◄ Amos 5:23 ►
Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Study Bible
Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
This phrase reflects God's rejection of Israel's worship practices. Despite their religious rituals, the Israelites' hearts were far from God, and their worship had become mere noise to Him. This echoes Isaiah 1:13-15, where God expresses disdain for empty rituals. The term "noise" suggests that their songs, intended to be pleasing, were instead a clamor due to the insincerity behind them. In the cultural context, music was a significant part of worship, but without genuine devotion, it was meaningless. This highlights the importance of worshiping in spirit and truth, as Jesus later emphasizes in John 4:24.

I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Here, God declares His refusal to accept the musical offerings of the Israelites. Harps were common instruments in ancient Israel, used in both secular and sacred settings. The rejection of their music signifies a broader rejection of their worship because it lacked righteousness and justice, as seen in the surrounding verses of Amos 5. This connects to Psalm 33:3, where music is encouraged as an expression of genuine praise. The prophetic nature of this statement points to the need for a heart aligned with God's will, foreshadowing the ultimate fulfillment in Christ, who embodies true worship and righteousness.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, a small town in Judah, who was called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during a time of prosperity and moral decay.

2. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, which had fallen into idolatry and social injustice, prompting God's call for repentance through the prophet Amos.

3. God
The sovereign Lord who desires true worship and justice, rejecting empty rituals and insincere worship from His people.

4. Worship in Israel
The context of the verse is a critique of the Israelites' worship practices, which had become superficial and disconnected from righteous living.

5. Judgment and Repentance
The broader theme of Amos, where God calls His people to genuine repentance and warns of impending judgment if they continue in their ways.
Teaching Points
True Worship vs. Empty Rituals
God desires worship that is sincere and accompanied by a life of righteousness and justice. Rituals without heart and action are meaningless.

The Heart of Worship
Worship should be an overflow of a heart aligned with God's values, not just a performance or obligation.

Social Justice and Righteousness
True worship is inseparable from how we treat others. God calls us to live justly and care for the marginalized.

Self-Examination
Regularly assess whether your worship and religious practices are genuine or merely routine. Seek to align your heart and actions with God's will.

Repentance and Renewal
When convicted of insincere worship, turn back to God with a repentant heart, seeking His guidance to live a life that honors Him.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Amos 5:23 challenge our understanding of worship in today's church context?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our worship is genuine and not just a ritualistic practice?

3. How do the themes of justice and righteousness in Amos 5:23 connect with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament?

4. What practical steps can we take to align our worship with God's call for justice and righteousness in our communities?

5. Reflect on a time when your worship felt disconnected from your daily life. What changes did you make, or can you make, to bridge that gap?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 1:11-17
Similar to Amos, Isaiah speaks against empty rituals and emphasizes the need for justice and righteousness over mere sacrifices.

Micah 6:6-8
This passage highlights what God truly requires: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, echoing the themes in Amos.

Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus quotes Isaiah, condemning those who honor God with their lips while their hearts are far from Him, aligning with Amos's message.

James 1:27
James defines pure religion as caring for orphans and widows and keeping oneself unstained by the world, reflecting the call for genuine faith and action.
Sermons
Ceremonialism DisdainedJ.R. Thomson Amos 5:21-23
A Prophet of RighteousnessJames Stalker, D. D.Amos 5:21-24
The Divinely Abhorrent and the Divinely DemandedAmos 5:21-24
The Divinely Abhorrer and the Divinely DemandedD. Thomas Amos 5:21-24
People
Amos, Joseph
Places
Beersheba, Bethel, Damascus, Gilgal, Gomorrah
Topics
Aside, Ears, Harps, Instruments, Listen, Lutes, Melody, Music, Noise, Praise, Psalteries, Psaltery, Shut, Songs, Turn, Viols, Yea
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 5:23

     5159   hearing
     5196   voice
     5332   harp
     5420   music
     7960   singing

Amos 5:18-24

     9250   woe

Amos 5:21-23

     6109   alienation

Amos 5:21-24

     5360   justice, God
     5943   self-deception
     6603   acceptance, divine
     8311   morality, and redemption

Amos 5:21-27

     7316   blood, OT sacrifices

Amos 5:22-24

     8345   servanthood, and worship

Library
April 15 Morning
Their Redeemer is strong.--JER. 50:34. I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.--I have laid help upon one that is mighty.--The Lord. . . thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.--Mighty to save.--Able to keep you from falling.--Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.--He is able . . . to save them …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Sins of Society
'For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live: 5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6. 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 Beth-el. 7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8. Seek Him that maketh the seven stars …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Evidences Internal and Experimental.
1. The external evidences of revealed religion are, in their proper place and sphere, of the highest importance. Christianity rests not upon theory, but upon historical facts sustained by an overwhelming mass of testimony. It is desirable that every Christian, so far as he has opportunity, should make himself acquainted with this testimony for the strengthening of his own faith and the refutation of gainsayers. Nevertheless, many thousands of Christians are fully established in the faith of the gospel …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether, by Penance, Man is Restored to his Former Dignity?
Objection 1: It would seem that man is not restored by Penance to his former dignity: because a gloss on Amos 5:2, "The virgin of Israel is cast down," observes: "It is not said that she cannot rise up, but that the virgin of Israel shall not rise; because the sheep that has once strayed, although the shepherd bring it back on his shoulder, has not the same glory as if it had never strayed." Therefore man does not, through Penance, recover his former dignity. Objection 2: Further, Jerome says: "Whoever …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Kingdom of Judah.
II K. 18-25; II Chron. 28-36. Note: This period covers the time from the fail of Israel to the fall of Judah. It begins in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, whose name is given as the first king of the period since most of his reign was in this instead of the former period. The Kings of this Period. 13. Hezekiah, 2 K. 18:1-20-21; 2 Chron. 29:1-32:33. Reigned 29 years and died. 14. Manasseh, 2 K. 21:1-18; 2 Chron. 33:1-20. Reigned 55 year and died. 15. Amon, 2 K. 21:19-26; 2 Chron. 33:20-25. …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Whether the Old Law Should have Been Given to the Jews Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law should not have been given to the Jews alone. For the Old Law disposed men for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2065]AA[2],3). But that salvation was to come not to the Jews alone but to all nations, according to Is. 49:6: "It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Degrees of Sin
Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others. He that delivered me unto thee, has the greater sin.' John 19: 11. The Stoic philosophers held that all sins were equal; but this Scripture clearly holds forth that there is a gradual difference in sin; some are greater than others; some are mighty sins,' and crying sins.' Amos 5: 12; Gen 18: 21. Every sin has a voice to speak, but some …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Books of the Old Testament as a Whole. 1 the Province of Particular Introduction is to Consider the Books of the Bible Separately...
CHAPTER XVIII. THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. 1. The province of Particular Introduction is to consider the books of the Bible separately, in respect to their authorship, date, contents, and the place which each of them holds in the system of divine truth. Here it is above all things important that we begin with the idea of the unity of divine revelation--that all the parts of the Bible constitute a gloriously perfect whole, of which God and not man is the author. No amount of study devoted …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
(Borders of Samaria and Galilee.) ^C Luke XVII. 11-37. ^c 11 And it came to pass, as they were on their way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. [If our chronology is correct, Jesus passed northward from Ephraim about forty miles, crossing Samaria (here mentioned first), and coming to the border of Galilee. He then turned eastward along that border down the wady Bethshean which separates the two provinces, and crossed the Jordan into Peræa, where we soon …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Lord Coming to his Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap, -- and he shall purify the sons of Levi -- that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. W hereunto shall we liken the people of this generation? and to what are they like? (Luke 7:31) …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

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