Amos 4:4
"Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.
Go to Bethel and transgress
The phrase "Go to Bethel and transgress" is a call to the Israelites, highlighting their persistent sinfulness. Bethel, meaning "house of God" in Hebrew, was a significant religious site. Historically, it was a place where Jacob had a vision of God (Genesis 28:19). However, by the time of Amos, Bethel had become a center of idolatrous worship. The irony in this command is stark; a place once associated with divine encounters is now a hub of transgression. The Hebrew word for "transgress" (פָּשַׁע, pasha) implies a willful rebellion against God’s covenant. This phrase underscores the gravity of Israel's spiritual decline, as they continue to sin even in places meant for worship.

to Gilgal and multiply your transgressions
"To Gilgal and multiply your transgressions" further emphasizes the extent of Israel's unfaithfulness. Gilgal was another significant site, associated with Israel's early history in the Promised Land (Joshua 4:19-20). It was a place of renewal and covenant, yet it too had become corrupted. The Hebrew root for "multiply" (רָבָה, rabah) suggests an increase or abundance, indicating that the people's sins were not isolated incidents but a growing pattern of disobedience. This phrase serves as a poignant reminder of how sacred spaces can be defiled by persistent sin.

Bring your sacrifices every morning
"Bring your sacrifices every morning" highlights the Israelites' misguided religious zeal. The act of bringing sacrifices was a central aspect of worship, intended to express devotion and seek atonement. However, the emphasis on "every morning" suggests a ritualistic, rather than heartfelt, practice. The Hebrew word for "sacrifices" (זֶבַח, zevach) refers to offerings meant to honor God. Yet, in this context, it reveals the emptiness of their worship, as their hearts were far from God. This phrase challenges believers to examine the sincerity of their own worship practices.

your tithes every three days
"Your tithes every three days" continues the critique of Israel's superficial religiosity. Tithing was a commandment meant to support the Levites and the needy (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). The mention of "every three days" exaggerates the frequency, pointing to a legalistic approach rather than genuine obedience. The Hebrew word for "tithes" (מַעֲשֵׂר, ma'aser) signifies a tenth part, a portion dedicated to God. This phrase serves as a caution against reducing worship to mere transactions, devoid of true devotion and compassion.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah, called by God to deliver a message of judgment to the northern kingdom of Israel. His ministry focused on social justice and true worship.

2. Bethel
A significant religious site in the northern kingdom of Israel, often associated with idolatrous worship practices. It was one of the two main centers of worship established by Jeroboam I to prevent Israelites from going to Jerusalem.

3. Gilgal
Another important religious site in Israel, known for its historical significance but also for becoming a center of idolatry and false worship during the time of Amos.

4. Sacrifices and Tithes
Religious practices commanded by God in the Law of Moses, intended to be acts of worship and obedience. In Amos's time, these had become empty rituals devoid of true devotion.

5. Transgressions
Refers to the sins and rebellious acts of the Israelites, particularly their idolatry and social injustices, which Amos repeatedly condemns.
Teaching Points
True Worship vs. Empty Rituals
God desires genuine worship from the heart, not mere outward rituals. Our religious practices should reflect a sincere relationship with God.

The Danger of Idolatry
Idolatry can take many forms, including the elevation of religious practices above a true relationship with God. We must guard against anything that takes God's rightful place in our lives.

Social Justice and Righteousness
Amos emphasizes that true worship includes justice and righteousness. Our faith should lead us to act justly and love mercy in our communities.

Repentance and Return
The call to "go to Bethel and transgress" is ironic, highlighting the need for repentance. We must recognize our sins and turn back to God with sincere hearts.

Consistency in Faith
Regular religious practices, like sacrifices and tithes, should be consistent with a life of faith and obedience. Our daily lives should reflect our commitment to God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the historical context of Bethel and Gilgal help us understand the message of Amos 4:4?

2. In what ways can religious practices become empty rituals in our own lives, and how can we ensure they remain meaningful?

3. How does the message of Amos 4:4 challenge us to examine our own hearts and actions in terms of idolatry and justice?

4. What parallels can we draw between the warnings of Amos and the teachings of Jesus regarding true worship and obedience?

5. How can we apply the lessons from Amos 4:4 to promote justice and righteousness in our communities today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Kings 12
Describes the establishment of Bethel and Dan as centers of worship by Jeroboam I, which led to idolatry in Israel.

