Seek Me and Live

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Seek Me and Live

Date: Apr. 9, 2025

Passage

Amos 5:1-13 (ESV)

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

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

3 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.”

4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:

  “Seek me and live;
5     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.”
6   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,
7   O you who turn justice to wormwood
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8   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;
9   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.

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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,

Amos took up a lament for Israel. His lament sounds as if the judgment had already happened. God’s judgment against Israel would be sure and it would be complete. The carnage would be so great, only ten percent of Israel’s military might would survive. Ninety percent would be destroyed. But instead of repenting to try and avert the judgment, Israel would seek out places of sanctuary and refuge (5). It would do them no good. The Lord would punish idolatry wherever it was practiced. The only way to survive is to seek the Lord.

Justice and righteousness had become perverted. The wealthy burdened and oppressed the poor while they themselves lived in mansions. Those who spoke out for justice and truth were silenced. The Lord knew all their sins. And he who turns midnight into dawn; he who calls up the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the land—the Lord is his name-- he would judge them severely. The Lord sees all our sins. Unless we repent and seek him, we too will be judged.

Prayer: Father, we seek many things in this life to help us to live. Help us to know the only thing we need seek is you. Help us to seek you and live.

One Word: Seek the Lord and live

Write on a Scroll What You See

Revelation 1:9-20

Key Verse: 1:18

and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Today's Question

What is the fourth commandment?

See answer and references