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right well um I of course was not here last week and I appreciated Aaron filling in for me it was a uh an interesting I think very helpful um addendum that he added
0:25
there to the the image of man the uh man in the image of of God I should say I'm going to return to Amos obviously this morning we are in the
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midst of the the section that we were talking about that sort of goes from chapter 3 down through chapter 6 and um we left off of course at the um end of
0:48
chapter 4 beginning of chapter 5 and we pretty much finished chapter 4 but before we leave it behind not in any terms to try to um try your patience by moving slowly but just had a another
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thought to to bring us out of the end of chapter 4 as we move into chapter 5 um he concludes this section the the message that Amos is delivering to them
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concludes at the end of of chapter 4 with this phrase of the um thus I will do to you prepare to meet your God he says in verse 13 for behold he who forms
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the mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are his thoughts who makes the dawn Into Darkness and Treads on the high places of the the Earth Yahweh God of hosts is his
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name we talked a little bit and Y sort of correctly identified this as being rather a climax of of the message here sitting as it does more or less in the middle of this um section again so sort
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of three to to six it does have that very particular name of God and we talked about that a little bit last time um I have been maybe a little harder
1:57
than he deserves at points on Calvin in uh past studies sometimes he he has some odd thoughts but he had I think a very helpful thought here at the end of of chapter 4 he pointed out he said some
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some may identify this as a sort of um Superfluous accumulation of words why is he why is he using all of these words about God but he said it it has to be
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borne in mind the the emphasis here and the aim of this piece is to um waken the people of of Israel from their their
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stuper he says um it is necessary for those men whose minds are slow and stupid to rightly consider God in order to rightly consider what's denounced upon them effectively saying um you know
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it's all well and good for him to stand up there and and say God is going to do this God is going to do that but this reminder here is to say have you really considered the power of God have you
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considered the power and ability of the one who is sending this judgment on you have you stopped to think about what God is capable of what he has already done
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and what he will continue to do um so it's to shake off their their thoughtlessness that they com comprehend how fearful the power of God is and
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we've talked in other studies about the idea of the fear of the Lord and I think it's it's correctly identified by Calvin here that the the aim in particular of this section is not just a sort of
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doxological uh Praise of God which it is and it's not simply to to bring honor to him though that is part of it it is primarily identified and aimed to say
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remember the fear of the Lord the Lord who is sending these judgments on you is the same who does and brings these
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um additionally here we have this phrase in the middle well it says um he he declares to man what are his thoughts
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and this is um tied in with the rest of the aim of Amos here the the overall message which is to say he is aiming for repentance we've talked about this a little bit and um Abe I think kind of
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identified that early on the question of of where is repentance in here and where is the the opportunity to to turn and I think that's an excellent point for us
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to focus on as we consider Amos as a whole but also here in this section we looked at the majority of chapter 4 right had that refrain of and yet you have not returned to me and we're going to see in chapter 5 as we go forward
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that idea of seek Yahweh the idea of of looking for him turning and and repenting but when we talk about the aim of repentance what is necessary for
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repentance in order to repent you must do what
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recognize the of sin recognize the nature of sin you must confess guilt you must acknowledge that you've done something wrong in order to repent of it don't you I mean if you if you don't ever say this was wrong and then I'm
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turning from it is it actually repentance and so Amos is is aiming this at them he's he's using this message
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that God has has delivered through him to say you know you have to confess your guilt God understands your innermost thoughts there is nothing hidden from him man has to do with the Searcher of
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Hearts from whom nothing is hidden Nothing Is concealed and so you have to acknowledge that you're not right before God before you can turn and repent it is
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a necessary step of repentance to acknowledge your guilt to acknowledge what is sin and what is not but it's a question I think for us in here I want to be careful to do as we
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go through it's easy enough to sort of get bound up in the specific moment that this has delivered to 8th Century Israel and talk about their sins their um their
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particular issues and proclivities but what about us uh it would be easy enough for me to stand up here and and describe uh other churches uh social gospel type
