Amos 5:22 Commento

The scope of this chapter is to prosecute the exhortation given to Israel in the close of the foregoing chapter to prepare to meet their God; the prophet here tells them, I. What preparation they must make; they must "seek the Lord," and not seek any more to idols (Amo 5:4-8); they must seek good, and love it (Amo 5:14, Amo 5:15). II. Why they must make this preparation to meet their God, 1. Because of the present deplorable condition they were in (Amo 5:1-3). 2. Because it was by sin that they were brought into such a condition (Amo 5:7, Amo 5:10-12). 3. Because it would be their happiness to seek God, and he was ready to be found of them (Amo 5:8, Amo 5:9, Amo 5:14). 4. Because he would proceed, in his wrath, to their utter ruin, if they did not seek him (Amo 5:5, Amo 5:6, Amo 5:13, Amo 5:16, Amo 5:17). 5. Because all their confidences would fail them if they did not seek unto God, and make him their friend. (1.) Their profane contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at defiance, would not secure them (Amo 5:18-20). (2.) Their external services in religion, and the shows of devotion, would not avail to turn away the wrath of God (Amo 5:21-24). (3.) Their having been long in possession of church-privileges, and in a course of holy duties, would not be their protection, while all along they had kept up their idolatrous customs (Amo 5:25-27). They have therefore no way left them to save themselves, but by repentance and reformation.

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 5 In this chapter the prophet exhorts Israel to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, Amo 5:1; nevertheless to seek the Lord, and all that is good; to forsake their idols, and repent of their sins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwise they must expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, especially their oppression of the poor, Amo 5:4; otherwise it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darkness and distress, however they might harden or flatter themselves, or make a jest of it, Amo 5:16; for all their sacrifices and ceremonial worship would signify nothing, so long as they continued their idolatry with them Amo 5:21; and therefore should surely go into captivity, Amo 5:27.

Though ye offer me burnt offerings, and your meat offerings, I will not accept them,.... The daily burnt offerings, morning and night, and others which were wholly the Lord's; and the "minchah", or bread offering, which went along with them; in which they thought to do God service, and to merit his favour; but instead of that they were unacceptable to him, being neither offered up in a proper place, if in a right manner according to the law of Moses; however, not in the faith of the great sacrifice, Christ; nor attended with repentance towards God: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts; even though their peace offerings were of the best of the herd. Aben Ezra says the creature here meant is the same which in the Ishmaelitish or Arabic language is called "giamus", a creature bigger than an ox, and like one, which is called a buffle or buffalo. And so Ben Melech says it means one of the kinds of the larger cattle; for not a lamb, a ram, or a sheep, is meant, as the word is sometimes rendered by the Septuagint, but a creature like an ox; not larger, or the wild ox, as the above Hebrew writers, but smaller; with which agrees the description Bellonius (n) gives of the Syrian "bubalus" or "buffalo", which he calls a small ox, full bodied, little, smooth, sleek, fat, and well made; and is no doubt the same the Arabs call "almari", from its smoothness. (n) Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. p. 1. l. 2. c. 28. col. 283.

This brings us to a conclusion on another matter of great importance. The observances regarding sacrifices, sabbaths, new moons, and all such things prescribed by the Jewish way of life of that day—they are not essential. Even when they were observed they could make no great contribution to virtue; nor when neglected could they make the excellent person worthless or degrade in any way the sanctity of his soul. People of old, while still on earth, manifested by their piety a way of life that rivals the way the angels live. Yet they followed none of these observances, they slew no beasts in sacrifice, they kept no fast, they made no display of fasting. They were so pleasing to God that they surpassed this fallen human nature of ours and, by the lives they lived, drew the whole world to a knowledge of God.

