FRAMEWORKS:
Amos 6: Woe
to the complacent idle rich
[Preliminary
Comment: The rebukes of this chapter come against
the rulers of both kingdoms [v.1] whose pride is not warranted
[v.2] and who think disaster will never come to them [v.3]. They
live in luxury [v.4], idly focusing on music [v.5], carousing
and being more concerned for personal appearance than the reality
of the nation [v.6] and so they will go into exile as punishment
[v.7]. The Lord loathes their pride [v.8], and so will come against
their big houses [v.9-11] because they failed to be concerned
for justice and righteousness [v.12] and although they think well
of themselves and their minor victories [v.13] they will soon
find they are powerless against the Lord's destroyer who He is
bringing soon [v.14]. A chapter that confronts the unwarranted
pride of these rulers that will mean nothing when God brings His
judgment on them.]
v.1
A challenge to the leaders of both kingdoms
v.1
Woe
to you who are complacent in Zion,
and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!
v.2
Compare yourselves great cities
v.2
Go
to Kalneh [a city of Babylonia]
and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath, [a
city of Syria]
and then
go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are they better off than your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
v.3
You think disaster is far off, but it isn't
v.3
You
put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.
v.4
You live in luxury
v.4
You
lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.
v.5
You spend your life listening to music
v.5
You
strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.
v.6
Drunkards who care more what they look like than the state of
Israel
v.6
You
drink wine by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of
Joseph.
v.7
So you'll be the first lined up for exile
v.7
Therefore
you will be among the first to go into exile;
your feasting and lounging will end.
v.8
Your pride is obnoxious
v.8
The
Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself – the Lord God Almighty
declares:
‘I
abhor the pride of Jacob
and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
and everything in it.'
v.9,10
Even in a large household, all will die
v.9
If
ten people are left in one house, they too will die.
v.10
And
if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house
to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, ‘Is anyone
else with you?' and he says, ‘No,' then he will go on to say,
‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.'
v.11
For the Lord will act against these ‘big houses'
v.11
For
the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash the great house into
pieces
and the small house into bits.
v.12
There's a right application for all things, but you have lost
justice & righteousness
v.12
Do
horses run on the rocky crags?
Does one plough the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness –
v.13
Though you boast in your petty triumphs they mean nothing
v.13
you
who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar [to
the south-east of the Sea of Galilee; the Name means ‘nothing']
and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim
[a city in the north-east; the name means ‘horns']
by our own strength?'
v.14
From the north to the south the Lord will bring an
invader against you
v.14
For
the Lord God Almighty declares,
‘I will stir up a nation against you,
Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the
Arabah.'
Continue
to Chapter 7