Let's turn in God's word again to Amos and chapter 5. We'll read the first 10 verses of this chapter, Amos and chapter five. Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even the lamentation, or house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen. She shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land. There is none to raise her up. For thus saith the Lord God, the city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten to the house of Israel. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, seek ye me, and ye shall live, but seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to naught, Seek the Lord, and ye shall live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, The Lord is his name, that strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Amen. Read the reading there, let's ask the Lord's help as we consider his word this morning. Lord, we thank thee once more for the word of God, the truth of it, and we pray that as we consider it this morning, that it might be pressed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that the work might be done in us, and that we, O Lord, might rejoice in thee. We ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Last time we considered Amos together, we considered the first three verses of chapter five, and on that occasion considered the sorrowful song that was in view there. It was indeed a lament Verse two contained it, short bursts there of mournful words making up those four clauses which comprise the sentence that is in that verse two. There was a distinct pronouncement there in that just previous to this, at the end of chapter four, which we'd considered previously, there was there a hymn of glory speaking of the manifold perfections and attributes of God and his power and majesty. This is quite the transition then because it moves from praise straight into lamentation. The form of the words in verse two are that of a type of Hebrew literary form which is essentially a funeral dirge. The phrasing is such as to give the idea of weeping or sobbing between each line as it is sung or chanted. The virgin of Israel is fallen. She shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land. There is none to raise her up. Instead of a hymn then to God's glory, we have here a lamentation over Israel's fall. The Lord himself is lamenting over them. We then saw that there was a depleted potential that is highlighted here. The word virgin speaks of youth and possibility, potential fruit that might be born in the future. But here though we find that the virgin of Israel is fallen. The word virgin also speaks of innocence. And the language here indicates that such innocence is no more, for she is fallen. At this point in history, Israel had never been subject to a foreign power, but that was about to change. So in that sense then, she has lost her innocence. Remember also that Israel was guilty of sexual impurity and part of their sin. So the mention of Israel as a fallen virgin takes more meaning there also. is upon her land that she is forsaken too. And the word land there is the same word used of the dust from which Adam was made in the beginning. The land too, when we speak of the actual land that we are talking about here, where they were, was the land of promise. It was the blessing of God upon his people. But now Israel is forsaken in that very place, upon her land, and there is none to raise her up, for her leaders and princes would all be captive too. So all that potential that could have been is gone. So they're thus in great extremity. Then we observe lastly that they would be a decimated people. Another cause here for the sorrowful song of lamentation and mourning that the Lord sings, as it were, of his people. They'd be reduced, we find, to one-tenth of their population due to the destruction that would come upon them. The idea being put across here is that such would be the sweeping scale and scope of the judgment that the only right response is that of a song of lament. And so great would be the destruction, so little left that it must provoke the funeral dirge. It must provoke this sorrowful song. Just as the Lord Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, so the Lord laments over them. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. The very same tolling language is used here in Amos. Their house is left desolate. And in closing, we ask the following questions. Firstly, are you lamenting over the condition of this nation? There is much certainly for us to lament over, but we should not do so in a spirit of haughtiness or spiritual pride or criticism, but rather in true spiritual sorrow. It should drive us firstly to prayer, secondly, to live right ourselves, and thirdly, to preach the truth to those around us. Are we lamenting over the condition of this nation? We asked, are you lamenting over the condition of your own soul? That is to say, are you mourning over your own sin? Not that we should be discouraged or in a state of spiritual depression, but have we considered the truth of God's word that it should make us sorrowful over our sin, and thus to cast ourselves again and again upon God's mercy? And then thirdly, is God lamenting over your soul? And it might be that the Lord laments over you this morning, perhaps you've come Never come to him. Perhaps you've come and gone away. Perhaps he there thus laments over you. You should not then continue in stubbornness and pride as Israel did, but instead grasp the promise of salvation, that the Lord should no longer lament, but instead rejoice over a sinner that has come to repentance. Trust the Lord, use his word in these ways to the benefit of your souls, and we'll do so again this morning. This morning we are considering verses four to six here, and the subject here is a singular salvation. Verses four to six. