What God Desires

KEY VERSE: “Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.” —Amos 4:14

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Amos 4:1; 5:14, 15, 21-24

THIS IS the simple law of God, which all will have to obey in order to gain life. Yes, it is simple, but when it is put into practice it affects every viewpoint and activity of life. To seek good implies that our purpose and motive in life is to do good, and not evil. It may not always be possible to accomplish all the good we seek, but if our motive is good, our course in life will be in the direction which will eventually lead to life.

When the Lord told Israel through Amos that he despised their feast days and would not accept their burnt offerings (vss. 21,22) it was not with the thought of condemning these ceremonies which he had instituted through Moses. What the Lord despised was their attitude in connection with them.

The typical sacrifices and the feast days were intended by the Lord to be outward expressions of an inner righteousness and godliness. When this was the case, they were pleasing to him, but when they were observed to cover up corrupt deeds, the Lord hated them. Thus, in admonishing Israel to return to the worship of the true God, he stresses that the desire for such worship must issue from their hearts, and their lives must be brought into conformity with what they profess.

Centuries earlier, Moses had set before Israel the great issues of life and death, saying, “Choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.” (Deut. 30:19) The only way they could choose life was by deciding to serve the Lord with their whole heart. Now, at a much later time, the Prophet Amos is again admonishing the Israelites who had not followed Moses’ advice, to seek the Lord. “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live, lest he break out like a fire in the house of Joseph [kingdom of Israel] and devour it. … 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.”—Amos 5:6-8

One of the gross sins of Israel was the worship of gods other than Jehovah. This was a direct violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exod. 20:3) When the ten tribes separated from the two-tribe kingdom they followed Jeroboam who set up two golden calves at Bethel, their capital city, and commanded the people to worship them, saying, “Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (I Kings 12:26-33) The Israelites had great respect for the God who delivered them from Egyptian bondage, and so Jeroboam’s claim that the golden calves represented the “gods” which had accomplished this, was a malicious way of diverting their minds from Jehovah.

This false worship established at Bethel soon incorporated into its form many of the gross errors of heathendom around them. (Amos 5:26) In bold words, Amos tells them to worship only the God of power and wisdom who created these things which they ascribed to their false gods—the one who made the constellations, who formed the mysteries of night and day, arranged the seasons, and was responsible for the water courses of this earth, “The Lord is his name.”

“For thus saith the Lord … Seek ye me and ye shall live. But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba” for they “shall come to nought.” (Amos 5:4,5) The gods of those places could not help them. “Seek the Lord and ye shall live,” was the message of Amos. This was true of Israel as a nation, and it is also true of individuals. The Law, which promised life to any who could keep it, served only to emphasize the need of our Redeemer, and how those who seek the Lord through him, can thereby obtain life.—Gal. 3:24

This new way of life through the Redeemer will be opened to the world in the Millennial Age. The terms for life, however, will not have changed; what will change is the ability of mankind to obey. The Apostle Paul declares the Law given to Israel could not give them life because of the weakness or depravity of their fallen nature. (Rom. 8:3) The ransom benefits from Jesus’ death, available to all in his kingdom, will afford an opportunity to overcome these weaknesses of the imperfection inherited through Adam, and then in seeking good, and not evil, men will gain the life and favor promised. “And so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you.”

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