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churches or mega churches perhaps and and declaim how they're not right before God and the things they need to acknowledge but what about us here in this building in this body in this Gathering do we take this up I mean I I
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think it was on uh end of chapter 4 last time I was here was the communion Sunday right um and we talked a little bit about self-examination um and I think that's
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part of this is the idea of examining yourself in the light of who God is recognizing that there is no concealing those things that your conscience bothers you about if it's
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bothering conscience it is well known to God um Calvin makes an argument here that I'm somewhat ambivalent it could go either way the particular word here at
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the end um where it says he forms the mountains and creates the wind that word wind there is is familiar I think probably to most of
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or heard almost anybody talk about Hebrew things you've probably heard the word ruach um which is wind or breath or spirit and some of your translations May in fact say who who forms the spirit or
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creates the spirit um it doesn't have a distinct meaning to to identify it as one or the other in Hebrew it's just the word ruach um so either of those translations is is
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reasonable he ties it here to he's declaring to man what are his thoughts he also creates the spirit of man that is true um and so he's talking about
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this in in particular terms of self-examination and and understanding the question I would have in the context of what Amos is doing here though is are we guilty of the same
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kind of things that they're guilty of not their specific sins but are we complacent in our theology are we sitting comfortably in our traditions this is the for of worship that we have
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always had that we have always done why wouldn't we go to gilgal that's what our fathers did that's what we do do we sit in our theology comfortably or do we probe it do we do we examine the
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doctrine do we search the scriptures are we iron sharpening iron testing one another to to sound out what is accurate to the word and what is um perhaps
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misconception or or um things that we we hold because they make us more comfortable we prefer them do we ever examine those sort of uncomfortable truths of scripture in light of our own
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souls and our own position before God that would be the question I have again not to belabor the point here but just to draw out this this aspect because I do think there's a little bit
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of a climax here and a hinge in these two halves of this section of Amos um as he he brings out this aspect of God God the Creator the fear of the Lord and and
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levels that at them as we move into chapter 5 any particular questions on that point or
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comments it's a reasonable question who has the H capitalized in declares to man what are his thoughts it is in my new American
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um I have to say most of the commentators that I read on this section seem to think that it was man's thoughts the his would be referring to man um interestingly in the context of this though we have just had uh some of the
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moments of him saying you know he does nothing without communicating to man I took it and Calvin takes it in that sense of he's declaring to man his innermost thoughts that he formed these
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things he breathes life into you he has the ability to understand and to tell you what you're thinking but it would be equally valid frankly from the text to say he's declaring to man God's Own
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thoughts because he is we're in the middle of a prophetic discourse God is declaring to man God's thoughts on the matter um I'll be honest there's not a lot in the Hebrew at least that I can
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read that would tell you whether it is or it isn't possessive of God um it would be easy enough for me to say it's intentionally ambiguous that it
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could go either way I don't know that it is um
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right right so right the the sort of mix Dawn Into Darkness and goes on to some of those things there are there are some very um PSAL references happening here um yeah I I I don't have an answer for
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you whether it is one or the other I again it's kind of like whe is it Spirit or is it wind it's kind of both in a sense in the sense that we're talking about God who is who is in power over
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that I don't take it in the sense of making Man a robot saying this is what you need to think more in the sense of the search me and try me oh Lord and declare to me whether there is any wicked way within me that idea of God
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knows at the very core of your being what's going on in your mind and in your thinking but I'm not prepared to AR it strongly one way or the other because I I don't see that it's uh very clear to
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me at least in terms of the Hebrew there but I do appreciate that because I think it does fit the context of Amos as he has already declared to us in what was it chapter 3 where it says um you know
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he does nothing without without first declaring to his uh yeah chapter 3:7 surely the Lord Yahweh does nothing unless he Reveals His secret counsel to
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his servants the prophets uh a lion has roared who will not fear uh Yahweh the Lord has spoken who can but prophesy so you have that that
