Lesson 8 - Amos 6:1-10 - WOE TO THOSE WHO ARE AT EASE
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Amos 5:6-15, we were introduced to the prophet Amos, who's unusual because he was a country farmer from Judah sent by God to issue a scorching warning of judgment to the leaders and rich people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The main thrust of his warning pertained to the predatory and unfair behavior of the rich and powerful towards the weak and vulnerable people in their society. Their justice system had become perverted-instead of righting the wrongs against the underprivileged, the wealthy and powerful had turned into a tool to further oppress the poorer classes. What they were doing wasn't just unfair; it was a sin against God, and God had noticed. At the time, the honest and upright people were afraid to speak out against the evils in their society because they feared repercussions from those in power. Finally, Amos pressed his audience (the powers-that-be in Israel) to "Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the gate!" (Amos 5:15). From this principle, we learned that it isn't enough to simply avoid evil; we must also drive ourselves to love what is good. What's good? All of the innumerable things approved by God. We learned that the "gate" as used by Amos, was a place where ordinary people could seek and obtain justice. Today, evangelical church pulpits (and the altars in front of them) represent a place where people can hear the word of God proclaimed and seek healing and restoration from it.
This week, in Amos 6:1-10, we'll hear the prophet Amos continue his warning of judgment to the leaders and wealthy elite of Israel. Amos' prophecy came to him in the form of visions: like someone actually watching something depicted in a video, Amos saw in detail the events that would eventually overtake and utterly crush the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the not too distant future. From historical records, we know the events that Amos predicted did happen about 30 years later.
Read Amos 6:1 - WOE TO THOSE WHO ARE CAREFREE
1 Woe to those who are carefree in Zion, And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, The dignitaries of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.
v. 1a: "Woe to those who are carefree in Zion," - The opening word, "Woe" (Heb. hoh'-ee [lit. ho there! Or pay attention!] is a term commonly used by prophets to introduce an allegation of the people' sins, followed by a description of the judgment they can expect as punishment. "Zion" is another name for Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. It's as if Amos is warning the Judahites to pay close attention to what's about to happen to their northern brethren, with the message: if you ignore God's covenant as they have, the same can happen to you.
v. 1b: "And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, The dignitaries of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes." - Mount "Samaria" was the capitol of the Northern Kingdom. The chief sin of Samaria (and to a lesser extent, Judah) was the callous indifference shown by their leaders and wealthy people. This had happened over time due to several factors: (1) They have been living through relatively peaceful times; (2) their major cities were reasonably well protected; (3) material affluence had made them comfortable; and finally (4) they foolishly assumed the LORD (YHWH) will continue to protect them from outside evil because He's their God. This can happen to churches today when they allow themselves to become de facto 'country clubs' where the members are focused on their own comforts rather obeying the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).
Read Amos 6:2-3 - ARE THEY (ISRAEL) BETTER THAN THESE KINGDOMS?
2 Go over to Calneh and look, And go from there to Hamath the great, Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours? 3 Are you postponing the day of disaster, And would you bring near the seat of violence?
v. 2a: "Go over to Calneh and look, And go from there to Hamath the great, Then go down to Gath of the Philistines." -Amos asks the Israelites to take a look at the former kingdoms of the Aramites and the Philistines, nearby nations that had all fallen under the swords of foreign invaders.
v. 2b: Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours? - The "they" in this verse is a reference to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and perhaps Judah. Amos asks them to seriously consider whether they are carelessly allowing themselves to live under a false sense of security, thinking that their LORD God (YHWH) will miraculously intervene and protect them in the event any outside nation should have the audacity to invade them. They are on dangerous ground.
v. 3: "Are you postponing the day of disaster, And would you bring near the seat of violence?" - Here, the prophet informs his Israelite audience that they are speeding up the day of "violence" by refusing to recognize and repent of their sins. The biblical term "violence" (Heb. hā'mās'), expresses a pattern of injustice, oppression, and cruelty in the human condition, and was the chief cause cited by God when he decided to completely destroy the earth by flood in Gen. 6:11-12. Now, centuries later, marked an era in Israel's history when six different kings had reigned, three of whom seized power in political coups. Fear and violence and violence marked the character of this period. They had tested God' patience to its limit. What they failed to understand was that the LORD (YHWH), whom they assumed to be their protector, has instead become their accuser, prosecutor, and judge.
