Study Five – Amos Chapter 4 –Yet You Did Not Return to Me!

Amos condemns those with lots of religion, who utterly reject God and His commandments.

1. Amos 4:1-3 Who were the “cows of Bashan” and what was their lifestyle? Do people like this still exist today? What was their judgment? (Note the word translated Harmon is difficult to translate and may mean fortresses, loss of authority or Hamdan, also known as Ecbatana the capital of the Medes, where the people of Samaria were taken into exile))
2. Amos 4:4,5 How religious were they? Did this please God? How regularly did they bring sacrifices, freewill offerings and tithes? Can God be bribed?
3. Amos 4:6-8 How did God try to get their attention? What was their response? How can people be so stubborn?
4. Amos 4:9,10 These are extreme judgments. What was God trying to do?  Why did He have to go to these lengths (Amos 2:10,11)
5. What does it mean to be a brand plucked from the burning?
   Zechariah 3:1-2, 1 Corinthians 3:15, Jude 1:23
6. Amos 4:11,12 Amos prophesies a very strong word.  How do you think his audience would have felt hearing this?  Why do people ignore such prophets? (Romans 1:18-32)
7. What does the phrase “prepare to meet your God” mean:
   a) to the unsaved ?
   b) to the saved?
8. Amos 4:13 What is God like and what does God do? (See also Revelation 14:6,7) What does the term “God of hosts” mean? How does this picture of God relate to judgment?
9. The Israelites were unable to see God’s hand of discipline behind the disasters that were overtaking them. How can we be more aware of what God is doing?