Amos 4:4-5

Oracle of Warning To All The Children Of Israel (Amos 4:4).

Amos constantly attacks Israel on two major subjects, false worship and social injustice. In Amos 4:1 he has attacked social injustice. Now in Amos 4:4 he again attacks false worship and idolatry. He points out that the superficial and syncretistic worship at the main sanctuaries in Israel is not pleasing to YHWH, and that their very acts of worship were acts of transgression. For while outwardly YHWH was worshipped there it was more as the equivalent of a nature god, whilst His worship was confused with Baalism. Furthermore the sacrifices were offered by non-Levitical priests, a continuing symbol of Israel's total disregard for the Law of YHWH in the teaching of their sanctuaries. Their worship was self-pleasing, rather than God pleasing. How much of this is true in different ways in the worship of many churches today.

Amos 4:4

“Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days; and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of what is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them, for this pleases you, O you children of Israel, says the Lord YHWH.”

There is good reason for thinking that Amos proclaimed these words to the festal crowds who had come to Bethel (or Gilgal) for a regular feast, or alternatively to the crowds streaming out of Samaria to attend such feasts. The opening words in Amos 4:4 are probably a parody of the words of invitation issued by the priests at Bethel and Gilgal (note his emphasis on ‘come --- and transgress'). Bethel (1 Kings 12:28; 1 Kings 12:32) and Gilgal (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 9:15; Hosea 12:11) were two of the major sanctuaries in Israel, and the altar at Bethel and the other syncretistic high places had been roundly and continually denounced by YHWH (see 1 Kings 13:2; 1 Kings 13:32, and all references to ‘the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat'). Thus by coming to those altars at Bethel and Gilgal the people of Israel were bringing no satisfaction to YHWH. Rather it meant that they were multiplying their transgressions by worshipping the wrong thing, in the wrong way and with the wrong attitude. Even though they brought their sacrifices every morning and their tithes ‘every three days' (i.e. on the third and sixth day), all were unacceptable because they were not offered in accordance with the covenant. They were self-pleasing. Furthermore their disregard for the law of Moses in offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving of what was leavened (see Exodus 23:18; Leviticus 2:11; Leviticus 6:17; Leviticus 7:11), and in openly advertising their freewill offerings so as to gain for themselves religious admiration (compare Matthew 6:5), were both examples of self-pleasing, and thus examples of what was unacceptable to ‘the Lord YHWH'.

‘For this pleases you.' Right from its new beginning in the time of Jeroboam I worship at Bethel had been men-pleasing. YHWH's requirements were ignored and the king and people did what satisfied them. Priests were appointed from amongst themselves and they thoroughly enjoyed their feasts and incorporated into them whatever practise they fancied if it would make the feast more enjoyable. The lessons that YHWH had sought to teach through the feasts were lost sight of. What mattered was that the feasts be popular, pleasing, and enjoyable.

It should be noted that there were in Israel altars at which acceptable offerings could be made to YHWH as Elijah himself had made clear (1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 19:10). Scripture nowhere teaches that there was only one place where sacrifices could be offered (Deuteronomy 12 is grossly misinterpreted to suit a theory). What it teaches was that there was one Central Sanctuary at which the tribes should gather three times a year, and other altars set up where YHWH had revealed His Name (Exodus 20:24; Joshua 8:30) served by levitical priests, where legitimate sacrifices could be offered. Thus Mount Carmel was clearly one of the places at which YHWH had revealed His Name (1 Kings 18:30). But these altars were constantly subject to rejection by the syncretistic Yahwism in Israel because they were in opposition to the altars at Bethel, Dan, Gilgal, etc. which had been set up on man made principles, and claimed to be ‘central sanctuaries' of a kind..