAPTER XVIII. THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. 1. The province of Particular Introduction is to consider the books of the Bible separately, in respect to their authorship, date, contents, and the place which each of them holds in the system of divine truth. Here it is above all things important that we begin with the idea of the unity of divine revelation--that all the parts of the Bible constitute a gloriously perfect whole, of which God and not man is the author. No amount of study devoted …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
(Borders of Samaria and Galilee.) ^C Luke XVII. 11-37. ^c 11 And it came to pass, as they were on their way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. [If our chronology is correct, Jesus passed northward from Ephraim about forty miles, crossing Samaria (here mentioned first), and coming to the border of Galilee. He then turned eastward along that border down the wady Bethshean which separates the two provinces, and crossed the Jordan into Peræa, where we soon …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord Coming to his Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap, -- and he shall purify the sons of Levi -- that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. W hereunto shall we liken the people of this generation? and to what are they like? (Luke 7:31) …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

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