Join us for a thought-provoking journey into the profound teachings of Amos chapter 5. Allen J. Huth draws from over thirty years of Bible reading journals to share his reflections on seeking the Lord amidst prophecies of judgment and hope. Discover why longing for the ‘day of the Lord’ may not be as desirable as it seems, and learn how we can still impact the world with God’s message before such days arrive. Engage with the full counsel of Scripture as we challenge ourselves to be proactive doers of the Word, not just listeners.
00:04:27 Reflections on Amos and Personal Journals
00:08:16 Call to Action and Practical Applications
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in Amos chapter 5. We’ll listen to our guest reader, Roy Hanske, one of the voices here in Denver Christian Radio, as he reads the 27 verses of Amos chapter 5.
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amos chapter five hear this word israel this lament i take up concerning you fallen is virgin israel never to rise again deserted in her own land with no one to lift her up this is what the sovereign lord says to israel Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left. Your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left. This is what the Lord says to Israel. Seek me and live. Do not seek Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal. Do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire. It will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground. He who made Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land, the Lord is his name. With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. you levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain therefore though you have built stone mansions you will not live in them though you have planted lush vineyards you will not drink their wine for i know how many are your offenses and how great your sins There are those who oppose the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. therefore this is what the lord the lord god almighty says there will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square the farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail there will be wailing in all your vineyards for i will pass through your midst says the lord Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light? Pitch dark, without a ray of brightness. I hate, I despise your religious festivals. Your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream. Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your God, which you made for yourselves. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.
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In 1997, I read Amos chapters 4 through 6 on the same day. Concerning chapter 5, I wrote, Seek the Lord and live. Seek good and not evil, that you may live, so the Lord God of hosts will be with you. Hate evil, love good. Seven years later, in 2004, I read Amos 5 through 9 on the same day, with 2 Kings 15 with some scattered verses in there, and I only wrote a note on Amos chapter 8, which I will share in later days. And in 2011, seven years after 2004, I read Amos chapters 4 through 6 on the same day with Revelation 6. And concerning chapter 5, I wrote, Seek the Lord and live. Why desire the day of the Lord? Christians often say, I wish the Lord would come. Remember, when he returns, it will be hell on earth. It is darkness and not light. And then I wrote, God does not accept our false worship. In chapter 4 of Amos, the Lord tried to get Israel to return to him, but he kept saying, you did not return to me. Here in chapter 5, he says, seek me and live. Seek the Lord and live. So he’s crying out to Israel once again, return to me, seek me. Again, in verse 14, he says, seek good and not evil, that you may live. Seeking the Lord, returning to Him is always the answer to the warnings of the prophet. God is the God of the second chance. Aren’t you glad? So now let’s turn our attention to verse 18 in chapter 5. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light. Verse 20. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light and gloom with no brightness in it? I mentioned in my 2011 journal that many Christians seek the day of the Lord or seek the second coming of Jesus. But I also mentioned that it will be hell on earth. Now I know in my Christian life, I used to think the same way. I always wanted to see Jesus’s second coming. But then as I matured in my faith, I began to think, what will the world be like? It will be what Amos says. It will be darkness and not light. It will be gloom and no brightness in it. So I, for one, do not long to see the day of the Lord. I also realize when that day comes, it’s over. There will be no more salvation, no more second chance. Just like we’re reading in Amos, God’s judgment does come. So my focus is not on the second coming. It’s not on the day of the Lord. It’s what I can do to reach the lost before that day comes. And I, for one, am thankful that God has given me a platform to make a difference. He’s given me opportunities through the Gideons International to go all over the globe and share the gospel message, oftentimes with students in schools. But also personally, as I travel, I get lots of opportunities to sit next to people on long flights and share the gospel message. And I also get a chance to do that through AdBible, audio daily devotions that you’re listening to from the Ezra Project. I’m doing my best to fulfill the call of God on my life to comment on every chapter of the Bible through these AdBible recordings. And if you’ve been with me for very long, you know that when you cover every chapter of the Bible, You cover the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Bible is filled with the mercy, the grace, and the love of God. But it’s also filled with warning after warning after warning about those days of judgment, the day of the Lord. So through these podcasts, I have a voice in warning people to be ready for the day of the Lord, to return to the Lord, to seek the Lord while he can be found. I don’t know what platforms God has given you to share with people the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, the warnings of God. I hope you’re doing more than just listening to the Word of God. In James, the Word tells us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. Maybe you can turn some people on to add Bible. Maybe you can get them to listen to some of these recordings, and maybe they will start to follow what we’re doing here, going through the Word of God, chapter by chapter. Maybe that’s your practical application from Amos chapter 5. Before we pray, come Lord Jesus, let’s remember these verses in Amos. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. Lord, we thank you that through AdBible we get the whole counsel of Scripture. Thank you for the reminder that the day of the Lord will be darkness, not light. It will be gloom, not brightness. It will truly be hell on earth. So Lord, stir our hearts through this book of Amos to do something to keep people from the judgment of God. Stir our hearts to share the gospel, the good news of Jesus with someone. Stir our hearts to turn people on to AddBible so they can hear the whole counsel of God. Stir our hearts to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Holy Spirit, open doors around us to share the good news of the gospel. And then give us the courage to do it in your name. Might you touch someone’s heart through us. In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen. All of the Ad Bible radio programs are available to you in writing. We transcribed all of Ad Bible into an 11-book series called Day by Day Through the Bible, and we did it in a unique way by authors of the Bible. You can get the complete set or a book at a time at our website, EzraProject.net. For example, there are the writings of Moses, the writings of Solomon, the writings of the minor prophets and the writings of the major prophets, the writings of the Old Testament historical books, and the writings of Old Testament leaders. Covering the New Testament, we have the writings of Matthew and Luke, the writings of John, the writings of Paul, and the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. So this 11-book series covers all 66 books of the Bible, chapter by chapter. So if the radio program was on 1 Samuel, you would find the written version in day by day through the Bible of the writings of Old Testament historical books. If the radio program is covering Daniel or Jonah, you would find all the minor prophets in the writings of the minor prophets. But say you’re studying the gospel of John in your own personal quiet time. You can find our coverage of John’s gospel in the writings of John, which includes not just his gospel, but other writings like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and Revelation. Or you are going to be reading one of Paul’s epistles. You could find them all in the writings of Paul. Our Day by Day through the Bible series is a tremendous resource as you read and study any book of the Bible. It will deepen your understanding of God’s Word and enhance your personal quiet time because each book breaks down the passage with comments from my personal Bible reading journals, offers life applications, and prayers related to the passage. If you want more from your time in God’s Word, visit EzraProject.net and try one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. Any of the 11 books are a great place to start, or get the full set to use wherever you are in the Bible today or wherever you are heading in your Bible reading.
