Amos 6:1-8

RIGHTEOUSNESS DEMANDS REPENTANCELUXURY LEADS TO INDOLENCE

TEXT: Amos 6:1-8

1

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!

2

Pass ye unto Calnah, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?

3

ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

4

that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

5

that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

6

that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

7

Therefore shall they now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.

8

The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellence of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.

QUERIES

a.

Why refer the covenant people to Calneh, Hamath and Gath?

b.

What is putting far away the evil day?

c.

Is the use of musical instruments contrary to God's will?

PARAPHRASE

Alas, alas, for those who are lounging in luxury and false security in Jerusalem and Samaria; alas for those renowned leaders of the renowned nation of Israel, to whom all the people of Israel come for counsel. Go over to Calneh, Hamath and Gath and you will find that your land is just as prosperous and great as theirs. In spite of My blessing you and making you chief of the nations you have remained ungrateful and unmindful of My warnings. You insist that calamity will not come to you yet you bring the Day of Judgment nearer each day by your violent deeds! You sprawl yourselves luxuriantly upon expensive couches and take for your gluttonous feasts only the choicest lambs and calves; you sing frivolous, nonsensical and lustful songs to the accompaniment of the harps; and, as David invented musical instruments to worship his God, you invent musical instruments to worship your god, your belly; you drink wine from sacrificial bowls of silver in adoration of your god, and, instead of being grieved for the spiritual downfall of the nation, with unbridled rejoicing you anoint one another with the most expensive oils and perfumes. On account of this, these sensual leaders of the people shall be the first ones taken into captivity where they shall no longer lounge in luxury for that will cease. The Lord Jehovah has sworn an immutable oath upon His own immutable Name, saying, I despise the false pride and glory of Israel and hate its luxurious homes. I will give up this land into the hands of its enemies including all the people and everything else in it.

SUMMARY

A false sense of pride and position has drugged Israel into a false feeling of security which in turn has led her to luxury, gluttony, indolence and lethargy. God promises judgment and captivity.

COMMENT

Amos 6:1 WOE TO THEM THAT ARE AT EASE IN ZION. AND. SECURE. IN. SAMARIA. Amos directs his warning from God to the whole nation. Especially to the notable menthe renowned leaders. These public leaders had allowed themselves to be lulled by luxury into a false ease and security. They, in turn, had counseled all the people who came to them that peace, prosperity and safety were the watchwords of the day (Jeremiah 6:14). They were confident that God would not allow anything bad to happen to the chief of nations (Jeremiah 7:4 ff), after all, had not God chosen this nation above all the others (Jeremiah 2:3; Exodus 19:5; 2 Samuel 7:23 ff; Amos 3:2). Prosperity is dangerous. It may be either blessing or curse, according to the way it is received by those to whom it may come. If the one who prospers receives it with thankfulness to God constantly aware of his dependence upon God and uses it to the glory of God it can be a wonderful blessing and a great source of joy. But if the one who prospers is ungrateful and makes his riches his whole aim in life he falls into a snare, into many hurtful lusts, and drowns in perdition (cf. 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 6:10-12; Deuteronomy 8:11-20; Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalms 9:17; Proverbs 1:32; Proverbs 30:9; Jeremiah 3:21; Daniel 4:30; Daniel 5:20; Hosea 10:13; Hosea 13:6; Luke 12:16-19).

Amos 6:2-3 PASS YE UNTO CALNEH, AND SEE. ARE THEY BETTER THAN THESE KINGDOMS? Calneh was a city in the land of Babylonia (Calno of Isaiah 10:9) one of the four cities founded by Nimrod (cf. Genesis 10:10). Hamath is one of the most ancient surviving cities on this earth located in upper Syria on the Orontes river. The entrance of Hamath (Numbers 34:8) was to be the northern limit of Israel, but God left some of the Hivites there to be a test to the faithfulness of Israel (Judges 3:3). Calneh and Hamath were two of the 19 city-states that rebelled against mighty King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria (745-727 B.C.) and were subdued only after several campaigns and it is no wonder Amos calls it Hamath the great. Gath was one of the five royal cities of Philistia (Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3; 1 Samuel 4:4; 1 Samuel 4:16; 1 Samuel 4:18), destroyed by Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:6) with a history of greatness and influence in the days of Amos. Amos has selected these three rich, powerful, influential cities to compare Israel, in her greatness, to, and thus emphasize Israel's ingratitude! These three cities were powerful, yet none of them was better than Judah or Israel. In spite of God's blessing the once insignificant Hebrew nomads until their prosperity exceeded that of these three rich metropolises, this generation of Hebrews remained an ungrateful people, unmindful of the Rock that begat them (Deuteronomy 32:6-18).

Amos 6:3YE THAT PUT FAR AWAY THE EVIL DAY, AND CAUSE THE SEAT OF VIOLENCE TO COME NEAR. These people were just like those of a 150 years later in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel crying Peace, peace, when there is no peace, (cf. Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 8:11; Jeremiah 14:13; Ezekiel 13:10; Ezekiel 13:16). How could Amos preach to them hard times, when all was wellpolitically and economically? They refused even to think of hard times, judgment, retribution of God for their sins. But by their very acts of impenitence and refusing to see anything wrong with their excesses and injustices they were hastening the day of God's judgment upon them! They were ripening fast (as Amos later pictorializes with the basket of summer fruit). They were actually rotting. In just 40 years the northern kingdom would be overthrown completely by the Assyrians and as a nation it would disappear from the face of the earth.

