◄ Amos 4:5 ►
Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings. For that is what you children of Israel love to do," declares the Lord GOD.
Study Bible
Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,

Leavened bread was permitted with a thanksgiving sacrifice under the Law (Leviticus 7:13), though it was not burned on the altar. Amos speaks with irony, exposing worship offered at unauthorized shrines such as Bethel while the people persisted in idolatry, injustice, and covenant rebellion. Their sacrifices could not please God when their hearts and conduct denied Him.

Lev 7:13-15 Along with his peace offering of thanksgiving…
Jer 17:26 And people will come from the cities of Judah…
Psa 50:14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows…

and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.

Freewill offerings were meant to arise from grateful devotion to the Lord (Leviticus 22:18–23). Israel turned voluntary worship into public display, announcing its generosity while withholding obedience. Jesus later condemned the same desire for religious recognition that seeks the praise of people rather than the approval of God (Matthew 6:1–5).

Exo 35:29 So all the men and women of the Israelites…
Deu 16:10 And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD…
Exo 36:6 After Moses had given an order, they sent a proclamation…

For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”

Israel loved the activity and appearance of worship while resisting the God whom worship was meant to honor. The Lord desired justice, righteousness, and covenant faithfulness, not multiplied ceremonies offered alongside oppression and sin (Amos 5:21–24; Isaiah 29:13).

Isa 1:11-17 “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?”…
Jer 7:21-23 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:…
Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God…

declares the Lord GOD.

The rebuke carries the authority of the sovereign covenant God. Amos does not offer a private opinion; he delivers God’s judgment against a people who maintained religious forms while abandoning faithful obedience.

Ezk 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD,…
Ezk 13:8 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says…
Ezk 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to Israel.

2. Children of Israel
The Northern Kingdom of Israel, who were often rebuked by prophets for their idolatry and insincere worship.

3. Leavened Bread
Typically not used in offerings, symbolizing the Israelites' deviation from God's instructions.

4. Thank Offering
A type of peace offering in the Old Testament, meant to express gratitude to God.

5. Freewill Offerings
Voluntary offerings given out of devotion, not obligation, highlighting the Israelites' misplaced priorities.
Teaching Points
Sincerity in Worship
God desires genuine worship from the heart, not just outward rituals. Reflect on the authenticity of your worship practices.

Obedience Over Ritual
The Israelites' use of leavened bread symbolizes disobedience. Consider how you might be prioritizing tradition over obedience to God's Word.

Self-Examination
The Israelites loved their rituals more than God. Regularly examine your motivations in worship and service to ensure they align with God's desires.

God's Displeasure with Hypocrisy
God is not pleased with offerings that are given out of habit or for show. Strive for a heart that seeks to honor God in all actions.

True Gratitude
Thank offerings should stem from genuine gratitude. Cultivate a heart of thankfulness that reflects in your daily life and worship.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the use of leavened bread in Amos 4:5 symbolize the Israelites' spiritual state, and what can we learn from this about our own worship practices?

2. In what ways might we be guilty of loving religious rituals more than a relationship with God, as the Israelites did?

3. How do the teachings in Isaiah 1:11-15 and Hosea 6:6 reinforce the message in Amos 4:5 about the importance of sincerity in worship?

4. What steps can we take to ensure our thank offerings to God—whether time, resources, or talents—are given with a genuine heart?

5. Reflect on a time when you prioritized tradition over obedience to God. How can you realign your priorities to better reflect His desires?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 7:12-13
Discusses the proper use of leavened bread in thank offerings, providing context for the Israelites' improper practices.

Isaiah 1:11-15
Highlights God's disdain for insincere worship, similar to the critique in Amos.

Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus quotes Isaiah, emphasizing the importance of genuine worship over mere rituals.

Hosea 6:6
God desires mercy and knowledge of Him rather than burnt offerings, aligning with the message in Amos.

Micah 6:6-8
Questions the value of offerings without justice, mercy, and humility, echoing Amos's critique.
Sermons
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
Affirmation, Boast, Brag, Bread, Burn, Burned, Declares, Free, Free-offerings, Freewill, Freewill-offerings, Gifts, Israelites, Leaven, Leavened, Liketh, Love, Loved, News, O, Offer, Offering, Offerings, Perfume, Pleases, Pleaseth, Pleasing, Praise-offering, Proclaim, Publicly, Publish, Sacrifice, Says, Sons, Sovereign, Thank, Thank-offering, Thanksgiving, Voluntary, Willing
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 4:5

     7366   freewill offering

Amos 4:2-13

     8807   profanity

Amos 4:4-5

     7316   blood, OT sacrifices

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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