Amos 6:1-14--Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

Amos 6
English Standard Version

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
6 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
    and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
the notable men of the first of the nations,
    to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over to Calneh, and see,
    and from there go to Hamath the great;
    then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
    Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 O you who put far away the day of disaster
    and bring near the seat of violence?

4 “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
    and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
    and calves from the midst of the stall,
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
    and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
6 who drink wine in bowls
    and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
    but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
    and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

8 The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob
    and hate his strongholds,
    and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the LORD.”

11 For behold, the LORD commands,
    and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
    and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
    Does one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
    and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood--
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
    who say, “Have we not by our own strength
    captured Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,
    O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
    to the Brook of the Arabah.”

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Even with all the warnings that the LORD has given to Judah and Israel (the southern and northern kingdoms), there are some saying "Peace, peace" when the LORD is saying "Repent, repent!" The rich and powerful imagine they will somehow be safe and escape the coming judgement.  It will not be that different in the end times, and there will be no distinction--al will face the same judgment.  The LORD has been destroying the nations around them as a warning to them of what is coming, and tells them to look at the destruction of those nations and decide if the LORD is coming to bring peace or war.  He asks the important question:   "Are you any better than them?"  The answer is clearly, "No!"  In many cases, they were actually worse than the Gentile nations around them.

Many take comfort in that day saying the day of the LORD's judgment was far away and may be coming, but they won't be alive to see it when judgment was on their doorstep.  Many in the last days will say the same thing.  This is preview for us of exactly what things will be like in the end times.  People will be living in sin, eating, drinking, marrying, and laughing it up and judgment will come upon them suddenly--like a thief in the night.  So it was with Israel here.

While their country is falling apart, they are living in luxury, giving no thought to those suffering around them.  Now judgment is going to come to the leaders of the kingdoms--the house of David and the house of Joseph.  These will be the first to go into exile and the party life they have been in to numb themselves from what's going on around them will come to sudden stop.

​The people can try to build strongholds to protect them from the invading armies, but they will not be successful.  The LORD has set His face against those that were once called His people.  They will be broken and smashed to pieces.  What should be fertile land is now in need of cultivation.  Justice has been turned to poison and what should be the fruit of righteousness to bitter wormwood.

Even when the LORD has kept them safe and given them victory, the people have taken the credit giving no glory to God.  The LORD will now let them stand in their own strength and they will fall and fail.  Many will die and the rest will be taken into exile.  No one will escape..no part of the Land will be untouched.