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context of of the message coming from God um so thank you that that that's helpful um again though to to draw it out here I think this is sort of a
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punctuation or a hinge of uh reflecting on the nature of God and the power that he has the fear of the Lord as we look at chapter
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at chapter 5 we've talked about this a little bit the context
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of 3 through six has one section or paropy if you want to use the fancy um hermeneutical term but
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3 verse1 4 verse1 and 5 verse1 all open with some variation or or type of hear this word as Amos I think is probably picking them up in in individual discourses as he's saying them aloud to
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the people you do have this punctuation here um so it's this hear this word but this particular one in chapter 5 is going to be distinguished as a lamentation um he's going to call this
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out specifically as a lamentation or a durge over them so I'm going to read uh chapter 5 in your hearing this morning I am borrowing heavily um on this one from
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uh Robert alter a very eminent Hebrew scholar though I think from what I can read of him probably not a Believer but very very good in handling the Hebrew um
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wrote some some texts particularly on dealing with Hebrew poetry as its own piece um so I'm going to read a version that I've slightly modified of of his
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translation here it's close to yours but just listen for some of the the distinguishing here I would also challenge you as we as I read this
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me assuming my voice holds out listen for structure because we talked about this in a couple of the the chapters the way that these things are structured the way that the Poetry sits it does have a poetry to it and meter to
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it it is distinctly no one argues that this is a poetic delivering of the message I
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message I think every commentator I consulted either said nothing all about the structure or had a different opinion of what the structure was I found at least three different options for the
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structure of this chapter so listen yourselves and we'll discuss in a minute what you think the the structure here is of of Amos chapter 5 he
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says listen to this word that I bear against you as a durge oh House of Israel she has fallen no more to rise the virgin of Israel she is abandoned on her soil none lifts her up for thus said
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the master Yahweh the town that goes out a thousand shall be left 100 and that goes out a 100 shall be left 10 for the house of Israel for thus said Yahweh to
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the house of Israel seek me and live and seek not bethl and to gilgal do not come and to berseba do not pass on for gilgal shall go into Exile and bethl shall turn
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to evil seek Yahweh and live lest the house of Joseph flare like fire and consume bethl with none to quench it you who
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turn Justice into warmwood and righteousness bring to the ground he makes the plees and Orion and turns death's Darkness into morning and day he
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darkens to night he calls to the Waters of the sea and pours them over the land Yahweh is his name he flashes destruction on the strong and destruction comes down upon the Fortress
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they hated the reprover in the gate and the truth speaker they despised therefore as you trampled upon the poor man and a payment of grain you extracted from him heed Stone houses you have
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built but you shall not dwell in them lovely Vineyards you have planted but you shall not drink their wine for I know that your trespasses are many and numerous your offenses foes of the
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righteous take bribes you pervert the needy cause in the gate case sorry in the gate therefore The Prudent on that day shall fall silent for it is an evil
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time seek good and not evil that you may live and so may Yahweh God of armies be with you as you have said hate evil and
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love good and set out Justice in the gate perhaps Yahweh God of Israel May Grant Grace to Joseph's Remnant therefore thus said Yahweh the god of
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Israel the master in all the squares lament and in all the street streets they say Alas and they shall call the farmer to mourning and to lament those expert in Weeping and in all The
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Vineyards there is Wailing as I pass pass in your midst said the Lord or said Yahweh sorry woe who long for the day of Yahweh why should you need the day of
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Yahweh it is a darkness and not light as a man flees from a lion and a bear blocks his way and he enters a house and leans his hand on the wall and a snake bites him
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bites him why the day of Yahweh is darkness and not light pitch black and no Radiance in it I hate I spurn your festivals and smell no fragrance in your convocations
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should you offer up to me burnt offerings or grain offerings I will not accept them nor will I look on the well-being sacrifice of your fatted calves take away from me the noise of
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your singers nor will I listen to The Melody of your loots but let Justice well up like water and righteousness like a steady stream did you bring me sacrifices of grain
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offering in the wilderness 40 years House of Israel and you shall bear away siko your king and Kiran your icons your star gods that you made for yourselves