(Verses 21, 22.) I hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not take the smell of your heavens. But if you bring me burnt offerings and your gifts, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fat of your animals. LXX: I have hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not be pleased with your assemblies. And if you bring me burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will not receive them, and I will not look upon the pleasantness of your presence: This is specifically said against the tribe of Judah, and those who had migrated from Israel for the ceremonies of God, and yet did not depart from the high places, and worshipped idols, and defiled the sacrifices of God with the magnitude of their sins. For I never said concerning the oblations of the calves, which they offered in Dan and Bethel: If you offer to me holocausts and your offerings, I will not accept them. But God hates and not only hates, but also has cast away their festivals, those who flee from the lion and fall into the bear, and enter the house and are bitten by the serpent, because they do not celebrate the festivals of God, but their own festivals, says the Lord: I hate and have cast away your festivals. And it does not receive the assembly of such men, nor does it have a fragrance of good scent, and it abhors all their gifts, and it does not regard the richest offerings. Indeed, this happens not only to the people of that time, but also to us, if we commit similar offenses, and think that we can offer to God the gains from robberies and perjuries and wicked deeds, and redeem our sins, when we have read that Zacchaeus restored fourfold whatever he had stolen and offered half of his well-acquired possessions (Luke 19). For one could not offer what was wrongfully acquired in the gifts of God, unless one first returned it to its rightful owners, and afterwards fulfilled what is written: Honor the Lord with your just labors (Prov. III, 9); and: The redemption of a man's soul is his own riches (Prov. XIII, 8): for God does not accept the vows of a prostitute's earnings (Deut. XXIII). On the contrary, the just one can say: Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight (Psal. CXL, 2). The speech of Judas, the traitor, was turned into sin: for it did not have a good odor; but it spoke through actions: 'My wounds have become foul and corrupt, because of my foolishness' (Psalm 38:6). All of this can also be said about heretics, who while fleeing from a lion, run into a bear, and upon entering a house which they think is the Church of God, they lean on walls which they themselves made, and they are bitten by a serpent. Darkness and gloom take away their light and day, so that tangible darkness surrounds them, and their beginnings are destroyed. God hates their sacrifices, and distances himself from them, and whenever they are gathered in the name of the Lord, he detests their stench and closes his nostrils. To hate, to distance oneself, and to not smell, is spoken in the likeness of human language, so that we may understand the attitude of God through our words. And if they offer burnt offerings, or appear to fast, or give alms, or promise chastity, which are true sacrifices, the Lord does not accept those, nor does he deem worthy to look at their fattest offerings. For God judges not the greatness of sacrifices, but the merits and reasons of those who offer them. Hence, the widow who in the Gospel (Luke 21) gave two small coins as an offering is preferred by the Savior over those who believed they were offering the fattest vows and the choicest sacrifices, when in reality they were giving very little, since she had given everything she had. These things are said more clearly and truly after the coming of the Lord to the Jewish people, who, with the temple and altar destroyed, believe they are offering sacrifices, which God abhors and rejects their festivals, and does not accept the aroma of their assembly when they gather and say, 'Crucify him, crucify him' (John 19:6) and 'His blood be on us and on our children' (Matthew 27:25). And if they offer holocausts in synagogues, and gifts in the councils of Satan, and the richest vows, the Lord does not regard them, just as He did not regard the gifts of Cain (Genesis IV). Those who worship the one true God and offer rightly, yet they are not regarded because they do not acknowledge the confession of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But our offerings, that is, the Church, which we offer from our first fruits, are regarded by God, just as He once regarded the sacrifices of Abel.

This chapter opens with a tender and pathetic lamentation, in the style of a funeral song, over the house of Israel, Amo 5:1, Amo 5:2. The prophet then glances at the awful threatening denounced against them, Amo 5:3; earnestly exhorting them to renounce their idols, and seek Jehovah, of whom he gives a very magnificent description, Amo 5:4-9. He then reproves their injustice and oppression with great warmth and indignation; exhorts them again to repentance; and enforces his exhortation with the most awful threatenings, delivered with great majesty and authority, and in images full of beauty and grandeur, Amo 5:10-24. The chapter concludes with observing that their idolatry was of long standing, that they increased the national guilt, by adding to the sins of their fathers; and that their punishment, therefore, should be great in proportion, Amo 5:25-27. Formerly numbers of them were brought captive to Damascus, Kg2 10:32, Kg2 10:33; but now they must go beyond it to Assyria, Kg2 15:29; Kg2 17:6.

The peace-offerings of your fat beasts - מריאיכם merieychem probably means buffaloes; and so Bochart.

ELEGY OVER THE PROSTRATE KINGDOM: RENEWED EXHORTATIONS TO REPENTANCE: GOD DECLARES THAT THE COMING DAY OF JUDGMENT SHALL BE TERRIBLE TO THE SCORNERS WHO DESPISE IT: CEREMONIAL SERVICES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HIM WHERE TRUE PIETY EXISTS NOT: ISRAEL SHALL THEREFORE BE REMOVED FAR EASTWARD. (Amos 5:1-27) lamentation--an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare Eze 32:2, "take up," namely, as a mournful burden (Eze 19:1; Eze 27:2).

meat offerings--flour, &c. Unbloody offerings. peace offerings--offerings for obtaining from God peace and prosperity. Hebrew, "thank offerings."

The Overthrow of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes - Amos 5 and Amo 6:1-14 The elegy, which the prophet commences in Amo 5:2, upon the fall of the daughter of Israel, forms the theme of the admonitory addresses in these two chapters. These addresses, which are divided into four parts by the admonitions, "Seek Jehovah, and live," in Amo 5:4 and Amo 5:6, "Seek good" in Amo 5:14, and the two woes (hōi) in Amo 5:18 and Amo 6:1, have no other purpose than this, to impress upon the people of God the impossibility of averting the threatened destruction, and to take away from the self-secure sinners the false foundations of their trust, by setting the demands of God before them once more. In every one of these sections, therefore, the proclamation of the judgment returns again, and that in a form of greater and greater intensity, till it reaches to the banishment of the whole nation, and the overthrow of Samaria and the kingdom (Amo 5:27; Amo 6:8.).