Isaiah 1
Similar to Amos, Isaiah condemns the empty religious rituals of the people, emphasizing that God desires genuine worship and justice.

Hosea 4
Hosea, a contemporary of Amos, also speaks against the idolatry and unfaithfulness of Israel, highlighting the spiritual adultery of the nation.
Smitten in VainAlexander MaclarenAmos 4:4
A Sinful People Resisting the Chastisements of GodA. Maclaren, D. D.Amos 4:4-5
HypocrisyJ.R. Thomson Amos 4:4, 5
Ill-Spent ServiceJ. Telford, B. A.Amos 4:4-5
Israel of Ten ReprovedGeorge M. Boynton.Amos 4:4-5
Israel Often ReprovedHinckley G. Mitchell.Amos 4:4-5
Worship Abounding with Abounding SinD. Thomas Amos 4:4, 5
Worship Abounding with Abounding SinHomilistAmos 4:4-5
People
Amos, Israelites, Malachi
Places
Bashan, Bethel, Egypt, Gilgal, Gomorrah, Harmon, Samaria, Sodom
Topics
Bethel, Beth-el, Bring, Enter, Evil, Gilgal, Increasing, Morning, Multiply, Offerings, Sacrifices, Sin, Sins, Tenths, Third, Tithes, Transgress, Transgression, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 4:4

     1657   numbers, fractions
     6616   atonement, in OT
     6677   justification, necessity
     7435   sacrifice, in OT
     7442   shrine

Amos 4:2-13

     8807   profanity

Amos 4:4-5

     7316   blood, OT sacrifices
     7402   offerings

Amos 4:4-11

     7233   Israel, northern kingdom

Library
Preparation for Advent
Westminster Abbey. November 15, 1874. Amos iv. 12. "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." We read to-day, for the first lesson, parts of the prophecy of Amos. They are somewhat difficult, here and there, to understand; but nevertheless Amos is perhaps the grandest of the Hebrew prophets, next to Isaiah. Rough and homely as his words are, there is a strength, a majesty, and a terrible earnestness in them, which it is good to listen to; and specially good now that Advent draws near, and we have
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

April 3 Evening
Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.--AMOS 4:11. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?--We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.--The wages of sin is death; but the gift
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Smitten in Vain
'Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: 5. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings; for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. 6. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. 7. And also I have withholden the rain
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's Controversy with Man. Rev. Charles Prest.
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."--AMOS iv. 12. This chapter refers to the condition of Israel at the time of this prophecy, and to the expostulation and threatened procedure of God concerning the nation. God's people had revolted from Him; they had sunk into idolatry; they had been often reproved, but had hardened their necks, and therefore the Lord, after recapitulating the calamities which had befallen them,
Knowles King—The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern

The Helpless State of the Sinner under Condemnation.
1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from this impending ruin.--3. Not by any thing he can offer.--4. Nor by any thing he can endure.--5. Nor by any thing hr can do in the course of future duty.--6-8. Nor by any alliance with fellow-sinners on earth or in hell.--9. Nor by any interposition or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint of the only method to be afterwards more largely explained. The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition. 1. SINNER, thou hast
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is Required on the Part of Man
Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is required on the part of man We proceed to the second article thus: 1. It seems that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on the part of man. For the apostle says (Rom. 4:4): "Now to him that worketh [40] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." But a man could not of his own free will prepare himself for grace, unless by an operation. The meaning of grace would then be taken away. 2. Again, a man who walks in sin does not
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

