Deeper Commentary

Amos 6:1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria- As noted throughout Am. 5, the ten tribe kingdom of Israel had set up shrines to the golden calves, and a centre of worship in Samaria, which consciously imitated the Jerusalem temple which was in Judah. Judah were also apostate, and the abominations performed in the Jerusalem temple were in essence as those found at the calf shrines in Israel. This explains why Zion, the temple mount, is here paralleled with the central hill in Samaria where the idol shrine was located. Amos preached to both Israel and Judah, often with the same material; so we can better appreciate why he uses this parallel. The LXX suggests that the ten tribes were despising Zion, the mount of the Jerusalem temple, and considered that God had replaced it with the idol shrine in Samaria: "Woe to them that set at nought Sion, and that trust in the mountain of Samaria".

They felt "at ease" and "secure" because they kidded themselves that the coming day of Yahweh would be for their salvation (see on Am. 5:18). The latter day equivalent is in those amongst God's people who say "peace and safety" when sudden destruction is about to come (1 Thess. 5:3). "Secure" or 'trusting' is the word used in warning Israel that the high walls and fortifications in which they would 'trust' would be brought down (Dt. 28:52 s.w.). The word is often used by the prophets in their appeal for God's people to "trust" in Him and not human strength (Is. 12:2; 26:3,4 etc.) and not trusting in idols (Is. 42:17; 47:10; Hab. 2:18 etc.). Their trust in their idols was however understood by them as trust in Yahweh. They had mixed the flesh and the spirit to such an extent.

The notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!- The idea is as GNB, reading "nations" as an intensive plural: "You great leaders of this great nation Israel, you to whom the people go for help!".

Amos 6:2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go 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?- "These kingdoms" would refer to Israel and Judah, or perhaps as in :1, to the "great nation Israel" (:1 GNB). The GNB therefore offers: "Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they any better than the kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Was their territory larger than yours?". This is therefore a repeat of the appeal in Am. 1 and Am. 2, to reflect upon the destiny of Gentile nations around Israel, and to realize that unless they stopped acting like the Gentiles, then they would be judged as Gentiles. "Calneh" had just been conquered by the Assyrians (Is. 10:9). Hamath had been conquered briefly by Jeroboam II in the time of Amos (2 Kings 14:25), but Assyria had just captured it (2 Kings 18:34). Gath had also been conquered by Uzziah king of Judah in the time of Amos (2 Chron. 26:6), but would also be conquered. The kings of Israel and Judah had not conquered Calneh and Hamath because they were "better than these kingdoms". Secular success is no certain sign that we are right with God; and here again we see the great error of the prosperity gospel.

Amos 6:3 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near- See on Am. 5:18 Why do you long for the day of Yahweh?. They desired the coming of the day of Yahweh; but God's word through Amos penetrates their deepest psychology. For deep in their hearts, they knew they had sinned and would be judged, but they were putting that reality far away. By doing so they were hastening the coming of judgment, as if that day was somehow flexible within God's purpose. More positively, we can hasten the Lord's coming. The final date is unknown because it will factor in both the 'hastening of judgment' factor due to human sin, and the 'hastening of salvation' due to the prayers of the righteous.

 

Amos 6:4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall- This decadence was all the worse because a famine preceded the final invasion; and as noted on Am. 4:6, the wealthy only retained their extravagant standard of living by forcing the weak and poor to pay them taxes in the form of food. We note that they both worshipped calves and ate them. They became like that which they worshipped, and that message is taught time and again in the prophets. It has strong relevance to us today. Likewise 'stretching' is the word used for 'pouring out' as if in the libations of sacrifice. They justified their decadence as service to God. And we have that same basic human tendency today.

Amos 6:5 Who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David did- I suggested on :4 and :6 that this decadence had overtones of religious worship. They claimed to admire the spirituality of David and to be continuing his style of worship. When really they were just enjoying a decadent meal accompanied by music. This mixture of flesh and spirit is really our acutest temptation.  They drunk wine and anointed their faces with oil- the language of rejoicing in God's blessings, assuming they were righteous, and that the wealth they had wrongly gained was in fact Divine blessing. Many a corrupt Pentecostal pastor must have done the same in our days. They looked back to the heritage of their spiritual ancestors (David), and on a surface level appeared to follow them. They chanted the temple songs at their shrines in Samaria and Gilgal, and yet there was no grief within them for the affliction of God's people (:6). 

Amos 6:6 Who drink wine in bowls- This is the language of the drink offerings being poured out in bowls (Zech. 14:20). As noted on :4 and :5, their decadence was performed with the appearance of religious worship to it.

And anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph- This could refer to this historical Joseph, whose affliction was caused by his own brothers, and they ignored it (Gen. 42:21). The suffering, spiritual, innocent Joseph then becomes representative of the righteous remnant who were being abused. Or the reference could be to how the areas of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, were to be afflicted, unless they repented; but those addressed were not grieved for that. They didn't repent because of the suffering they saw their brethren passing through.

 

Amos 6:7 Therefore they will now go into captivity with the first who go captive- The idea is that those who had gone into captivity first, during the early Assyrian incursions, were intended as a warning to them. But they had not taken that warning, and so they too would go into captivity as those who had "first" or earlier gone into captivity.

