5:1 Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, family of Israel:

Israel is about to die as a nation. Jehovah composed and sang a funeral song for them.

5:2 “The virgin Israel has fallen down and will not get up again. She is abandoned on her own land with no one to help her get up.”

The Assyrians will strike down the virgin Israel.

5:3 The sovereign Lord says this: “The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out with a hundred soldiers will have only ten left for the family of Israel.”

90% of the inhabitants of Israel will be either killed or captured and transported to Assyria. The other 10% will continue to live in the land of Israel.

5:4 The Lord says this to the family of Israel: “Seek me so you can live!

If Israel wants to survive, then they must seek Jehovah.

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal will certainly be carried into exile; and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.”

Bethel, Gilgal, and Beer Sheba were the three major idolatry cities of Israel. Jehovah told them not to visit these places. Those who live in those cities will be taken into the Assyrian Captivity.

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out like fire against Joseph’s family; the fire will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel.

If Israel wants to survive the Assyrian Captivity, then they must seek Jehovah. If they do not seek Jehovah, then Assyria will come upon Israel like a consuming fire. No one will be able to stop the fire. Bethel was another Israelite center of idolatry. No one will be able to save Bethel from falling to the Assyrians.

5:7 The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground.

Israel did not practice justice in their laws and judicial system. Their justice and laws were bitter to the people. The people were not treated fairly in court.

5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name!

God sings a second hymn. The first hymn was about the death of Israel. The second hymn was about the greatness and glory of God. Jehovah made all of the constellations. He controls the axis of the earth so that everyone will receive day and night. He established the hydrological cycle so that everyone can have rain.

5:9 He flashes destruction down upon the strong so that destruction overwhelms the fortified places.)

God controls which nations live and which nations survive.

5:10 The Israelites hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

The judges sat at the city gates. The judges were corrupt and dishonest. There were a few judges who were righteous, but Israel hated them.

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.

Since the leaders were exploiting the poor, God will send Assyrians to exploit the leaders.

5:12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate.

The corrupt judges were taking bribes.

5:13 For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time.

The smartest thing that the innocent can do is to stay quiet so that they do not get persecuted.

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you, as you claim he is.

God is the one who commands armies. If Israel seeks good instead of evil, then maybe God will save them.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

God is the one who commands armies. If Israel hates wrong and loves what is right, then maybe God will save them. If the judges at the city gates will quit taking bribes and start making righteous decisions, then maybe God will save them.

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: “In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.

God is the one who commands armies. Israel is the one who sins. Because Israel sins, the Assyrians will cause the people of Israel to wail in the streets. Israel will mourn their dead. Field workers will be busy digging graves. Professional mourners will earn lots of money.

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.

There will be total destruction of all of the vineyards of Israel.

5:18 Woe to those who wish for the day of the Lord! Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light.

Obadiah and Joel had already taught that “the Day of the Lord” was a terrible time of judgment for both Jews and Gentiles. The Day of the Lord is the Great Tribulation when God pours out seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments upon the earth. Both groups will be severely judged by God. It is a time of darkness and not light. It was foolish for the people of Israel to wish this time upon themselves. The Day of the Lord will be much darker times for Israel than the Assyrian Captivity.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

The Day of the Lord (Great Tribulation) is like a man running from a lion and meeting a bear. Then, he escapes into a house, leans against the wall, and he is bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring darkness, not light— gloomy blackness, not bright light?

The Day of the Lord is a time of darkness and not light.

5:21 “I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies!

Israel refused to worship in Jerusalem according to the Mosaic Law. Instead, they worshipped at their own idolatry centers in Israel. Jehovah despised these festivals of Israel.

5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.

Israel was bringing the correct offerings, but they were offering them to pagan gods.

5:23 Take away from me your noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.

Jehovah did not want to hear their noisy songs at these festivals. The music was not glorifying God.

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.

Israel needed justice and righteousness. If the sacrifices were brought according to the stipulations of the Mosaic Law, then they would be welcomed and accepted.

5:25 You did not bring me sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family of Israel.

This was not just a present problem, but a past problem as well. Even in the wilderness, Israel had brought sacrifices to idols.

5:26 You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves,

Sikkuth and Kiyyun were two of the Assyrian gods. Israel was offering sacrifices to these two pagan gods.

5:27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord. He is called the God who commands armies!

Damascus was in Syria. The Assyrians will take Israel into captivity past the Syrian borders.