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and I will Exile you beyond Damascus said Yahweh God of Israel is sorry in
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distinguish then with a lamentation or a durge um this lamentation here this um song it is the same word of course that's used for the book of Lamentations
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the same word that you find used frequently in Jeremiah who is of course connected with that book um some of you may have heard the term a jeremiad uh for being uh lamenting and
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weeping over things um it's the same word uh is translated in this particular version as as a durge which is basically what it is there's no um controversy
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over the fact that it's it's an expression of grief it is a it is a being upset at the state of a thing um it is a lament for what has
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transpired uh there's some discussion on this but most seem to agree uh as as would I that it's used of Israel before her final Calamity so he is effectively
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lamenting for what is about to be he is lamenting what is coming to them in a large sense um Alan Harmon in his
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um commentary says uh use of this language is confirmation of the inevitability of Israel's destruction so he's saying effectively I'm lamenting
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for you I'm I'm weeping for you I'm calling these things because it's certain it's coming upon you um it's interesting to have such
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certainty given how much the rest of the section calls on them for repentance James
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he whatever right so is this just se you shall live live you'll live through it um that's a fair question and it's an
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interesting theological question in terms of uh what God sets out to do versus what he does in the end because we don't consider him he says of himself you know there is no shadow of turning
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there is no um wishy-washiness what God wills and what he sets out to do he accomplishes and yet we have seen as you've alluded to in
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places particularly you see it with um uh Moses in the wilderness right that God says I repented of various destructions or I I relent certain
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things um you also have moments where he says uh you know I I turned it aside at least momentarily least momentarily you think of the King right who who turned and and wept when he recognized
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his State before God and God gave him another 15 years uh of life so there is there are times there are moments where you see God say I will repent of this thing and yet he has told us again as
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you point out from the very beginning I won't hold it back I'm done restraining the evil coming upon you the the destruction that has headed your way so what do we make of his offer of
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repentance we had his call in in chapter 4 of um yet you did not turn return to me when I have cataloged these things that you previously suffered you didn't
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return to me and here he says a number of times seek me that you may live or seek good um what are we supposed to understand by that I frankly think the
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the use of the phrase that you may live goes deeper than simply the idea of survival and it's not just the idea of avoiding destruction ruction either it
23:59
is that sort of taking hold or that grasping of life this is in the theological terms the the idea of the Salvation of God that
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the offer here is not not really strictly in in the the strongest term related to this specific Calamity coming upon them but it is that you may live
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before God that you may dwell before him in life in truth in in the things that God has called them to do because don't forget the nation of Israel as a people
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was called to live before God Called to be that witness and I think the idea here of life that you may live actually actually relates as much if not more to
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the theological sense of true life of of lifegiving that it's not simply related to the avoidance of Destruction but I do think you you have to deal with it in
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those terms because he's talking about destruction the Calamity here um seek me that you may live whether there's an offer there that God would repent or that he would again
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restrain his wrath upon them I do think there is a possibility that that would happen but is not offered in that term it's
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simply used that you may live what I find particularly uh striking about it is we had chapter 4 in which he says again and again I did these things and you did not turn to me and here in
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chapter 5 he says I'm lamenting these things I'm calling out the MERS those you know he says those expert and weeping you you I think are most most of you are familiar with the idea that in in the near East particularly in this
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time and it exists in certain places until today there are professional MERS he's effectively saying you better pay your retainer to the professional MERS because you're going to need them um
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call them out get them ready warm up your voices there's going to be a lament it's sure that it's coming coming upon you seek me that you may live and we're going to turn then to to chapter 7 when
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we get there and what do we find the attitude the heart of these people that are being called to repentance is what get out of here go on back to Judah go preach to somebody else we don't even
