Amos 4 is a lesson in repentance. God calls you to repent of your sins. Repentance includes two parts: turning away from sin, and turning to Christ. Therefore God's call to repentance is both a call to turn away from sin, and a call to come to Christ in faith. This is what Amos is doing in his covenant lawsuit against Israel.

As we saw last week, the structure of the covenant lawsuit is clearly laid out in Amos. After bringing the indictment in chapter 2, Amos 3-6 is divided into three parts, each beginning with the phrase "Hear this word." Amos 3:1-10 sets forth God's right to judge (3:1-8), and calls witnesses (3:9-10); while Amos 3:11-15 declares the judgment that God will bring against Israel.

Amos 4 consists of God's rationale for his judgment. It opens and closes with God's oath, whereby he has sworn by himself that judgment is at hand. He has been very patient. He has tried all sorts of mild judgments. He sets forth in five declarations all that he has done in order to convince Israel to return. But each time, he concludes: "Yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh."

God has not rushed to judgment. He is a merciful God, slow to anger, and quick to forgive. But he will not allow his people to reject his Word forever. The time for repentance is past. It is too late for Israel to repent.

Amos 4 is directed at the "cows of Bashan." As you might imagine, this is not a compliment! The cows of Bashan were among the most prized cattle in the area. Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River, was one of the kingdoms conquered by Moses and the Israelites before entering the promised land. The region was known for its prime grazing land, and its herds and flocks were famous for being fat and well-fed. [Psalm 68:15; Ezekiel 39:18; Micah 7:14] Psalm 22 speaks of the bulls of Bashan as encircling the helpless Psalmist. This called forth the image of strong, angry bulls, ready to trample him down.

But here, Amos doesn't even the Israelites credit for being bulls. They are not worthy of being compared to those strong, powerful bulls of Bashan. They are just fat, lazy cows. Some have suggested that this prophecy is directed to the women of Samaria, due to the reference to cows, and then that they say to their husbands, "Bring, that we may drink." And certainly the Israelite women come under the same condemnation as their husbands, but I don't believe that Amos is suddenly singling out one gender. Rather, he is saying that the wealthy Israelites as a whole are like effeminate cows. This is intended as an insult. "You fat, lazy cows, you are like a woman who has turned her husband into a serving girl." You were supposed to recognize that as the wealthy in Samaria, it was your job to protect the poor and to deliver the oppressed. You have inverted your rightful place. For a rich man to oppress the poor is like a woman who treats her husband as her servant. And notice that the judgment he proclaims is not gender specific. These fat, lazy cows of Bashan are going to be taken away with fishhooks. Samaria is going to fall, and those who have oppressed the poor and crushed the needy will be pierced with fishhooks and led away. Nice image, eh? Just imagine what it would be like to have a couple of fishhooks stuck in you. You'd move pretty quick, in whatever direction you were told!

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, because the Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness, that this is coming upon you. When God swears an oath, you'd better pay attention. God always does what he says that he will do, so when HE swears an oath, it means that you'd better listen up! And hear, God swears by his holiness. This usage of "holiness" very frequently refers to the temple, or even God's heavenly dwelling. And given the context of judgment against Bethel, which was the place of worship in the northern kingdom, it is likely that Amos's hearers would have understood this as a reference to the sanctuary in Jerusalem. But if you translated it God has sworn by his sanctuary, you would miss the overarching point: God is swearing by that to which the sanctuary points. He is swearing by his own holiness; He is saying, may I become unholy if I do not bring this judgment against you! The Israelite response may well have been, but Lord Yahweh, we're offering the sacrifices you commanded! Jeroboam's great-grandfather, Jehu, had wiped out Baal worship in Israel. He had slaughtered the wicked line of Ahab, executing Jezebel and her descendants. He had restored Yahweh worship, BUT, he had restored Yahweh worship at Bethel and Dan, where Jeroboam I had established the golden calves. For four generations, Jehu's descendants had maintained Yahweh worship, but still refused to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. Amos now declares, "Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every third day; [probably a reference to every third year-which is what was commanded by Moses] offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel!" declares the Lord Yahweh.

