The Call To Repentance And Rejection Of The False Sanctuaries (Amos 5:4-6).
YHWH therefore calls Israel to repentance before it is too late. If only they will repent and truly seek Him they will live, and avoid His fire of judgment which could otherwise break out on them. But this will not be by turning to their present sanctuaries, which can offer them no hope. Rather they need to seek to YHWH. Note the deliberate paring off of the false sanctuaries one by one. The description commences with three (Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba), sinks to two (Bethel and Gilgal) and ends as one (Bethel). One by one the sanctuaries have been removed from consideration. Beersheba would, of course, initially be safe from the depredations of Assyria, being in the Negeb south of Judah. But it would not benefit them at such a distance and was the first to be removed from the picture. It would not join the others in being destroyed. Meanwhile the full force of the invasion would come on Bethel and Gilgal, and both would be nullified until only Bethel was left, and that simply in order to be burned up.
“For thus says YHWH to the house of Israel,
‘Seek you me, and you will live,'
But do not seek Beth-el,
Nor enter into Gilgal,
And do not pass to Beer-sheba,
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
And Beth-el will come to nought.”
Seek YHWH, and you will live,
Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.”
The call to repentance is for the whole house of Israel, and is a personal call from YHWH, and the repetition of ‘seek YHWH and live' brings out the urgency of the demand. They must turn from their false worship and their syncretistic sanctuaries to Him. It is interesting that Israelites still frequented a sanctuary in Beersheba in the Negeb. This possibly arose because of the connection of the tribe of Simeon (who had previously settled there) with Israel. The history of Simeon, which we know little about, was probably very complicated as the tribe had originally been in danger of being absorbed by Judah and yet was later seen as, at least partially, having retained its identity, and as part of the ‘ten tribes'. It suggests that a migration took place of some of the tribe to the north, while retaining a connection with Beersheba, a sanctuary which would also be a reminder of their patriarchal connections (with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel).
So their old sanctuaries were forbidden to them. But they were not called on to seek to Jerusalem. They were called on truly to seek YHWH. No doubt there were still ‘sons of the prophets' around who could help them (in contrast with the cult prophets), as there had been in the days of Elisha some years before. There they could discover how to engage in true worship. Indeed it would clearly be useless to seek to the old syncretistic sanctuaries, for they would be taken over by the Assyrians and brought to nothing. Their only hope therefore was to seek the living God, ‘lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph'. The house of Joseph strictly represented Ephraim and Manasseh, but like ‘Ephraim' could be used of all Israel as they made up the majority of it. And the fire would be unquenchable.
There is a play on words with regard to Gilgal. ‘Gilgal will surely go into exile' is glgl glh yglh. And Beth-el will become awen (‘trouble'). Thus Beth-el would become Beth-awen (Bethaven - the house of trouble), as in Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5.