26:15
want to hear it you know we talked at the the opening between the bottom of of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 you have this call to acknowledge that what you are doing is wrong to confess
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your guilt and they say get out out of here these people are not prepared to acknowledge they are not right before
26:52
set well so going toen yeah these are ways out teach so it is it is 100% a teaching to his Remnant and it is a teaching to those who will survive because there
27:03
will be a Remnant but it it is a contrast I think James is right to notice it because it it should catch your ear in the sense of I'm lamenting this is certain this is coming to you
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and happening and yet God says that you may live what do you there those stand in contrast to the destruction that he's talking about here so I think you're you're right on the money in the sense
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that it is to the larger congregation it's also a much to I've erased my map but to Israel or to to Judah in the South the southern Kingdom also has opportunity to hear to read to to be
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instructed it's significant in the sense also that he says you know his his early phrase here um talking about the the city that goes out uh a thousand will
27:49
come back 100 those who go out 100 will come back as 10 um he's talking about a widespread and yet not 100% complete destruction of the
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people right and also please bear in mind because we've we've brought it up again in the timeline Jonah I think just immediately predes or is contemporaneous with Amos and there is that message that we talked about out of out of um Jonah
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which is God tells him to go tell Nineveh they're all going to be destroyed the whole thing completely wiped out and yet that whole city
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repents and God withholds his destruction so that's not to say that God did not have in his own ability or his own his own mind an opportunity for them but he
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again he recognizes these people he knows to whom he's speaking you're going to read it in amos's description of them here in chapter 5 you hated the the people who reproved you you despise the
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people who tell you the truth how are you going to turn and live and yet God again it comes back to this idea I think that that God never speaks
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to his people without Mercy there is never a uh an aspect of him that is merciless even though he is set here in
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in Prosecuting their evil and that's that's the other piece that comes out of chapter 5 particularly is it relates to the nature of God in the sense that that God is compelled to
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pursue and destroy the evil that they are exhibiting that it is his the nature of his Justice and his Holiness cannot bear that this should persist and so you
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have that aspect of it um the these segments all have a a um an aspect of instruction an aspect of
30:00
prohibition don't do these things and an aspect of because you have done the following is coming upon you so there's the the instruction of seeking and living there is the prohibition of the
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cease going to Google don't pass on to Beba um you know stop doing the things that you're doing that are wrong and then finally you have already built up you have already stored up the
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recompense is coming to you this is the the wages of the things you have done um talking uh to return to our Point here on on terms of structure um well sorry
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before we leave the idea of the inevitability uh another commentator says the the purpose of this uh phrasing that you find in in um 54
30:48
56 uh 514 and then the woes in 518 and then uh chapter 6 verse1 these sort of instructions of the the turn and seek or
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the the woe to you he says um there is no other purpose to these than this to impress upon the people of God the impossibility of averting the threatened
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destruction so you have this certainty this lament that that Amos is taking up saying this is happening this is coming to you um there is still Mercy in God
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there is still still opportunity given that you may repent that you can confess your sin before him and yet the destruction is coming he will not hold it back as he has said in in chapter
31:36
1 so to discuss then in terms of structure um the following options are
31:58
TOS yes second thing I think seems to me that in his God's even though this is going to happen yeah it's
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not oh yeah absolutely them why these are happen yes yeah no I I appreciate that because that's that is absolutely again to think
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about this in terms of of why do we read the prophets as a whole not strictly Amos I said it before and I I'll stand by it prophecy is effectively God's
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commentary on the situation God is telling them in no UNC terms this is what I think about what's happening so you have of course you have the The Narrative sections of the histories
32:44
right of of Genesis and Exodus Leviticus has the laws and everything but you have narrative right that tells you this is the history that happened you have Kings and Chronicles the history that's part of God's word those things are there and
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true you have the Psalms that are true expressions of of um well frankly a lot of emotions uh you have you have glory and joy you have
33:07
distress you have calling upon the name of the Lord in all of those ways but when you come to the prophets that is literally the word of God coming to a people through a a messenger through a
33:18
prophet saying this is what God thinks about this thus said Yahweh here's the thought here's what's going on so yes it is it is abs absolutely that um that he's describing