You may think that you are offering the right sacrifices, but you are doing it in the wrong place. We often think that the northern Kingdom had fallen completely into idolatry, that they were worshiping Baal and other gods regularly. And yes, 2 Kings 13:6 says that Jehoahaz, the grandfather of Jeroboam II, maintained an Asherah pole in Samaria. (Asherah was a goddess who was usually considered the consort of Baal, it is possible that Jehoahaz was suggesting that Asherah was the consort of Yahweh. In fact, there is at least one archeological site with a notation of Yahweh and his Asherah) But Amos doesn't go after these sorts of idolatrous practices. Amos says that what they are doing well is still sin. Israel's worship of Yahweh was technically correct in many ways, but it was still transgression, because they sought to worship God in the wrong place.

You love to do all the right things in worship. But you don't love me! Because if you loved me you would come to meet me in worship, and you can't find me in Bethel, or in Gilgal. Amos doesn't go after the idolaters in Israel. He goes after the Yahweh worshipers and says, you don't really love the Lord Yahweh, because if you did, you wouldn't be here in Bethel! You'd be in Jerusalem.

What about you? I know that you love to do the right things in worship, because you're here. But do you love Christ? Do you come to worship to meet HIM? to hear HIM? to praise HIM? If you love Christ, then you come here not because of the things we do in worship, but because we come to the Heavenly Jerusalem to meet with our God!

And God turns to his church in Israel, and reminds them of his patience with them. He has tried, over and over again, to call them back to himself. He has sent little pricks, little reminders, but they have not been paying attention. God gives five examples of his patience, each one ends, "yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh." Given the geographical reference to Bethel and Gilgal in verse 4, along with the emphasis on the LORD uttering his voice from Jerusalem in 1:2 the refrain, "you did not return" plainly seems to mean, you did not return to Jerusalem. Israel has refused to repent. They may have turned away from some of their sins, but they have not turned to Christ. (And remember that Christ means "anointed one"--they have not turned to the anointed son of David.)

First, "I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh" (4:6). Today we prize cleanness of teeth, but dental hygiene wasn't as prominent in the ancient world. So, if your teeth are clean, that means you haven't been eating. I sent famine, but you didn't return to me.

Second, "I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither; so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh" (4:7-8).

Notice how particular God is. You didn't notice the famine, so I sent drought to particular cities. Remember, Israel is a very small place. The whole of the northern kingdom of Israel was the same length as it is from here to Chicago. And yet God is giving one city rain, while its neighbor has a drought. Didn't it ever cross your mind, O Israel, when one city had rain, but its neighbor did not, that I might have been trying to tell you something!

Third, "I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh" (4:9).

Fourth, "I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh" (4:10). Remember what I did to Egypt? But you didn't listen. You didn't repent. Famine, plague, war--these judgments did not move you from your rebellion!

So fifth, "I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me, declares Yahweh" (4:11). If you won't pay attention to the plagues of Egypt, will you listen to the judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah? Amos is likely referring to the invasion of Hazael, king of Syria, during the reign of Jeroboam II's grandfather, Jehoahaz. Hazael and his son, Ben-Hadad, had destroyed the armies of Israel and plundered their cities (2 Kings 13), but while Jehoahaz had called out to Yahweh for deliverance, he had not destroyed the Asherah in Samaria, nor had he returned to Jerusalem to worship. Israel has refused to repent.

"Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" (4:12). You refuse to meet with me in your worship, therefore you will meet with me in battle. "For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth--Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name!"

Yahweh is the God of hosts. He is the ruler of the armies of the earth, and his heavenly hosts, none can withstand.

John Calvin suggested that "Amos further teaches us, that wind and rain, hail and drought, heat and cold, are arms or weapons, by which God executes vengeance on account of our sins. Whenever God then intends to inflict punishment on us, he puts on his armour, that is, he sends either rain, or wind, or drought, or heat, or hail. Since it is so, let us not think that either rain or heat is fortuitous, or that they depend on the situation of the stars, as ungodly men imagine. Let us therefore know, that all nature so obeys God's command, that when rain falls seasonably, it is a token of his love towards us, and that when it is unseasonable, it is a proof of his displeasure" (Commentary on Amos 4:9).

