Amos 6:1-7 - You put off the day of disaster

6:1

“Woe to those who are at ease ..”. This reminds us of Jesus’ words about woe to those who are happy now (Luke 6:24-26). Does this mean it is wrong to be happy, well fed or at ease? No, but it is wrong to be at ease when society is in a mess, and your wealth is the result of injustice and oppression. We need to be concerned about the poor and about injustice. Amos seems to be drawing a parallel between Samaria and Zion. The northern kingdom of Israel seems to have more or less set up a parallel of Jerusalem. It was fake! When men reject God, as our society is doing, they will set up some alternative system. Communist countries have veneration of leaders, Nazi Germany had virtually turned Hitler worship into a religion, our society is making “sexual freedom” into a religion.

6:2,3

It isn’t exactly clear why Amos is mentioning these places. They are places which had suffered defeat, and perhaps the most likely explanation is that Amos is drawing attention to them, saying to Israel that these places could not stand, why do you think that you will do any better? They considered the “day of doom” to be far off, but in doing so were only bringing the day of disaster nearer.

6:4-7

The use if ivory was a sign of living in luxury. At the time there were still elephants in the region of Syria, so the devastating effects of the ivory trade are sadly nothing new. Eating meat was a rarity for the common people, saved from special occasions and feasts. So the latter part of verse 4 is a further description of the opulence of the rich people.

Verse 5 is not a condemnation of music in general, one only needs to look at the psalms to see that, but the reference here is to music in revelry, and the prophet is painting a picture.

Drinking wine in bowls means drinking wine in large quantities.The whole picture is one of the rich and powerful, the elite, enjoying a party life while the nation (Joseph) was suffering. They had no concern for the poor. The outcome of all this would be that those who rejoiced now would be among the first to go into exile.