Warnings for Perverting Justice and Righteousness

Amos 6:1-14 

1 Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,
And trust in Mount Samaria,
Notable persons in the chief nation,
To whom the house of Israel comes!

2 Go 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 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,
Who cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;

5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
6 Who drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.

8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself,
The LORD God of hosts says:
"I abhor the pride of Jacob,
And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city
And all that is in it."

9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, "Are there any more with you?"

Then someone will say, "None."
And he will say, "Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the LORD."

11 For behold, the LORD gives a command:
He will break the great house into bits,
And the little house into pieces.

12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into gall,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar,
Who say, "Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves
By our own strength?"

14 "But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,"
Says the LORD God of hosts;
"And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath
To the Valley of the Arabah."

God gave warnings to Zion and Samaria for perverting justice and righteousness to hold them to account and call them to repentance.  He pronounced woes on them for feeling comfortable and complacent in their positions in Zion (which is Jerusalem of Judah) and Mount Samaria of Israel.  They relied on their calling but neglected their part of keeping the covenant which brought them their prosperity and success among the nations.  God therefore called to them through prophets like Amos to turn from pride to humility and from sins of idolatry and immortality back to Him.  He warned them that lying about in luxury as if to put off the day of doom (that is, judgment) would only bring more woe as they ignored the affliction of their people to rule in comfort and selfishness.  They even tried to invent instruments and play empty songs as if to imitate king David’s psalms in their presumption!  The sentence they earned for such sins included having it all taken away and themselves taken captive once more as before.  The LORD swore by Himself (Hebrews 6:13) to deal with their pride and opulence which had become idolatry in itself (Colossians 3:5) as covetousness of possessions over the necessity of holy and righteous character in humility before the holy Almighty.  God would therefore deal with them by bringing a powerful nation against them as His instrument of correction to wake them to repentance in humility as they counted the cost of continuing in sin.  These lessons are given as examples for us not to do the same, but rather to imitate Christ according to the scriptures and examples set before us (1 Corinthians 10:11, 11:1, Hebrews 13:7).  We also are to avoid perverting justice and righteousness as we seek to live peacefully with all men (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14), including those in authority.  Since we have escaped so great a judgment, may we then run from sin which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1) as it did to God’s people throughout history since the Fall, and keep the eyes of our hearts set on the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ our Lord.