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live. But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not Rebeersheba, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to naught. Seek the Lord and ye shall live, lest ye break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. You can see the overriding emphasis as we see and observe and read these verses is the underscoring of the need that the people had to seek the Lord and shun their idolatry. So we have here for our observation this morning, firstly, the pressing need. The pressing need here is obvious, of course. It is that they should seek the Lord. The need here is literally a vital one. For the words here are, seek ye me and ye shall live. Life depends upon this. Now this theme, of course, runs throughout scripture. Look and live and see the Lord. seek the Lord while he may be found. Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's a very familiar language to any who have a knowledge of the Bible. But we have here a positive command. Firstly, this is what must be done. This is what can be done. This is an action that can be taken. The people up until now have been passive under the Lord's words. He is merely stating facts about them, bringing his accusations upon them. And even when he spoke of returning to him, it was not commanding them or instructing them to do so, but saying, all of these things I've done for you, yet you have not returned unto me. Here we have a positive command. Now they have an action to take. Seek ye me. positive command. Here is also a merciful command. Despite all the judgment and condemnation that had been pronounced upon them already, yet there is still a way of escape. Here is also a vital command, as we've said, for upon it rests the issues of life and death. To ignore it is death and judgment. To obey it is life itself. Here is a gracious command also, because the Lord, in commanding them to seek him, makes himself available to be found of them. That is grace indeed, it's a gracious command. Here is also a stark command. Only in this chapter, in all of Amos, are these words found. Only in this chapter are the people called upon to seek the Lord. Here is a serious command. This must be taken seriously. It cannot be trifled with. The only fools would trifle with it in the context of the pronouncements of God's judgment upon them. Seek ye me, a serious command. So the words here are important. They are repeated throughout this chapter in slightly different forms in verse six and verse eight and verse 14. Here is an opportunity, perhaps unlooked for, unexpected when taken in combination with the words that we've considered already and the judgments and accusations that God has pronounced, we might not have expected that such a merciful command would be received. The line of mercy amongst the stanzas, verses of despair. Let me see also here not only the pressing need but the excluding of option It was excluding of options here in that the Lord in verse 5 says, but seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba. For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to naught. If you cast your mind back, you will remember, I hope, that Bethel and Gilgal have been mentioned already back in chapter four. There, the Lord ironically says to the people in verse four of chapter four, come to Bethel and transgress. At Gilgal, multiply transgressions for this liketh you, O children of Israel. The point there was that this was what they delighted in, for this liketh you. He continued on to say, And that being the case, then it is an emphatic contrast with this chapter. Here he says, seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal. The ironic tone is gone, and now there is an earnestness in these words to his people. To remind you, Bethel was the place in which Amos was now saying these words, and it was a center of idolatry, and it was one of the places that Jeroboam had placed golden calf to replace the worship of the Lord correctly at Jerusalem. Gelgal again was a place of idolatry and of the high places which men and women worshipped the gods of the heathen. Also mentioned here is Beersheba, which was actually in the southern kingdom It seems then that there were those who would go on pilgrimage to that town because of its patriarchal roots. Beersheba was much revered because of its connections to Abraham and Isaac and the patriarchs. And so people from the northern kingdom would go there because it was there that they found their origins, as it were. But again, all this was not for worship, it was for superstition. It was for fleshly reasons. The Lord seeks to dissuade them from such folly. Do not enter Gilgal. seek not Bethel. It says at the end of verse 5, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity and Bethel shall come to naught. Now there is here a clever play on words which is not recognisable apart from in the original language. Hebrew is a language which is comprised of consonants And in the case of the Old Testament, there is a pointing system which allows us to pronounce the words correctly. But in the original, they would not necessarily have