Amos 6 Study Notes: Woe to the Complacent
Amos pronounces woe on the comfortable leaders of Jerusalem and Samaria who feast in luxury but feel no sorrow over their nation's ruin, and he says they will be first into exile. God swears by Himself that He hates Israel's pride, and because they boast in their own strength He will send a nation to oppress them.
General
In 6:13-14, what did the people claim about their victories at Lo-debar and Karnaim, and how does the LORD answer?
Answer: They credited themselves, so He would raise a nation against them
The people rejoiced over Lo-debar and bragged that they had captured Karnaim by their own power (6:13). The LORD answers that He will stir up a nation to oppress them throughout their land, from Lebo-hamath all the way to the Arabah brook (6:14). Their victories had been gifts, and the God who gave success could just as surely send an oppressor. Moses warned Israel never to say that their own strength had won their wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17-18), and a psalm confesses that Israel took the land by God's right hand, not by its own sword (Psalm 44:3).
- Amos 6:13-14 (BSB)“you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’ For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.””Israel boasts in its own strength, and the LORD promises a nation to oppress it.
- Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (BSB)“You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.”Moses warned against crediting one's own strength rather than the LORD.
- Psalm 44:3 (BSB)“For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.”Israel's past victories came by God's hand, not by its own arm.
Theological
What is Israel's boast over Lo-debar and Karnaim in 6:13, and what is the LORD's response in 6:14?
Answer: They credited themselves, so He would raise a nation against them
Israel's boast in 6:13 attributes the capture of Karnaim to its own strength, with rejoicing over Lo-debar. The LORD, the God of Hosts, answers by raising up a nation that will oppress them from Lebo-hamath all the way to the Arabah brook (6:14). Self-reliant pride forgets that every victory is God's gift, as Moses warned (Deuteronomy 8:17-18) and the psalmist confessed (Psalm 44:3), and the Lord of all nations can as easily appoint an oppressor.
- Amos 6:13-14 (BSB)“you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’ For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.””Israel boasts in its own strength, and the LORD promises a nation to oppress it.
- Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (BSB)“You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.”Moses warned against crediting one's own strength rather than the LORD.
- Psalm 44:3 (BSB)“For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.”Israel's past victories came by God's hand, not by its own arm.
General
Whom does the woe of 6:1-3 target?
Answer: Self-assured leaders in both Zion and Samaria
Amos pronounces woe on those who feel comfortable in Zion, that is, Jerusalem, and those who feel safe on the hill of Samaria: the prominent leaders of the nation, the ones the people turn to (6:1). Though Amos mainly speaks to the northern kingdom, here Judah's capital is included too. He tells them to look at Calneh, Hamath, and Gath and ask whether Israel is any better than those kingdoms (6:2). Instead of facing the coming disaster, they push it out of mind while drawing violence closer (6:3). Jesus warned of the same false security in the rich man who told himself to relax and enjoy his goods (Luke 12:19-20), and Zephaniah describes complacent people who assume God will never act (Zephaniah 1:12).
- Amos 6:1 (BSB)“Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.”Amos pronounces woe on the complacent leaders of Zion and Samaria.
- Amos 6:2-3 (BSB)“Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.”Amos bids them compare other kingdoms and rebukes their dismissal of coming disaster.
- Luke 12:19-20 (BSB)“Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’”The rich fool's confidence that he could take life easy shows the same false security.
- Zephaniah 1:12 (BSB)“And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’”Zephaniah's complacent men assume God will not act, as the leaders here do.
Theological
Who are the objects of the woe pronounced in 6:1-3?
Answer: Self-assured leaders in both Zion and Samaria
The woe of 6:1 falls on the complacent elite of both kingdoms, the comfortable in Zion and the self-assured on Samaria's hill, the notable men of the leading nation, the ones the people resort to. Judah is not exempt from the indictment. Amos bids them survey Calneh, Hamath, and Gath and consider whether Israel is any greater than these kingdoms (6:2), while they postpone the evil day in their minds and hasten violent rule (6:3). False security is the theme: compare the rich fool's self-assurance (Luke 12:19-20) and the complacent who suppose God will never act (Zephaniah 1:12).
- Amos 6:1 (BSB)“Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.”Amos pronounces woe on the complacent leaders of Zion and Samaria.
- Amos 6:2-3 (BSB)“Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.”Amos bids them compare other kingdoms and rebukes their dismissal of coming disaster.
- Luke 12:19-20 (BSB)“Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’”The rich fool's confidence that he could take life easy shows the same false security.
- Zephaniah 1:12 (BSB)“And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’”Zephaniah's complacent men assume God will not act, as the leaders here do.
General
True or False: 6:7 says the people who lived in luxury would be the last to be taken away as captives.
Answer: False
This is false. Because they lounged in comfort and ignored the nation's ruin, these leaders would go into exile first, at the head of the line of captives, and their feasting would stop (6:7). Those who saw themselves as the most important people of the leading nation (6:1) would lead the march into captivity. The LORD had already warned that He would send Israel into exile past Damascus (5:27), and that came to pass when Assyria carried the people away (2 Kings 17:6).