Read Amos 6:4-6 - LOUNGING AROUND ON THEIR COUCHES
4 Those who lie on beds of ivory, And lounge around on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle, 5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves, 6 Who drink wine from sacred bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils-Yet they have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph.
v. 4: "Those who lie on beds of ivory, And lounge around on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle," - Here, Amos condemns the luxury and self-indulgence that characterized the lifestyles of the elite in Israel. The common people didn't sleep in comfortable beds and could only afford to only eat meat several times a year at religious festivals. For them, life was hard, working from sunrise to sunset simply to keep their families alive.
v. 5: "Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves," - While the leaders and wealthy people of Israel are lounging on their comfortable furniture and stuffing themselves with choice food, they also have the means to be entertained in their nice houses with music instead of praising God. The common people, eking out their living day to day, have no time for frivolous things like entertainment. Maybe on rare occasions, they would hear someone sing a psalm in praise of God in their local synagogue.
v. 6a: "Who drink wine from sacred bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils" - This verse accuses Israel's elite of extreme decadence: People who can afford to drink expensive wine from "sacred bowls" rather than small cups and "anoint themselves with fine oils" pictures a scene of drunkenness and debauchery-people who behave as depraved party animals.
v. 6b: "-Yet they have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph." - Instead of the indulging themselves as cited above, Israel's leaders and rich people should have been paying attention to the moral decline of their nation and feared the likelihood that God was certain to judge them for it.
Comment: This prophecy also should be a wake-up call for modern Christians and their churches. Some years back, commentator Warren Wiersbe said, "Too many Christians [today] are laughing when they should be weeping and tolerating sin when they should be opposing it." More than any other time in the history of our country, we are in urgent need of revival in our churches and evangelism in our neighborhoods. We need to be doing more than sitting in our comfortable pews and complaining about what we see happening in our nation.
Read Amos 6:7-10 - THE LORD GOD OF ARMIES HAS DECLARED
7 Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the revelry of those who lounge around will come to an end. 8 The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies has declared: "I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will give up the city and all it contains." 9 And it will be, if ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one's uncle, or his undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, "Is anyone else with you?" And that one will say, "No one." Then he will answer, "Keep quiet! For the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned."
v. 7: "Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the revelry of those who lounge around will come to an end." - Amos, after God's trial and conviction of Israel, now hands down its sentence-the party is over: After the Assyrians evicted them from their houses and stripped them of their possessions, the leaders and the pampered rich of Israel, at least those allowed to live, would be marched into captivity in front of all the other survivors.
v. 8a: "The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies has declared:" - When the prophet delivers these words using this title for God, which can also translate to LORD Almighty, it means God's time of mercy is over and judgment is absolutely certain, just a matter of time, and that God's almighty power would make certain that the judgment would be fully carried out in the precise manner the prophet describes. Amos isn't exaggerating; he's honestly speaking for God.
v. 8b: "I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will give up the city and all it contains." - The "arrogance of Jacob" refers to the Northern Kingdom, insofar as the smug self-confidence of their leaders was reminiscent of the character of their forefather Jacob. The LORD also hated the "citadels"-the fortified mansions-from which these leaders lived lives of luxury and privilege while they oppressed the poor and needy people with their indifference.
v. 8c: "Therefore I will give up the city and all it contains." - The LORD would make sure, even intervening against them Himself, that every single thing of value was delivered-up to the Assyrians.