been there. The play on words here is in terms of the similarity of the words Gilgal and captivity. First of all, the word for captivity is Galah, which means to be removed. The letters G and L are prominent in that word, and so to our eyes, just viewing the letters themselves, they would look quite similar. Gilgal and Galar. Gilgal shall be removed. In terms of the sound also, they would be akin to us using alliteration. For example, in our subject this morning, we spoke of a singular salvation. Last time we spoke of a sorrowful song. and the sound of the words becomes prominent in our minds. Likewise, if you were reading this in Hebrew, the words, Gilgal shall go into captivity, would also have that same sound. It would sound similar. There's a play on words here. So literally, we have here that Gilgal shall be removed. But likewise there is also some significance in the words Bethel shall come to nought. Remember that Bethel means the house of God. So literally we read here and the house of God shall become the house of worthlessness. The word for nought there is the word aven which means worthless or empty. It's often used to refer to acts of idolatry. You may remember that when Amos spoke against Damascus. He spoke of the plain of Avon, referred to in chapter one in verse five. That word Avon is the same word here for nought. We read earlier from Hosea 10, perhaps you remember. And in that chapter, the taking away of the idols of Bethel is mentioned. And how the people and the priests would mourn who once rejoiced over the idols and the pomp of Bethel, they would mourn over it now because those aisles would be removed. But Bethel is not referred to there as Bethel. It is referred to as Bethaven, the house of worthlessness. The Lord there changes its name from the house of God to the house of worthlessness, or the house of vanity. God is not there anymore. That is very much the idea here also. Do not go into Gilgal, for Gilgal will be removed and taken away. Seek not Bethel, because it will become the house of worthlessness and will not be any help of you. These are the options. They are gone. You have but one. And again, at the beginning of verse six, we see the words again emphasized. Seek the Lord. and ye shall live. There is but this one way of salvation. Then thirdly, we have here, as well as the pressing need and the excluding of options, the judging of vanity. In the second part of verse six, we find the consequences again reiterated. Seek the Lord and ye shall live. lest he break out like fire upon you, upon the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. Notice it is the Lord himself who will break out upon them. He shall break out upon you, lest he break out upon you like fire. He is the very one whom they must seek. Seek the Lord, lest he break out like fire on the house of Joseph. Just because it is he who will bring the judgment upon them does not mean that they can seek refuge in anyone else but him. The fire, which we've said before, speaks metaphorically of judgment would come in the form of the Assyrian invasion. And then in the subsequent reformation under Josiah, which included specifically the destruction of Bethel and all of its high places and idolatry as one of its main outcomes. God will ensure they are beyond doubt that the judgment was coming, but yet even still he offers them an escape. The last clause in verse six is also significant. There shall be none to quench it in Bethel. Remember that Bethel was the place where the golden calf was set. It was the place where the king had his summer house, as it were, as his residence, his sanctuary, his chapel, as it's called in the King James Version. And so a centre of both religious and civil power. And yet for all the power in the place, for all the people of high rank, and of high authority, there would be none in Bethel that could prevent the judgment of God from coming upon them. That place that was called the house of God, it should not, it could not prevent the coming of the judgment. It was their sin that was drawing the judgment, the punishment. So of course there was nothing that they could do to avert the stroke of God's justice upon them. Trust in vanity was folly for them. the only thing that they could do was seek the Lord. Now the application of these points is, I think, clear and obvious. There are three things I want to unequivocally extract for your attention as we close briefly. First of all, it is vital that you seek the Lord rather than the idols of this world. I describe the command of God in verse four as, Vital, earlier on, and I use the word again for the same reason. Vital, of course, refers to the matters of life and death. And this morning the Lord says to you if you've never trusted in him, seek ye the Lord and ye shall live. Seek ye me and ye shall live. It's a matter of eternal life and eternal damnation that you seek the Lord this morning. There is nowhere else that you can go. Trust in the Lord. To obey the command to seek the Lord is life eternal. To cast it off is eternal damnation. Do not treat these words lightly this morning, but take them seriously. They are words of mercy. They are words of grace. That you might certainly be damned even now. The Lord Jesus Christ said that he that believeth not is condemned already. There's not something to come. It is already in place if you have not trusted in him. But even now, there is a way of escape. This one way. The Lord makes himself available to be found. