Most Israelites are blind to their origins, thinking that only Jews are Israelites. Here is why Israel has forgotten its identity.

Jeroboam, pragmatic and fearful, established a more convenient idolatrous festival to prevent his people from keeping the real Feast of Tabernacles in Judah.

To dramatize the perennial harlotry of Israel and the incredible love God exhibits toward His people, He commands Hosea to marry a harlot, Gomer.

Even though we may claim to follow God's way, there is a considerable measure of selfishness in our pathways, a tendency to be dismissive of other people.

King Jehoash (or Joash) of Judah, though he overcame much and did many good things, did not quite have the fortitude to rid the kingdom of its high places.

Amos gives a series of dire warnings, beginning with Israel's enemies, but concluding with a blistering indictment on Israel herself for her hypocrisy.

Preaching to the ancient Israelites, Amos' indictments parallel today's spiritual decline. God wants His people to repent and avoid impending judgment.

The prophet Amos exposes the ancient Israelites' religion as syncretic, a blend of God's way and paganism, corresponding to this world's Christianity.

God, through His prophets, warns that He will chasten His people with increasing severity until they repent and begin to reflect His characteristics.

Just because we keep God's feasts does not necessarily mean we are in sync with God's Law or intent. The Israelites kept the feasts in a carnal manner.

Modern Israel has a form of religion, but it is empty and unsatisfying because it refuses to obey God and substitutes the traditions of man in its place.

In our relationship with God, we must emphasize principle over pragmatism. If we are led into deception, it is because our carnal nature wanted it that way.

Major reinterpretations have significantly distorted the meaning of Passover and Unleavened Bread, blurring the distinction between the two events.

Amos indicts rampant, dishonest practices, placing gain above honesty, morality, or ethics, and arrogantly and covetously exploiting the needy for profit.

Some Bible commentaries call Elisha short-tempered for causing two female bears to maul 42 youths for making fun of him. There is more to the story.

Modern Israel is repeating the same sins as ancient Israel. God's metaphors of the promiscuous wife, stubborn heifer, and rebellious child all apply to America.

If we go to the Feast with the goal of physically enjoying, we may lose out on both the spiritual and physical benefits. 'Going through the motions' defiles it.

To tear down cherished institutions is to leave a nation culturally ruined. God's people, in choosing the old pathways, tread the roadway to eternal life.

God will do what He must to bring Abraham's seed to repentance and salvation, including allowing crisis, hardship, humiliation, and calamity.

Some see Elisha's encounter with the youths of Bethel and the she-bears in II Kings 2:23-24 as cruel and vengeful. The narrative tells a different story.

Even though Gomer proved unfaithful, Hosea still loved her, buying her back from captivity and restoring her as his wife, just like God lovingly forgives.

Amos 8:11 speaks of 'a famine...of hearing the words of the LORD.' Such a famine is occurring today: The words of God are available, but few can hear.

Amos, like a circling hawk, makes dire pronouncements on all of Israel's enemies but reserves the harshest judgment for Israel, who should have known better.