v. 9: "And it will be, if ten men are left in one house, they will die." - The Assyrian conquest will be so thorough that even if 10 men hid in the same house, the Assyrians will still find and kill each one of them. This is a poetic way of saying that there will be no safe place to hide when they come. They will find you and show you the same lack of mercy that you showed the poor and needy.
v. 10: "Then one's uncle, or his undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, "Is anyone else with you?" And that one will say, "No one." Then he will answer, "Keep quiet! For the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned." - This is a very strange verse-maybe a poetic amplification. It apparently pictures a survivor hiding in his uncle's house (an undertaker?), who is being told not to pray because God's wrath has already fallen on the city, and since they are people who have profaned God's name in the past, they dare not mention it now for fear it might let loose a fresh exercise of His wrath.
Comment: We will skip verses 11-14, which continue to emphasize the sheer totality of death and destruction that God was preparing to unleash on the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Thought not disclosed by name, we know from recorded history that the "nation" God promised to "raise up" against Israel was the large Assyrian Empire with its capital in Nineveh (see map). We studied them briefly during our first two lessons in the Book of Jonah.
Summary of Reasons for Israel's Coming Judgment: The chief sins of the leaders and the wealthy elite cited by Amos were legal injustice, economic exploitation, religious hypocrisy, luxurious self-indulgence, and arrogant complacency. These sins involved much more than just improper behavior; they involved unfaithfulness toward their LORD GOD (YHWH), the God of Israel, who is the one true God who created everything, the same God we worship today. Like the Israelites of Amos' audience, we modern Christians are also in a covenant relationship with God. Yes? So, the question for us today is how do Amos' warnings apply to us, as individuals, as churches, and as citizens in our locality, state, and nation? We all need to remain conscious of the fact that when Jesus offered up his body on the cross and poured out his blood so that we might be forgiven of our sins, he was inaugurating and establishing the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Luke 22:19-20). We also know that the New Covenant that Christ established also includes the gift of the Holy Spirit who indwells all its members, which not only tells what to do, but gives the power and strength to do it. So, what is Amos' message saying to us today, in the year 2022?
APPLICATION-Woe to those who are carefree in Zion:
1. As modern Christians and churches, Amos forces us to examine whether we have allowed ourselves to become carefree in Zion? (v.1). Former Lifeway CEO Thom Rainer, in his book I Am a Church Member, defined an active church member as one who (1) gives generously and (2) serves without hesitation. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with living in comfort and occupying our free time with various entertainments and hobbies. But the question Amos is asking me and you is whether or not we are allowing our focus on these things-our comforts and pleasures-to seriously impair our ability to give of our time, talents, and resources for our work both as individual Christians and as members of a NT church.
2. In terms of 21st Century American culture, Amos tell us that Bible-believing Christians need to be ever more counter-culture. (vv. 5-7). Over the past 100+ years, we have witnessed a steady decline in the influence of evangelical, Bible-centered Christians and their churches have over the moral and spiritual life in the United States. Instead, we've become an increasingly unpopular minority in our society. I won't mention names, but we have seen entire denominations cave-in to social pressure and adopt doctrines contrary to Biblical truth. Amos demands to know why we've allowed this to happen. Ask yourself this: How many human beings do we allow to pass by us every day with no thought about their eternal destiny? We need to remember that every soul we pass must go to either heaven or hell. The 21st Century American culture tells us that we should stay in our church pews and mind our own business-that our efforts to impose our 'religious' beliefs on others outside our churches is not 'politically correct.' Amos, however, points the finger at us: We must be counter-culture because it's our responsibility, indeed, our chief undertaking as 21st Century Christians, to fight the good fight against any people, groups, organizations, government entities, etc., that threaten to infringe upon our sacred duty to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost people of our community, state, and nation. We can't allow ourselves to be discouraged, because if we do, we are effectively bowing-down to the secular human, liberal agenda. Do you see that?