33:30
to them this but also I appreciate your second point there because this is what we've tried I think to to talk about some from the very beginning of it is starting with the Nations he gives them
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a reason he describes what what happened he describes he's not just saying um you know I'm just I'm striking you because I'm angry I'm I'm swatting you as a parent who's annoyed he's saying you're
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filled with evil and I Must Destroy I must again to be careful not to to use uh open theist terms I was about to say the word respond God is not reactive he is
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proactive in all things but he describes himself in human terms he's effectively saying to bring back another point that we've talked about it several times as promised in Deuteronomy chapter 23 and
34:18
28 the blessings and the cursings you've done the bad part the curse is coming to you I am following through with what I promised to you hundred hundreds of
34:28
years ago uh this is what happens I described it to you you've done your contravening and I'm going to punish you according to the terms I set
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out and so it is it is again I get annoyed in no small part by people who say that God is is wrathful or the the god of the Old Testament is angry because he's talking
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to them here again a lament it's grief he's upset that he's got to do this to them because they're so far astray but it's an expression of faithfulness he is faithful to what he has promised
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to do even if that means crushing the people that he loves father telling his son and yeah what is going on yeah
35:24
yeah and I I have had occasion with my own children to say I don't enjoy punishing you punishing you but neither will I let this go unpunished it it's effectively
35:34
that that would be a shorthand for what you're reading here is is God saying I don't enjoy crushing my people I am lamenting about this I am in grief and yet I will not let this go unpunished um
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it does relate back to the sort of covenantal language again in in Deuteronomy and I'm not going to have time this morning to bring out all the parallels we will certainly be in chapter 5 again um next week because
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there's that specific phrase that we saw in the second half there um I said Yahweh because in the original text it is Yahweh but most of you would be familiar with the phrase the day of the
36:08
Lord um again talking about our timeline of of prophets Amos is probably the first one to have committed that to writing in terms of where he sits with the prophets the day of the Lord but
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you'll see it again in Isaiah you'll see it again uh in Joel you'll see it again in Zephaniah in Zephaniah Zechariah um shows up in a couple places
36:31
and then it actually gets picked up uh in the New Testament we find it in um Jesus's description uh in Matthew and then also uh again in Acts chapter 2 in
36:41
one of Peter's sermons you have the day of the Lord as a phrase and then it shows up again in in Thessalonians um as Paul deals with the eschatology of those things so we're going to talk next week
36:53
specifically about day of the Lord but in the last little bits of uh minutes we have here the purpose I think we've we've established which is God is telling them this is coming to you he
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speaks of it in certain terms I am lamenting I am I am raising a durge against you against you because it's not going to you're not going to avoid this you're you're not
37:15
going to to um avert the destruction that's coming to you but he still offers them Grace he still offers them h a chance to take
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hold of life and to to turn and to repent because he is filled with Mercy um there are these sections in
37:45
5 I'll show my hand a little bit here because I think this is this is the structure that I see out
38:38
so you have the the seek me that you may live in the early part and then in the middle you have the seek good that you may live and then you have a woe that comes near the end of the chapter well
38:49
actually it's it's a little over halfway through the chapter um you know woe to you my my new American Standard says alas I think woe is the better option there if you mark in your Bibles I would
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go with woe instead of alas um because he is he is describing to well again it irritates me a little bit because uh chapter 6 verse one in my same
39:10
translation says woe to those who are at ease and Zion and those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria both of those are the same word it should just be woe if you're going to translate it one way translate it the same way in those
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passages it ties together again thinking of this as a Section 3 through six those that we find in at the end of five or middle of five is tying together with the woe that he's describing to them in
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in chapter 6 um and we'll talk more about that when we talk about day of the Lord because um it is there in in 518 where he says woe to you who are longing
39:44
for the day of the Lord or looking for this day because it's not going to be nice um that's one option is is these sort of paragraphs of of structure that are giving sort of headings and pieces that
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come down under it um another and we may spend a little time talking about this next week also um not to drag out our study but I I think it's useful to discuss it since we have made
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reference more than once uh and it was it was significant in uh four and we find it here particularly in five as he describes gilgal and he describes
40:20
um bethl and then he describes Beba you'll recognize these terms from other places we've seen them a couple of times here in Amos we haven't actually discussed the significance of those
40:31
things because I think it does relate to the idea of self-satisfaction when we talk about these people these people thought they were doing the right thing they thought they were worshiping God in
