All right guys we are continuing in our study of the book of Amos, and today we are in Amos chapter six.
1“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.”
We are currently in what we’re calling part two of this book in which the prophet is declaring a series of prophetic monologues against the nation of Israel. Thus far what we have seen is that what is to come for Israel is not good, however, there have been some glimmers that it is possible for Israel to repent and turn back to the Lord, though we know historically that will not happen.
Last week we saw the primary way that God wants them to repent relates to their outworking of justice and righteousness in the land. What has come up over and over again is that Israel as a nation has oppressed and crushed the poor and the needy. Remember Amos is writing to the wealthy cultural elites, the people who have power and are getting wealthy on the backs of the poor. Biblical justice and righteousness directly relates to the ways in which the powerful treat those who are powerless or vulnerable. In the context of Israel, at this point in time, the powerful were using their wealth not only as a way to directly oppress the poor but they’re also using their wealth to insulate themselves from the plight of the poor. Back in chapter four we saw the “fat cows” of Israel who were the wealthy wives whose lives of luxury insulated them from the world around them, and this obliviousness to the rest of the world will come up today as well.
Justice and righteousness have to do with the ways that Israel is treating other people. What we said last week is that the Lord has called them to enact justice which is the restorative work of repairing social, systemic, and societal problems. And I think it’s worth noting that the primary problem here is not the fact that poor people exist in the land. God has not necessarily called Israel to end poverty. That’s not the goal. The goal is, instead, to treat the poor fairly and equitably with empathy and to certainly work restoratively to improve their situation. But even more so to not use one’s power to make their situation worse…even if it benefits you. And God had written in care for the poor into the Torah. One such example was what was known as the law of the harvest, which allowed the poor to come and glean from fields.
Part of the problem here, and this is true today, is that often the point of view held by those who have power and wealth in the culture is that the poor are dumb or stupid or lazy or sinful. That their poverty only stems from bad decisions. The poor need to stop being lazy and to get a job and to work hard, and if they do all of those things then they’re no longer going to be poor anymore. But one of the things that the Old Testament emphasizes is the group that we talked about called the quartet of the vulnerable. And what the quartet of the vulnerable illuminates for us is the fact that one’s state of poverty is not always directly related to one’s work ethic or one’s willingness to work or one’s intelligence, but rather it often relates to one’s life circumstances.
When you consider people like widows and orphans and immigrants it becomes more clear why there is poverty in a place like Israel. Widows during the time of Amos we’re not simply women who had lost a spouse, but instead were women who had no means of supporting themselves due to the loss of a spouse. They were people who were surely on the mercy of others. We see this in the New Testament as well and even in the early church there were widows who did not have family to take care of them and so they were at the mercy of the church. This is in part why the deacon office was created in the New Testament. It was to care for widows in their midst who had no other people to care for them. Orphans were similarly in a difficult situation because in that culture one typically took on the trade of one’s father. But if there is no father, no trade to learn, and there is no family to take you in, then you really are in a bad place.
Similarly if we consider immigrants: much like in America today racism existed, xenophobia existed, and as a result there were not good jobs that were available to immigrants, many of whom were fleeing war in their home countries. The culture was not welcoming to them even though God desired Israel to be welcoming to the immigrants. In America today if you are an immigrant, especially one who does not speak the language, there are not good-paying job options available to you. But, even if you have a forty hour a week minimum wage job, you are only making $7.25 an hour or $290 a week or $15,000 a year. If you’re not aware that is only $2200 a year above the poverty line if you are a single person. Or, in other words, you’re only $42 dollars a week away from technically being in poverty. However, if you have a child and you’re working a full time minimum wage job, you are technically in poverty because you are not simply supporting yourself. You would actually be making $2,400 below the poverty line for a family of two. And, when that is your situation, there is so much working against you. You probably don’t have insurance. You might have to take public transportation everywhere because you can’t afford a car. Or if you have a car you can’t afford insurance for the car. How do you get out of that situation? Just getting another job is not necessarily an option. Just going to college or getting a degree is not an option. What do you do? MIT economist Peter Temin has asserted through his research that in America today it requires twenty years of virtually nothing going wrong in order for a person to get out of poverty. Not for a person to become wealthy, but for a person to just get out of poverty. No lost jobs. No health issues. No unexpected financial problems. For twenty years.
In our text today, Amos calls out those who “at ease in Zion” and those who are living in “security on the mountain of Samaria.” So, not just Israel, but Judah is also being brought into the picture here. The whole group of the people of God. And, Amos’ intent here is not just to call out their lives of luxurious ease, but more to indict their complete lack of concern for the state of their nation. The nation is split between Judah and Israel. Pagan worship is rampant. There is great poverty. The law of God has been abandoned. But, because there is financial prosperity for Amos’ audience, the people are unconcerned.
Verse 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,
All three of these cities, Calneh, Hamath and Gath, were all bigger and stronger cities than Jerusalem and Samaria, yet they had all fallen. They are also geographically all over the region, so it was like Amos was saying, “look around you…everywhere you look, greater cities have been destroyed. Why do you think you are immune?”
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!
Later in Matthew 23, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in the same way, saying woe to you over and over. For religious hypocrisy, and for neglecting justice and mercy, and for appearing righteous on the outside while really being filled with greed and self-indulgence on the inside.
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.”
Again, there is some sarcasm here. Back in verse one, Amos calls them the “first of the nations”, which is probably the way that the people he is addressing thought of Israel. We’re the best, the most prominent, the strongest, the wealthiest. But, then in verse seven it is the “first of the nations” who will be the first to go into exile, which, in principle, is echoed later in Jesus’ words, “the first shall be last.” Israel, your greed and self-focus and lack of compassion will be your undoing.
So, obviously, this is also the way that many people think of America, maybe even you. In fact, we’ve been hearing the slogan “America First” from the political right for the last few years. We are prosperous, wealthy and militarily strong. We tend to get our way on a geopolitical level. Yet, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in America. And, the recent political turmoil, racial unrest, hate crimes, police violence, and global pandemic have shown that there are definitely some cracks in the armor. But, remember, we said last week that we can’t read about Israel and assume that we can apply all of that to America or that the correct interpretation is to apply it to America today. But, rather, the question should be directed at oneself.
- In what ways am I saying, “me first?”
- In what ways am I “at ease” and unconcerned with the world around me?
A simple step for us today could be to ask, “how am I applying the law of the harvest in my own life?” Or in other words, do all of my resources go to me, or am I leaving space in my life to be generous towards helping others? Remember the principle of the law of the harvest was this: how can my resources not only go to take care of me, but also can help take care of others? That is counter-cultural thinking in our culture today. We are deeply individualistic. Right now, if you even start to talk of helping other people, you can be labeled a socialist. But, what I’m talking about is not a political agenda, it is an agenda of love. And, it is a recognition that what we have has come from the Lord. One of the ways that you rebel against a life of luxurious ease where you’re insulated from the plight of the poor is to devote a portion of your money and your time to such people. “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If Christ is our treasure as we often sing, then our money and our time will be viewed as disposable commodities to be used for the good of others. If Christ is not our treasure, then our money and what we do with our time will become ultimate sources of meaning, identity and purpose for us, which is to say that the way we use those things will become all about us.
So, let’s push back. And, many of you are doing just that.