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. This morning, if you have never sought him, do so now. Don't let another moment pass by. To do so is to live. To seek Him is to live. To do not so is to seek death. Do you seek death this morning? Is damnation the prize that you seek? No one seeks death and damnation. Stop now and turn to the Lord and seek Him because there is no other way to life. and through his merciful dealing with those who humbly seek him. Turn away from the emptiness and the hollowness of this world. Call on his name and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It is vital that you seek the Lord rather than the idols of this world. Then secondly, it is clear that the idols of this world are empty and will be shown finally to be so. The idols of this world are vanity. They will be shown finally to be so. You will see it in the end. Here the Lord speaks of those places of idolatry, that is to say, those places related to this world, to man's ideas, in this case Gilgal and Bethel and Beersheba, as places of worthlessness, places that shall be removed. That is the case for all things in which man places their trust. were they considered to be called the house of God was renamed by God himself to the house of worthlessness. You have things in which you trust in life, in money, in material comforts, in the idea of security, in family, in the approval of your friends and peers. All these things are named worthless by the Lord. None of them will save you. The changing of the name of Bethel to Bethaven literally takes God out of the name. As if the house, which is what Beth means, is vacated by the Lord. And it becomes, instead of the house of God, the house of emptiness, the house of worthlessness. Is your life the house of worthlessness? If your life was a house, And the Bible does compare our life with being a house. Think of the parable of the wise and foolish man, one who builds his house on the rock and one who builds his house on the sand. If your life is indeed a house, can it be called the house of God, Bethel? Or should it rather be called Bethaven, a house of worthlessness? The things that we pursue in this life are not worth the pursuit in comparison to seeking the Lord. And there is much in life that is legitimate, but too often and much too quickly do we substitute those things for more important matters of our spiritual lives. We could extend this even further and ask, is your literal house a house of God? Does God dwell there? We should all ask ourselves this question. We can get so easily caught up in the world, caught up in our busy lives, all the things that need to be done, and the things of God get shut out at the front door as it were. Is that the case for us? Is that the case for our literal dwellings? Is the name of God not heard there, the word of God not read there? That is something that we must consider and evaluate. Let's think upon that today. The idols of this world are worthless, and in the end they will be shown to be worthless. They will be the wood and hay and stubble, and they will be consumed in the fire. Do not invest more time and effort in them than is necessary, and ensure your priorities are correct if you are the Lords this morning. Some things may be legitimate, but they should not take the place of the right and reverent worship of the Lord, nor his service, nor our spiritual development and sanctification. We should take seriously the things of God, They are not secondary, they are primary. So we must find ourselves and seek ourselves to be in the house of God, here to worship. Not something that is just tacked on to the day. Something that is our main and primary focus. It's clear that the idols of this world are empty. and they will be finally shown to be so. Then thirdly, it is certain that those that trust in idols will be consumed and destroyed. If this morning it is the case that you are entirely invested in this world and its worthless things, if it is the case that you have no interest in seeking the Lord, have no interest in being here, have no interest in the word of God, can't wait to leave, Embrace the idols of this world, embrace those worthless things, we want to get back to them. And it is certain, and it is observable from this passage of scripture, that the fire of God will one day come and consume and destroy. Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live, lest he break out like fire upon you. Then there'll be none to help, though you have invested in all possible means of strength and endurance in this world. You have the support of friends and family, financial stability. None of that will save you, nor will any be capable of saving you. Your life will be darkened and even that in which you trusted, meager as it is, worthless as it is, even that will be taken far from you. There'll be none to quench that devouring fire that the Lord speaks of here in the day of God's anger and wrath with sin, anger with those that shunned him, he, the fount of life, to seek after the worthless and the vain. Do not let that be you this morning. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live. These words are simple and straightforward, but will you seek him this morning? He will have mercy. He would not tell you to seek him if he could not be found. God is true. There is no lie, there is no deceit in him. Trust him and seek him this morning for the sake of your very life and soul. God indeed bless his word to our hearts this morning for his own name.