1. Amos 4:4 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Did God really command the Israelites to sin?

Amos 4:4 (ESV)

4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days;

No, Amos is making use of irony. The attacks on the shrines appear to be a caricature of a form of priestly instruction, perhaps like that found in Leviticus 7:22–25, Leviticus 19:30, Deuteronomy 14:4–8, and Deuteronomy 14:21.1 Amos was not really commanding Israel to sin, but he did equate their worship with sin. Israel was going to Bethel and Gilgal thinking that they pleased God when they went there, when in reality their actions were sinful.