Amos 6:9-14

RIGHTEOUSNESS DEMANDS REPENTANCEFALSE PRIDE TURNS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO BITTERNESS

TEXT: Amos 6:9-14

9

And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

10

And when a man's uncle shall take him up, even he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No; then shall he say, Hold thy peace; for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.

11

For, behold, Jehovah commandeth, and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

12

Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;

13

ye that rejoice in a thing of nought, that say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

14

For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of the Arabah.

QUERIES

a.

Why should a man's uncle burn him and question him about anyone remaining in the house?

b.

Why could they not make mention of the name of Jehovah?

c.

What is the thing of nought?

PARAPHRASE

So thorough shall be My destruction of this nation then, even if there are ten in one house they will all perish. And when the kinsman comes to take care of the dead there will be such a multitude of dead corpses he will have to burn the bodies instead of burying them. This relative will call to see if there is one last living person who has gone way back in the very back of the house in order to save his life. If there is one the kinsman will ask, Is there anyone else besides yourself alive in this house? If the answer comes back, No, the kinsman shall then call, Keep quiet then, and do not even speak the name of God lest His attention be drawn towards this place and He smite this house until there is not one left alive! The perversion of righteousness into false pride can no more save you than horses can run on rocks or oxen can plow the sea. You have bragged that you have, by your own doing, built an invincible military power but I tell you that you are putting your hopes on that which is nothing in My sight. I am going to bring against you an enemy nation, says the Omnipotent God, which will crush you down throughout the whole length and breadth of this land of Promise.

SUMMARY

The judgment will be complete. False pride, a perversion of righteousness, will not save them from God's judgment.

COMMENT

Amos 6:9-11... IF THERE REMAIN TEN. THEY SHALL DIE. EVEN HE THAT BURNETH HIM,. IS THERE YET ANY WITH THEE? ... HOLD THY PEACE. THE GREAT HOUSE SHALL BE SMITTEN. AND THE LITTLE HOUSE. Jehovah is going to bring such destruction and death to Israel that even in the palaces of the rich and houses of the largest families where some may escape siege, famine and disease, even those who remain will die. Then where a near kinsman (Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32; 2 Kings 13:21) comes to inter the dead he will find so many corpses that he will be forced to burn them instead of bury them in order to quickly dispose of the possibility of contagion and stench. Only extreme emergencies made it necessary to burn a corpse, which in Israel was a penalty for extreme wickedness (cf. Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:19; 1 Samuel 31:11-13). When this awful task is finished the kinsman calls, either to his helper or a survivor hiding in the farthest corner, Is anyone left alive. When the answer comes back, No! the kinsman hastens to warn the answerer not to mention the name of Jehovah (either in prayer or oath) lest the attention of Jehovah be drawn to this particular place and the one mentioning His name and he also be slain. Of course, God's attention is at all times everywhere present! He needs no such drawing of His attention. Whether the people of the northern kingdom had fallen to such superstitious regard for Jehovah by associating Him with heathen gods or not we are not told. Amos paints this picture in order to show the complete hopelessness and despair that will grip the hearts of those very few survivors when God's judgment begins to fall! Rich and poor alike have been guilty of turning away from Jehovah to serve their appetites and so the houses of the great and small will be destroyed alike!

Amos 6:12-14 SHALL HORSES RUN UPON THE ROCK?. YE HAVE TURNED JUSTICE INTO GALL. YE THAT REJOICE IN A THING OF NOUGHT. I WILL RAISE UP AGAINST YOU A NATION. That they will be able to avert the judgment of God was as incongruous as their actions which were, in turn, as inconsistent as a horse running full speed upon rocks or as oxen plowing the sea. The fruit of their righteousness was wormwood, bitterness (see our comment on wormwood at Amos 5:7). Their righteousness was false righteousness which led to false pride. They perverted justice and proudly bragged of their military and economic power. But what they were putting their hopes in (military and economic power, and religious heritage) was nothingvain and powerless. Horns symbolize military power. They forgot and denied that God had anything to do with their prosperity and boasted that they attained it by their own abilities. This God denying pride is enmity against God. When man declares war on God there is nothing left for God to do but uphold His holiness and omnipotence. So God, as in this case, often uses secondary agents and agencies to carry out His will (cf. Isaiah 10; Isaiah 45; Jeremiah 27; Daniel 2:36 ff; Daniel 4:19 ff, etc.). Here, Israel is warned that God is going to raise up against them a nation. We know that nation to be Assyria (Hosea was the first to mention this enemy of Israel by name). This nation crushed the Land of Promise (including both Israel and Judah) from north to southfrom one end to the other which is where Hamath and the Arabah would be locatedthe extreme northern and southern boundaries of the whole land of promise, see 2 Kings 17. While Israel had more common sense than to run horses over rocks and plow seas with oxenwhile they acted so responsibly in the common things of life, they exhibited such irresponsibility in the most significant areas of human conductrighteousness and justice. So the Lord caused (as the original text emphasizes) a nation to rise up against this ungrateful, irresponsible, arrogant, sensual people. The message of Amos is still quite relevant and contemporary. Our society is almost a sister to that one in its ingratitude, irresponsibility, arrogance, sensuality. Amos was not able to call men back to God in his day, but he was willing to lay down his life if necessary to give God's call to repentance. Can prophets of today succeed where Amos did not? Time alone will tell!

QUIZ

1.

What is the significance of ten remaining in the house?

2.

Why does the near kinsman come to burn the bones?

3.

Why does he tell the one answering him not to mention the name of Jehovah?

4.

Why the figure of speech of horses running on rocks and oxen plowing the seas?

5.

What was Israel rejoicing in that was called nought?

6.

Whom did God raise up against Israel?

7.

Why is the message of Amos so relevant? why is it so imperative?