Whether the Notional Acts Proceed from Something?
Objection 1: It would seem that the notional acts do not proceed from anything. For if the Father begets the Son from something, this will be either from Himself or from something else. If from something else, since that whence a thing is generated exists in what is generated, it follows that something different from the Father exists in the Son, and this contradicts what is laid down by Hilary (De Trin. vii) that, "In them nothing diverse or different exists." If the Father begets the Son from Himself,
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether by Penance one Sin Can be Pardoned Without Another?
Objection 1: It would seem that by Penance one sin can be pardoned without another. For it is written (Amos 4:7): "I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon: and the piece whereupon I rained not, withered." These words are expounded by Gregory, who says (Hom. x super Ezech.): "When a man who hates his neighbor, breaks himself of other vices, rain falls on one part of the city, leaving the other part withered, for there are some men who,
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether any Preparation and Disposition for Grace is Required on Man's Part?
Objection 1: It would seem that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on man's part, since, as the Apostle says (Rom. 4:4), "To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt." Now a man's preparation by free-will can only be through some operation. Hence it would do away with the notion of grace. Objection 2: Further, whoever is going on sinning, is not preparing himself to have grace. But to some who are going on sinning grace is given, as is
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent,
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The World, Created by God, Still Cherished and Protected by Him. Each and all of Its Parts Governed by his Providence.
1. Even the wicked, under the guidance of carnal sense, acknowledge that God is the Creator. The godly acknowledge not this only, but that he is a most wise and powerful governor and preserver of all created objects. In so doing, they lean on the Word of God, some passages from which are produced. 2. Refutation of the Epicureans, who oppose fortune and fortuitous causes to Divine Providence, as taught in Scripture. The sun, a bright manifestation of Divine Providence. 3. Figment of the Sophists as
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Standing with the People
We have found two simple and axiomatic social principles in the fundamental convictions of Jesus: The sacredness of life and personality, and the spiritual solidarity of men. Now confront a mind mastered by these convictions with the actual conditions of society, with the contempt for life and the denial of social obligation existing, and how will he react? How will he see the duty of the strong, and his own duty? DAILY READINGS First Day: The Social Platform of Jesus And he came to Nazareth, where
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

The Wisdom of God
The next attribute is God's wisdom, which is one of the brightest beams of the Godhead. He is wise in heart.' Job 9:9. The heart is the seat of wisdom. Cor in Hebraeo sumitur pro judicio. Pineda. Among the Hebrews, the heart is put for wisdom.' Let men of understanding tell me:' Job 34:44: in the Hebrew, Let men of heart tell me.' God is wise in heart, that is, he is most wise. God only is wise; he solely and wholly possesses all wisdom; therefore he is called, the only wise God.' I Tim 1:17. All
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

False Profession.
As there are trees and herbs that are wholly right and noble, fit indeed for the vineyard, so there are also their semblance, but wild; not right, but ignoble. There is the grape, and the wild grape; the vine, and the wild vine; the rose, and the canker-rose; flowers, and wild flowers; the apple, and the wild apple, which we call the crab. Now, fruit from these wild things, however they may please the children to play with, yet the prudent and grave count them of little or no value. There are also
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

The Sinner Sentenced.
1, 2.The sinner called upon to hear his sentence.--3. God's law does now in general pronounce a curse.--4. It pronounces death.--5. And being turned into hell.--6. The judgement day shall come.--7, 8. The solemnity of that grand process described according to scriptural representations of it.--9. With a particular illustration of the sentence, "Depart, accursed," &c.--10. The execution wilt certainly and immediately follow.--11. The sinner warned to prepare for enduring it. The reflection of a sinner
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Careless Sinner Awakened.
1, 2. It is too supposable a case that this Treatise may come into such hands.--3, 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fail under that character.--5, 6. A more particular illustration of this case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his own.--7 to 9. Expostulation with such.--10 to 12. More particularly--From acknowledged principles relating to the Nature of Got, his universal presence, agency, and perfection.--13. From a view of personal obligations to him.--14. From the danger Of this
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

This Doctrine Confirmed by Proofs from Scripture.
1. Some imagine that God elects or reprobates according to a foreknowledge of merit. Others make it a charge against God that he elects some and passes by others. Both refuted, 1. By invincible arguments; 2. By the testimony of Augustine. 2. Who are elected, when, in whom, to what, for what reason. 3. The reason is the good pleasure of God, which so reigns in election that no works, either past or future, are taken into consideration. This proved by notable declarations of one Savior and passages
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, an Exhortation to Christians to be Holy. By John Bunyan.
Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.'--[Psalm 93:5] London, by B. W., for Benj. Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, in the Poultrey. 1684. THE EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This is the most searching treatise that has ever fallen under our notice. It is an invaluable guide to those sincere Christians, who, under a sense of the infinite importance of the salvation of an immortal soul, and of the deceitfulness of their hearts, sigh and cry, "O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Salvation Published from the Mountains
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! I t would be improper to propose an alteration, though a slight one, in the reading of a text, without bearing my testimony to the great value of our English version, which I believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and fidelity, is not likely to be excelled by a new translation
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

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