After declaring
that Israel were “kine of Bashan” and they would be taken
“away with hooks...and fishhooks”,
he told them their “wives and females” would go out through “the
breaches” or “gaps” in the
walls of their city. In chapter four and verse four of his prophesy,
Amos shared the LORD's mocking exhortation for Israel to “multiply
transgressions” and “bring”
their “sacrifices every morning”
where we read:
Come to
Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression;
and bring
your sacrifices every morning, and
your tithes after three years:
The
verse begins, “Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal
multiply transgression;” Amos
began with the words, “Come to Bethel”
which means “enter into the house of God” which was “the
ancient place and seat of worship in Ephraim on border of
Benjamin, identified with Luz ”,
“and transgress”
or “trespass, apostatize, quarrel, offend, rebel and revolt” “at
Gilgal” which means “a
rolling wheel” and was “the first site of an Israelite camp west
of the Jordan, east of Jericho, here Samuel was judge, and Saul was
made king. It was later used for illicit worship and was the dwelling
place of prophets in northern Israel about four miles from Shiloh and
Bethel” “multiply”
or “make to become great and numerous” “transgressions”
which refers to “trespasses, apostatizes, quarrels, of offenses,
rebels and revolts”. God mockingly gives Israel over to their
idolatry and worship practices as He told them to demonstrate their
“trespasses” upon their altars in both “Bethel”
and “Gilgal”.
The
verse goes on to say, “and bring your
sacrifices every morning, and
your tithes after three years:” Amos
continued, “and bring”
or “carry and transport” “your
sacrifices” which means “slaughters and
offerings” “every morning”
or “at each dawn, break of day and sunrise”, “and
your tithes” or “tenth part or payment”
“after three years”
which refers to “a triad of annual days”. Even as the Israelites
were to offer “sacrifices” every morning and “tithes”
for the support of the ministry every third year, the LORD continued
to charge them to worship their idols in full force.
When
we meditate upon these words of Amos, we understand how the LORD
desired for the people of Israel to see the vanity of their worship
of false idols. God gave them over to these gods in full force that
they might see how useless their worship for these gods was. Jesus
Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man
comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6), and although people
worship other gods, those gods cannot save and give entrance before
God Almighty. We must take heed to Jesus' words, and should we follow
scripted practices of worship toward any other gods, perhaps the
uselessness of those activities will be revealed before it is to late
to change.
Next
time we see Amos tell the people to “offer
a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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