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truth because those specific places we'll talk about next week tied back to the history of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as a people they had significant
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interactions with God at these places we see in those early uh narratives that in at least a couple of these they raised an altar there to God and what they're
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effectively doing is saying we have the more ancient the more uh true form of the religion because we've returned to the altars of our fathers and God through Amos is telling them in know un
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certain terms these are not the right things to do so one commentator offers that this is A Tale of Three shrines
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he says um the centerpiece of Amos 5 is his striking call to the people to give up their festial pilgrimages to the three great three great shrines there's a lot of chapter 5 that makes no specific mention of these after
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that sort of opening section I don't find that to be particularly compelling to say it's the centerpiece um I think the woe is more arguably the centerpiece of what's happening in chapter 5 so
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there's an option for you if you want to go a little more um I don't know what the term is uh Aaron did an excellent job in his Deuteronomy study describing
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the uh use of kaym and when we see kaym most of you I think will remember that it is of course patterned on the Greek letter Kai which is an X this sort of
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sometimes I've actually seen some of the um I don't know if you know this but the the the Hebrews also would do the sort of illuminated manuscripts sometimes like you would have seen in the medieval times where they'll do the fancy craphy
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version of their writing and sometimes where there's a chiastic passage they'll actually do sort of lines of text like this down to a bit and then sort of widen them back out in the
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manuscript to demonstrate that this is what the text is doing that there's a kaym there one commentator and I I did try to see if I could find anybody else do this and nobody else agrees with him
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and I'm not sure I do either but if you want to look at it He suggests there's a
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passages but it's not clear to me that there's an intended kaym there um just reading through those and I'm not going to do it again because we're running out of time but if you if you look at those sections in your own copies there's not enough similarity as
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far as I can read in the original Hebrew to stand it out to me to say he was intentionally poetically making this refer back to that and building this structure out uh and again this this
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particular commentator was the only one I saw that took that particular view of it that there's a chastic structure there but I'll offer it to you if it compels you uh and you're really into poetry you can try to parse that out for
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yourself I tend to think a it more in these terms probably because of who I am as a person but I think there are these sort of structure or this this outline if you like of the the seeking uh and
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the idea of of opportunity of repentance do form sort of bullet points in amos's uh message as he delivers it and then it's followed by the the sort of woes
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capping off the certainty as we talked about he opens with the certainty um that this lamentation I I offer against you is coming to you and when he gets
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down to um you know sort of 18 and following he's really putting the headstone on top of the Grave saying you know woe to you because this is coming
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um it's it's really cementing in place the reality of the destruction that God is is sending to them um that's how I
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look at the structure for for the overall chapter but we're going to return to chapter 5 next week I'm going to close this in a word of prayer unless there's a particular burning question or comment on
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comment on that all right father we do thank you for your word we ask that you would help us as we seek to dig into it and to read and to
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understand to speak rightly of you and to to glorify you in our diligent search of the scriptures that you would profit Us by it that our
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minds would be improved and edified but that we would use the knowledge gained the graciousness that you give to us in in your scriptures for your glory not for uh puffing ourselves up with
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knowledge but that we would offer back to you praise and honor and Glory as we better realize who you are and what you have done through the self-revelation
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that you have embedded in your word we ask these things as we go before you now in a time of worship in song and in prayer and in hearing the word preached
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that you would be glorified that our minds and our hearts would be truly after you that you would seek us and try us and show us if there is
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any wicked way in us that we might confess and repent of the evil that is in our hearts but that we would always always acknowledge the only reason we are here
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the only opportunity we have to come before you is because the blood of your son Jesus Christ bought peace with God through his sacrifice through his
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shedding of blood on our behalf his his innocent blood shed and so it is in his name that we come before you and it is for His glory that we ask these things
