IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Seek the Lord and Live

Date: Aug. 20, 2019

Passage

Amos 5:1-13 (ESV)

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

  “Fallen, no more to rise,
    is the virgin Israel;
  forsaken on her land,
    with none to raise her up.”

For thus says the Lord GOD:

  “The city that went out a thousand
    shall have a hundred left,
  and that which went out a hundred
    shall have ten left
    to the house of Israel.”

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:

  “Seek me and live;
    but do not seek Bethel,
  and do not enter into Gilgal
    or cross over to Beersheba;
  for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
    and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
  Seek the LORD and live,
    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
  O you who turn justice to wormwood
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!
  He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and darkens the day into night,
  who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
  the LORD is his name;
  who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10   They hate him who reproves in the gate,
    and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11   Therefore because you trample on the poor
    and you exact taxes of grain from him,
  you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not dwell in them;
  you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
12   For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
  you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
    and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13   Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
    for it is an evil time.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 5:6a

  Seek the LORD and live,
    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,

1. Hear this word (1-6)

Israel's economy and political situation looked promising. But Amos lamented Israel's future. The nation would fall, never to rise again. The LORD would allow the military to be decimated in battle. Rather than seek help from idols in Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, the LORD encouraged his people to seek him and live. Otherwise disaster would come. Let us not be deceived by temporary, seemingly good circumstances or idols but seek the LORD and live.

2. The times are evil (7-13)

The Israelites saw good in their wealth and comfortable life but the LORD saw evil. Injustice and unrighteousness were the norm. The Israelites took advantage of the poor. They even taxed their straw and the grain they needed to survive. Innocent people were oppressed. Truth was hated. Almighty God, who made the constellations and sent the flood in Noah's time, would destroy them.

Prayer: Prayer: Lord, my sins are many and we live in evil times. But we repent and seek you for life.

One Word: Seek the LORD and live

Daily Bread

The Consequences of Deception

Genesis 27:30-46

Key Verse: 27:33

Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

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