The Absurdity of Abusing Your Spiritual Family

Again and again the prophets warn that ease and comfort are sometimes the most notable signs of approaching doom. is that where America is? In Amos 6, the prophet chides the noble leaders of Israel, who assume their luxury and notability are signs no distress is coming. 

Amos 6:1 (ESV) “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!

The judgment first comes for the rich in Amos. Usually in antiquity, the rich avoid the hostilities of takeovers and wars because they have the means by which to escape. God here makes certain that it shall not be the case for His people. The rich will not avoid disaster through their abundance. 

Amos 6:7 (ESV) 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.”

God asks them to consider the nations already toppled by the hand of the Lord. 

Amos 6:2-3 (ESV) 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?

Notice verse 3, they people thought disaster was far from them. The Lord says it is near. 

The rest of the chapter outlines the signs of an overconfident, over-contented nation.

First, they are saturated with comfort.

Amos 6:4 (ESV) 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

The image here is the drunk person sprawled out and overhanging the couch after a night of carousing. The eating of meat was a sign of luxury.

Second, they tinker with song and dance. 

Amos 6:5 (ESV) who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music

Third, they are full of alcoholic indulgence.

Amos 6:6 (ESV) who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Is there anything wrong with comfort? No. The problem is, these nobles gained their comfort by abusing and taking advantage of the working poor. God was not pleased. 

The root of it, as with all sins, was pride. 

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

Amos 6:8 (ESV) “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

Amos asks two absurd questions to illicit a response of incredulity and set the people up for a denouncement of their own stupid actions toward each other. 

Amos 6:12 (ESV) 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—

To mistreat their fellow Israelites was as foolish as plowing with oxen over rocks. You just don’t do it because it would ruin the entire enterprise. So too, in the kingdom of God, when we mistreat our brothers/sisters for our own gain and advancement, we ruin the house of God for which Christ shed His blood. 

May we learn these lessons from Amos well in our day of ease and comfort. While there is no sin in abundance, the failure to see it as a tool to bless instead of a possession to withhold still stinks in the nostrils of our Lord, who gave up all He had to save us.