And the feasting and lounging will end- "Lounging" is Heb. mizrach, a word play with mizraq, "bowls", in :6. "Will end" is the same word used in Am. 5:23, when God asks for their songs of worship to Him to be taken away or ended. Their feasting with bowls if wine was therefore performed as a feast to Yahweh. He ended it through the invasion, seeing they refused to stop. This is how obnoxious is self-gratification performed in the name of serving God.

Amos 6:8 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by Himself, says Yahweh, the God of Armies, that I hate the pride of Jacob- For all the issues which the prophets could have condemned people for, pride was high on their list.  Jeremiah wept in secret, his eyes running with tears, “for your pride” (Jer. 13:15-17). Isaiah gets passionate about the way that Assyria thought that “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom” (Is. 10:13). Because Ephraim trusted in his wealth, the most awful words of judgment are pronounced upon him (Hos. 12:8; 10:13,14). We shrug when we see pride and trust in wealth. Rich or poor, we all tend to trust in money. Thinking that that’s life… under the sun. But the prophets went ballistic about this. We’ve developed established patterns of indifference to this kind of thing. But the prophet’s consciences were keenly sensitive to these patterns, and they openly challenged them. They weren’t just empty moralizers, bleating on about the state of the nation; their words are an assault of the mind and conscience.

And detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it- As noted often, the fortresses were the human strength which Israel trusted in, rather than in God; see on :1. God hated, even detested, all such trust in human defences. We need to take that lesson. For we have so many temptations to trust in human strength. And it is bank balances, reserves, health plans etc. which God detests if they are used to replace trust in Him.

Amos 6:9 It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die- We note again the reference of Amos to fortified houses, which the wealthy thought would be their defence against invaders. Such a large house must be in view, if ten men remained within it. Even if these houses were such a defence, God would send a snake on their walls inside to kill them (Am. 5:19). We really need to hear all this repetition- all human strength and defence is not so at all.

Amos 6:10 When a man’s relative carries his body out of the house to burn it, he will ask him who is in the innermost parts of the house: ‘Is there yet any with you?’. And if he says, ‘No’, then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh’- The idea may be as in Am. 5:13. The righteous keep silent in respect of the rightness of Divine judgments (Lev. 10:3; Ps. 39:9), even if they fall upon their own relatives. And again, even the innermost, most fortified parts of their homes would not preserve them. The innermost parts, the very core, of our various human defence mechanisms will likewise be revealed as nothing before God's judgment. It was the duty of the closest relatives to bury the dead; and AV "uncle" may imply that only an uncle was left in this family to bury the younger men. This relative was therefore the only one of the ten (:9) who survived in the house and family. This is mentioned also in Am. 5:3; Samaria was to be left with just 10% of its former population; a major destruction. And it was with this tiny remnant that God hoped to work. They were perhaps the tenth, the tithe, which were intended for God's work. To mention that Name of Yahweh was part of covenant relationship, but that was to be interrupted for the remnant who survived. They had called upon Yahweh as part of their idol worship; and now that was to be no longer possible. They would realize that they had in reality not called upon His Name at all.

Amos 6:11 For behold, Yahweh says it, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits- Repeatedly Amos drives home the idea that their houses will not save them. Their fortified homes and hidden recesses within them were what they so trusted in, rather than turning to God. We too tend to have those hidden recesses of our own device.

Amos 6:12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plough there with oxen?- The answer is obviously "no". But this was how utterly foolish they were being in being unjust and causing bitterness to those they abused. It ought to have been obvious. But that which is spiritually obvious is not perceived because of the way that sin distorts our vision. But the Hebrew is difficult. The GNB offers: "You brag about capturing the town of Lodebar. You boast, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim". The military victories earlier in the time of Amos, under Jeroboam II and Uzziah (2 Kings 14:25-28), were to be now revealed as meaningless; such secular success was no reflection of spirituality. And they would realize that all too late.

But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness- See on Am. 5:7. Justice and righteousness are God's intentions for His people; but just as a horse can't run on rocky crags, so they had inverted the entire sense of spirituality.

Amos 6:13 You who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’- The horns of the Jerusalem altar were thought to be the ultimate source of safety (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28). It seems that the ten tribes had replicated this by adding horns to their calf statues, which were "a thing of nothing". They had created their own strength, rather than realizing their weakness and trusting in God's strength. They were aware that a righteous Ephraim would push her enemies as with the horns of a unicorn (Dt. 33:17), and as noted on :1, they were "at ease" with God, assuming they were righteous, appropriating the blessings of the righteous to themselves. Only condemnation would make them realize how wrong they were.

Amos 6:14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Yahweh, the God of Armies; and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah- From the north to the south. The same terms of definition are used to describe the territory which Jeroboam II had recently recovered (2 Kings 14:25). All that secular success was no sign at all of God's blessing. All this so easily translates into our modern terms. We need not assume that nice homes and possessions are God's blessing and His approval of our spirituality. Not at all. It can be that we merely blessed ourselves with those things. Those armies sent to take these things away were effectively God's armies, totally under His control.