Amos 4:4

The Message

“Come along to Bethel and sin! And then to Gilgal and sin some more! Bring your sacrifices for morning worship. Every third day bring your tithe. Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings. Speak up—announce freewill offerings! That’s the sort of religious show you Israelites just love.” God’s Decree.

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 11:9

You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it. But know also that not just anything goes; You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

Ezekiel 20:39

“‘But you, people of Israel, this is the Message of God, the Master, to you: Go ahead, serve your no-god idols! But later, you’ll think better of it and quit throwing filth and mud on me with your pagan offerings and no-god idols. For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, I, God, the Master, tell you that the entire people of Israel will worship me. I’ll receive them there with open arms. I’ll demand your best gifts and offerings, all your holy sacrifices. What’s more, I’ll receive you as the best kind of offerings when I bring you back from all the lands and countries in which you’ve been scattered. I’ll demonstrate in the eyes of the world that I am The Holy. When I return you to the land of Israel, the land that I solemnly promised with upraised arm to give to your parents, you’ll realize that I am God. Then and there you’ll remember all that you’ve done, the way you’ve lived that has made you so filthy—and you’ll loathe yourselves.

Hosea 4:15

“You’ve ruined your own life, Israel— but don’t drag Judah down with you! Don’t go to the sex shrine at Gilgal, don’t go to that sin city Bethel, Don’t go around saying ‘God bless you’ and not mean it, taking God’s name in vain. Israel is stubborn as a mule. How can God lead him like a lamb to open pasture? Ephraim is addicted to idols. Let him go. When the beer runs out, it’s sex, sex, and more sex. Bold and sordid debauchery— how they love it! The whirlwind has them in its clutches. Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.”

Hosea 9:15

“All their evil came out into the open at the pagan shrine at Gilgal. Oh, how I hated them there! Because of their evil practices, I’ll kick them off my land. I’m wasting no more love on them. Their leaders are a bunch of rebellious adolescents. Ephraim is hit hard— roots withered, no more fruit. Even if by some miracle they had children, the dear babies wouldn’t live—I’d make sure of that!”

Matthew 26:45

When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s get going! My betrayer is here.”

Mark 14:41

He came back a third time and said, “Are you going to sleep all night? No—you’ve slept long enough. Time’s up. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let’s get going. My betrayer has arrived.”

Deuteronomy 26:12

Every third year, the year of the tithe, give a tenth of your produce to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that they may eat their fill in your cities. And then, in the Presence of God, your God, say this: I have brought the sacred share, I’ve given it to the Levite, foreigner, orphan, and widow. What you commanded, I’ve done. I haven’t detoured around your commands, I haven’t forgotten a single one. I haven’t eaten from the sacred share while mourning, I haven’t removed any of it while ritually unclean, I haven’t used it in funeral feasts. I have listened obediently to the Voice of God, my God, I have lived the way you commanded me.