Amos 6:4-6. THAT LIE UPON BEDS OF IVORY. EAT THE LAMBS OUT OF THE FLOCK. SING IDLE SONGS. INVENT. INSTRUMENTS OF MUSIC. DRINK WINE IN BOWLS. BUT ARE NOT GRIEVED FOR THE AFFLICTION OF JOSEPH. We wish to quote extensively here from, The Bible Commentary, The Minor Prophets, by T. Laetsch, pub., Concordia, pp. 170-171:

... In the homes of the rich were found all the conveniences and luxuries of the day. There were -beds,-' or divans, of ivory, richly decorated with ivory plaques and panels. on which Mr. Richman sprawled; luxuriant couches, on which the lady of the house stretched out her weary limbs after having returned froma stroll through the avenues of the city where she load exhibited her beauty, enhanced by many an artificial means (Isaiah 3:18-23). The less fortunate sisters, the common rabble, the dames of the underworld, the flappers of 750 B.C., admired their richly attired sisters and ran to the next bazaar to buy some cheap bauble, some of the latest beauty helps, in order to look like their more favored sisters. In the elegant homes of the rich and in the temples of their idols (ch. Amos 2:7-8) riotous feasts and banquets were held. Only the most dainty meats were served, lambs selected from carefully tended flocks, calves from the midst of the stall (cp. Malachi 4:2), kept in special stalls, fed with special feed. At these banquets men and women idled away their time by chanting crooning to the sound of the -viol,-' the harp (Amos 6:5). They also invented for themselves, not to God's glory, instruments of music. The better such noisemakers suited the intention of their inventors, to affect the nerves, create excitement, stir up passions, the higher was the inventor honored. He was likened to David, who had introduced many musical instruments in the Temple service (1 Chronicles 23:5; 2 Chronicles 29:25-26). Amos, of course, uses these words in bitter irony. Such crooning, accompanied by jazzy instrumental music, was regarded as the highest -superart-' by the delighted audiences. The heads and bodies of the assembled guests were anointed with -the chief ointments,-' the finest and most expensive perfumeries, filling the ball with their intoxicating odors. The passions kindled by the voluptuous music and suggestive dress were nourished by the rich food and fanned into irrepressive ardor by large bowlfuls of wine freely making the rounds (Amos 6:6). The term used here for -bowls-' in all other passages denotes ritual bowls used in the Temple for sprinkling the sacrificial blood upon the altar. Were they used at these banquets in the homes and the idol temples in order to give a semblance of piety to these orgiastic festivals, as the saying of grace before modern family dinners ending in drinking bouts? We are reminded of Belshazzar's feasts (Daniel 5:1-5).

The Arabic and Greek words translated idle mean literally, to throw or strew many useless words about, to gossip, and this describes the singing at the banquets as frivolous nonsense. The sin is not, per se, in the use of instruments of music in religious worship (David was commanded to invent instruments of music to be used in God's temple in worshipping the One, True God), but the use of instruments to sing vain and idle songs in a perverted religious ceremony. As David made instruments of music to worship the true God, these idolaters made instruments to accompany their stupid songs as they worshiped their god, the belly! Amos 6:5 cannot be used to condemn the use of an instrument in New Testament church worshipto do so is wresting the scriptures! It could be used to show God's displeasure with a great amount of the silly, nonsensical, and immoral music which has been invented today by those whose god is still their physical lusts!

The word used by Amos to describe the bowls out of which the gluttons drank their wine has special reference to the silver sacrificial bowls made by the tribe-princes at the consecration of the altar to Jehovah (Numbers 7). Amos does this to show that the people in Moses day manifested their zeal for Jehovah by so doing, and these people of Israel, of Amos-' own times, showed just as much zeal is their care for their god, the belly.

And the greater crime than all this gluttony and idolatry is, as Amos states in Amos 6:6, they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. They were blind, deaf and dumb to the spiritual rottenness then prevalent. They were not the least concerned that this nation whose destiny was holiness and truth was sick unto death with the leprosy of sin. The injustice, cruelty, decadence did not bother them. They were perfectly satisfied as long as they had food and drink and were rich enough to satisfy their desires.

Amos 6:7-8 THEREFORE SHALL THEY NOW GO CAPTIVE WITH THE FIRST THAT GO CAPTIVE; AND THE REVELRY OF THEM THAT STRETCHED THEMSELVES SHALL PASS AWAY. THE LORD JEHOVAH HATH SWORN BY HIMSELF. Jehovah makes a solemn, terrible vow. Those who spent their time luxuriating and satisfying every selfish whimwho had no time for Godwill be the first taken captive. They will be the first to be made slaves of a foreign despot. They will have no time henceforward for revelry. That will come to a sudden end. From that time onward they will be an enslaved people. God cannot make His vows any more emphatic than by swearing by His own name, for there is nothing greater in existence than God. Since He has the authority and power to carry out His threats it is not at all evil for Him to swear by His own Holy Name. It is vain for man to swear by anything, either heaven or hell, or by the hairs on his head since he has no control over any of it (cf. Matthew 5:33-37; James 5:12). Hebrews, in that glorious passage emphasizing how God demonstrated the immutability and finality of His promise-keeping, in Amos 6:13-14 tells us that God interposed Himself with an oath. We believe the interpretation of how God interposed Himself is found in 2 Corinthians 5:19 where we are told, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. and in 2 Corinthians 1:20, ... For all the promises of God find their Yea in Him (that is, in Christ), So, when God swears by Himself, rest assured, it is certain to come to pass!

QUIZ

1.

Why was Amos against the ease those in Zion and Samaria were having?

2.

Why refer the people of Israel to the cities of Calneh, Hamath and Gath?

3.

What does Amos mean by saying they were putting far away the evil day?

4.

What sort of society does Amos describe in Amos 6:4-6?

5.

May Amos 6:5 be used against the use of instruments in religious worship? Explain your answer!

6.

Why condemn them because of their lack of grief for the affliction or Joseph?

7.

How emphatic is the phrase The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself to be taken?