Right Worship

Too long, please open your Bible Amos 5

Seek…that you may live

Amos uses “Seek … that you may live” as an incremental (climactic) refrain in 5:4, 5:6, and 5:14. Each repetition adds content and sharpens the call:

“Seek Me and live” (5:4).

Starts with the object of seeking—Yahweh Himself. Life is covenant life that flows from God, not from liturgy, tradition or location.

“Seek Yahweh and live … lest He break out like fire” (5:6).

Adds a warning and a negation: Do not “seek” Bethel/Gilgal/Beersheba (cultic shortcuts). Reinforces the previous idea of nostalgic worship (see 2 Sundays ago)

“Seek good and not evil, that you may live” (5:14).

Climaxes by defining the mode of seeking: ethical obedience—“Hate evil, love good and set justice at the gate”. Amos equates seeking God with doing justice and righteousness (v. 24).

Justice

Amos threads “justice” through the chapter three times, and each mention advances the argument: accusation → command → vision.

First, Israel has “turned justice into wormwood” and cast righteousness to the ground (Amos 5:7, LSB)—what should be sweet and straight has become bitter and twisted.

Then comes the imperative: “Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate” (5:15), i.e., in the courts and public square; repentance must take institutional form, not just private remorse, and “it may be that Yahweh…will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Finally, the crescendo: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (5:24)—not occasional charity but a perennial, reliable flow.

Today’ we’ll give attention to the concept of justice, and see how it fits in the biblical story.

What is justice?

The English word “justice” is from the Latin adjective “iustus,” which means “upright, just, or fair,” and the Latin noun “iustitia,” which means “fairness, legal, or right.”

Justice refers to right relations between people that act as a standard for evaluating between good and bad behavior and fair and unfair actions, and for determining the fair consequences of such behavior.

The Hebrew word mishpat specifically denotes the actions taken to create a community of justice where all people are treated fairly. This word occurs over 400 times in the Old Testament alone. There are two broad kinds of actions that describe the Biblical idea of justice:

Retributive

This mode of justice is like the punishment/reward system in a court of law, ensuring there is recompense, repayment, or acquittal for just or unjust behavior.

“If there is a dispute between men and they go to court for judgment, and the judges judge their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, Deuteronomy 25:1

The court (mishpat) is the place of justice.

Restorative

This mode of justice is about making sure that everyone in the community is treated fairly and given what they are due. It’s about granting people rights by changing unjust practices or laws.

“But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first of his vigor; the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him. Deuteronomy 21:17

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 18: 1-3

In the above, the tithe from other tribes is what is due (mishpat) to the Levites, and the double portion is the right/legal judgement (mishpat) of the firstborn.

Asides the Levites and firstbborn, there was another group in their society who had unique mishpat: the quartet of the vulnerable, meaning the widow, orphan, immigrant, and the poor.

“Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ Zechariah 7: 9-10

“You shall not pervert the justice due a sojourner or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. Deuteronomy 24:17

Justice most often concerned setting things right—establishing fair procedures, protecting the vulnerable, and restoring right order in community life.

The template of justice

The Exodus is Israel’s starting point for understanding justice. It reveals God as the One who hears the cry of the afflicted, judges oppression, and sets people free.

Too long, please open your Bible Exodus 3: 7-10

Too long, please open your Bible Exodus 6: 5-7

The plagues and the sea are retributive justice against Egypt and its gods.

“But Pharaoh will not listen to you. And I will set My hand upon Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. Exodus 7:4

‘And I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am Yahweh. Exodus 12:12

God codified restorative justice so the community mirrors His character. The list of 10 commandments begins with redemption (Exodus 20:2) and unfolds into laws that protect the vulnerable and straighten the courts: do not pervert justice or take bribes; defend the poor; treat the sojourner fairly; let the land, servants, and even animals rest.

Too long, please open your Bible Exodus 22: 21–24

Too long, please open your Bible Exodus 23: 2–12

Israel must “remember you were slaves” as the ethical engine for generosity and fairness

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 24: 17-22

God reveals the covenant laws to push Israel in the direction of greater justice and righteousness.

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 4: 5-8

When prophets later condemn bribery, exploitation, and crooked gates (e.g., Amos 5:7, 10–15), they are applying the Exodus template: the God who toppled oppression demands a people whose worship produces justice and whose public life restores the wronged.

But Israel doesn’t follow the covenant laws, and though they were once oppressed, they become the oppressors. The biblical prophets and poets accused the Israelites of perpetrating injustice, and they pointed to a new leader who would come and embody true justice and righteousness.

Justice embodied & reframed by Jesus

Too long, please open your Bible Luke 4: 16-21

Jesus embodies Israel’s prophetic vision of justice and reframes it around His kingdom: He inaugurates Jubilee-justice—release, restoration, and welcome—by proclaiming “good news to the poor” and “liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18–21); He deepens justice from courtroom retribution to restorative righteousness that begins in the heart and moves toward reconciliation, truthful speech, enemy-love, and mercy (Matt 5:21–48; 7:12; 6:1–4; 25:31–46).

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Matthew 23:23

He insists on the “weightier matters”—justice, mercy, faithfulness—exposing piety that props up inequity.

Too long, please open your Bible Matthew 12: 9-21

As Isaiah’s Servant, He brings justice with gentleness, lifting the bruised rather than crushing them.

At the cross, God remains just and becomes the justifier, so divine judgment and saving mercy meet and create a people who practice the justice they have received (Rom 3:21–26).

Justice embodied & reframed by Jesus followers

Too long, please open your Bible Acts 2: 42-47

Too long, please open your Bible Acts 6: 1-7

Under the risen Lord’s authority, the community of Jesus-followers embodies and reframes justice as cross-shaped restoration made concrete in shared life: they hold teaching, fellowship, and tables together so that “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–35); they create fair processes to correct neglect and elevate overlooked widows (Acts 6:1–7); they remember the poor and practice coordinated generosity (Gal 2:10; 2 Cor 8–9; 1 John 3:16–18); they pursue reconciliation, refuse retaliation, and overcome evil with good (Matt 5:9, 38–48; Rom 12:14–21); they reject favoritism and protect the vulnerable as “pure religion” (Jas 1:27; 2:1–9); they “seek first… His righteousness” in everyday work—earning to share, paying just wages, dealing honestly (Matt 6:33; Eph 4:28; Jas 5:4); they cross ethnic and social barriers as one new humanity in Christ (Eph 2:14–16; Col 3:11); and they keep worship and tables as places of mercy and welcome (Luke 14:12–14; Heb 13:1–3). In all this, the church enacts the “weightier matters—justice, mercy, faithfulness” (Matt 23:23) and teaches the nations to keep Jesus’ commands (Matt 28:18–20), showing that gospel justice is not merely punitive balance but the Spirit-empowered restoration of people and communities.