◄ Amos 5:14 ►
Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
Study Bible
Seek good, not evil
This phrase emphasizes the moral imperative to pursue righteousness and reject wickedness. In the context of Amos, the prophet addresses the Israelites, who were guilty of social injustices and idolatry. The call to "seek good" aligns with the broader biblical theme of choosing righteousness over sin, as seen in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, where Moses sets before the people life and prosperity versus death and destruction. The Hebrew word for "seek" implies a diligent and intentional pursuit, suggesting that righteousness requires active effort. This call to seek good is echoed in the New Testament, where believers are urged to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

so that you may live
The promise of life is both physical and spiritual. In the historical context, Amos warns of impending judgment on Israel due to their sins, and repentance could avert disaster. The concept of life here is not merely survival but a flourishing existence under God's blessing. This echoes the covenantal promises found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, where obedience leads to life and prosperity. Spiritually, this foreshadows the New Testament teaching of eternal life through Christ, who is the embodiment of goodness and life (John 14:6).

And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you
This assurance of God's presence is contingent upon the people's repentance and pursuit of good. The title "God of Hosts" underscores God's sovereignty and power, often associated with His role as a divine warrior leading the heavenly armies. This reflects the covenantal promise of God's presence with His people, as seen in Exodus 33:14, where God assures Moses of His presence. The presence of God is a central theme throughout Scripture, culminating in the New Testament with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers (John 14:16-17).

as you have claimed
This phrase suggests a discrepancy between the people's profession and their actions. The Israelites claimed to be God's people, yet their lives did not reflect His character. This hypocrisy is a recurring theme in the prophetic books, where outward religious observance is condemned when not accompanied by justice and righteousness (Isaiah 1:11-17). In the New Testament, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for similar hypocrisy (Matthew 23:27-28). The call to genuine faithfulness is a reminder that true relationship with God is evidenced by a life that seeks good and shuns evil.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from the southern kingdom of Judah, called by God to deliver a message of judgment and repentance to the northern kingdom of Israel during a time of prosperity and moral decay.

2. Israel
The northern kingdom, which had turned away from God, engaging in idolatry and social injustice, prompting Amos's call for repentance.

3. The LORD God of Hosts
A title emphasizing God's sovereignty and power, often used in contexts where God is portrayed as a divine warrior or leader of heavenly armies.

4. Bethel
A significant religious center in Israel, often associated with idolatrous practices that Amos condemns.

5. Day of the LORD
A prophetic term used by Amos and other prophets to describe a future time of divine judgment and restoration.
Teaching Points
The Call to Righteous Living
Amos's message emphasizes the importance of seeking good and rejecting evil as a pathway to life and divine presence.

The Conditional Promise
The promise of God's presence is conditional upon the people's pursuit of good, highlighting the relationship between obedience and divine blessing.

The Reality of Divine Judgment
Amos warns that claiming God's presence without genuine repentance and righteous living is futile.

The Role of Social Justice
Seeking good involves addressing social injustices, a recurring theme in Amos's prophecies.

Personal Reflection and Repentance
Believers are encouraged to examine their lives, repent of evil, and actively pursue good in their daily actions.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the context of Amos's ministry to Israel enhance our understanding of the call to "seek good, not evil"?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of seeking good in our personal lives and communities today?

3. How does the promise of God's presence in Amos 5:14 relate to the New Testament teachings on the Holy Spirit's indwelling?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure that our claims of faith are matched by our actions, as Amos challenges Israel?

5. How do the themes of justice and righteousness in Amos 5:14 connect with Jesus's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
This passage presents a similar choice between life and death, blessing and curse, urging the Israelites to choose life by loving and obeying God.

Micah 6:8
This verse echoes the call to seek good by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.

Matthew 5:16
Jesus teaches about letting your light shine before others, which aligns with seeking good and living righteously.

Romans 12:9
Paul instructs believers to hate what is evil and cling to what is good, paralleling Amos's exhortation.
Sermons
Habit Aids Right DoinT. Chalmers.Amos 5:14
ReligionHomilistAmos 5:14
ReligionD. Thomas Amos 5:14
Siding with the Good is to be on God's SideGreat ThoughtsAmos 5:14
The Great AlternativeJ.R. Thomson Amos 5:14, 15
People
Amos, Joseph
Places
Beersheba, Bethel, Damascus, Gilgal, Gomorrah
Topics
Almighty, Armies, Evil, Hosts, Seek, Spoken, Thus, Yours
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 5:4-15

     5541   society, negative

Amos 5:7-15

     5270   court
     8783   neglect

Amos 5:14-15

     1050   God, goodness of
     5033   knowledge, of good and evil
     6030   sin, avoidance
     8401   challenges
     8410   decision-making, examples

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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