God does not bring these judgments by some mechanical system. It is not as though God has a checklist, "Hmm, it looks like California has reached the 1,000 sin mark, time for another drought!" But all "natural disasters" are in fact sent by God as judgments against sin. We believe in common grace--that God gives his blessings to believer and unbeliever alike, as a token of his general disposition of favor to the human race. Common grace signifies that God is not finished with humanity; it provides the context for that special saving grace revealed in Jesus Christ. Likewise, there is a common wrath--that God brings "natural disasters" against humanity, as a token of his wrath and anger against sin. Common wrath signifies that God's judgment is coming against humanity, and it provides a reminder of the coming of God's special and specific wrath which will destroy all who refuse to repent and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

But even more particularly, this judgment is directed at the church. The church, after all, is not free from its Jeroboams and Jehus. Jude warns us of the false teachers who seek to "pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (4). Jude draws on several of the same themes as Amos. He speaks of the deliverance from Egypt, as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (5-7), in the context of reminding the church that those who do not believe the gospel will be destroyed. Jude warns against the "grumblers and malcontents" who "follow their own sinful desires"; "They are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage" (16).

I fear that Reformed churches often attract such. For proof, just look at Jude 18-19: The apostles warned us that "in the last times there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit." Under the guise of orthodoxy or the purity of the church, such persons lead schisms and cause division in the church. Nearly 70 years ago it took the outright denial of the deity of Christ in the PCUSA to produce the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and thirty years ago it took similar issues to produce the PCA. I'm not convinced that either of our churches handled it exactly right. But plainly the PCUSA of the 1930s and the PCUS of the 1970s were places where the gospel was increasingly hard to find. The OPC and the PCA were, in Amos's words, "brands plucked out of the burning," a remnant saved from the destruction that is coming upon the mainline churches. But in our zeal for orthodoxy, we have not always been careful to watch out for schismatics. Today Presbyterians are dividing over the length of the creation days, we are feuding over the very covenant that binds us together, and there are dozens of splinter groups that have fractured off from the PCA and OPC. We need to take to heart Jude's words: "But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh" (20-23).

In Amos, God plucks Israel out of the fire, calling them to return to himself, but they refuse to repent. In Jude, the church is called to snatch the brother out of the fire, in order to deliver him from the heretics and schismatics.

Jude is dealing with a similar problem, but there is a different tone. There is a confidence in Jude, a hope that simply cannot be found in Amos.

And that is because our Lord Jesus Christ has come. He has taken the judgment of God upon himself. In the cross, God's wrath was poured out upon Jesus Christ. He received the judgment that we deserved. And now he has been raised to the right hand of the Father, and has poured out the Holy Spirit upon his church. Those who are united to Christ by faith, through baptism into his death, now share in his glory, even as we share in his sufferings. This is the reason for Jude's confidence. Jude calls us to show the same mercy to others that God has shown to you. Where is your heart set? Do you always have to be right? Or do you find yourself grumbling, or following after your own sinful desires? If so, then repent! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Return to the Lord Yahweh, and you will be saved!

But, you may say, I've already been saved. Ah, but there is no one living on this earth who does not still need to be saved! As Peter says in 1 Peter 1:9, it is through the work of sanctification that you "obtain the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." The Christian must live a life of repentance, continually turning from sin, and turning to Christ, the anointed son of David. Therefore, I say to you, repent! You cannot save yourself. Therefore, flee to Christ, who alone can deliver you from sin and death.

Prayer: Almighty God, since by your word you have kindly invited us to yourself, grant that we may not turn deaf ears to you; and when in our stupidity and thoughtlessness we fail to see or feel that discipline with which you sharply urge us to repent, O grant that we may not continue in our blindness, but may at length turn our hearts to your service, and submit ourselves to the gentle yoke of our Savior. May we be instructed by your punishments, that we may truly turn to you from our hearts, and offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice, that you may govern us according to your will, and so rule all our affections by your Spirit that we may strive to glorify your name, through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen.

Copyright © 2003 Peter J. Wallace