- Amos 6:7 (BSB)“Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end.”The luxurious elite will be the first to go into exile.
- Amos 5:27 (BSB)“Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.”The LORD had already announced Israel's exile past Damascus.
- 2 Kings 17:6 (BSB)“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.”Assyria's deportation of Israel fulfilled the threat of exile.
Theological
True or False: According to 6:7, the luxurious elite would be the final group taken into captivity.
Answer: False
This is false. The text says the opposite: the elite will go into exile first among the captives, and their reclining revelry will cease (6:7). The irony is pointed: the distinguished men of the leading nation (6:1) will be foremost in deportation. The sentence of exile past Damascus had already been pronounced (5:27) and was carried out when Assyria deported Israel (2 Kings 17:6).
- Amos 6:7 (BSB)“Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end.”The luxurious elite will be the first to go into exile.
- Amos 5:27 (BSB)“Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.”The LORD had already announced Israel's exile past Damascus.
- 2 Kings 17:6 (BSB)“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.”Assyria's deportation of Israel fulfilled the threat of exile.
General
What point do the questions about horses running on rocky cliffs and oxen plowing the sea make in 6:12?
Answer: Israel's perversion of justice is as unnatural as those acts
No one runs horses across rocky cliffs or drives oxen to plow the sea; such things are absurd. Yet Israel has done something just as unnatural: it has made justice poisonous and turned what righteousness should produce into something bitter (6:12). The same charge appeared earlier in 5:7. Isaiah pronounces woe on those who swap good and evil (Isaiah 5:20), and Proverbs says that letting the guilty go free and punishing the innocent both disgust the LORD (Proverbs 17:15).
- Amos 6:12 (BSB)““Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—”Amos compares Israel's perverted justice to absurd acts against nature.
- Amos 5:7 (BSB)“There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.”Amos had already charged Israel with turning justice bitter.
- Isaiah 5:20 (BSB)“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.”Isaiah condemns those who reverse good and evil, the same inversion Amos describes.
- Proverbs 17:15 (BSB)“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.”Perverting judgment is abhorrent to the LORD.
Theological
What is the force of the rhetorical questions about horses on crags and oxen plowing the sea in 6:12?
Answer: Israel's perversion of justice is as unnatural as those acts
The two rhetorical questions of 6:12 expect an obvious no: horses do not gallop on crags, and no one drives oxen to plow the sea. Israel's conduct is equally contrary to the created order, for it has made justice poisonous and the yield of righteousness bitter as wormwood, repeating the charge of 5:7. Inverting moral order is what Isaiah condemns in those who exchange evil for good (Isaiah 5:20), and Proverbs names the perversion of judgment an abomination to the LORD (Proverbs 17:15).
- Amos 6:12 (BSB)““Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—”Amos compares Israel's perverted justice to absurd acts against nature.
- Amos 5:7 (BSB)“There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.”Amos had already charged Israel with turning justice bitter.
- Isaiah 5:20 (BSB)“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.”Isaiah condemns those who reverse good and evil, the same inversion Amos describes.
- Proverbs 17:15 (BSB)“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.”Perverting judgment is abhorrent to the LORD.
General
By what does the Lord GOD swear in 6:8, and what does He say He hates?
Answer: By Himself; He hates Jacob's pride and fortresses
The Lord GOD swears by His own self, since nobody stands above Him to swear by (Hebrews 6:13), that He abhors Jacob's pride and hates his strongholds, and so He will hand over the city with everything in it (6:8). What follows shows how complete the judgment will be: even if ten men remain in a household, all of them will perish, and a relative clearing the house will hush any mention of the LORD's name (6:9-10), and both great and small houses will be broken to pieces at the LORD's command (6:11). Proverbs warns that pride leads to ruin (Proverbs 16:18), and James repeats that God resists the proud (James 4:6).
- Amos 6:8 (BSB)“The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.””The Lord GOD swears by Himself that He abhors Jacob's pride.
- Amos 6:11 (BSB)“For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.””At the LORD's command both great and small houses will be destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:13 (BSB)“When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,”God swears by Himself because there is no one greater, as in Amos's oath.
- Proverbs 16:18 (BSB)“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”Pride leads to destruction, the pattern Amos announces for Jacob.
- James 4:6 (BSB)“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””God sets Himself against the proud, as He does against Jacob's pride.
Theological
In the oath of 6:8, by what does the Lord GOD swear and what does He declare He abhors?
Answer: By Himself; He hates Jacob's pride and fortresses
The oath of 6:8 is the most solemn possible: the Lord GOD swears by Himself, since there is none greater (Hebrews 6:13), that He abhors Jacob's pride and hates his fortified palaces, and will therefore hand over the city and all within it. The verses that follow display the thoroughness of the judgment, with whole households dying and a lone survivor hushed so that the LORD's name is not invoked (6:9-10) and great and small houses alike smashed at His command (6:11). Pride as the forerunner of ruin is a constant biblical theme (Proverbs 16:18), and God's opposition to the proud is restated in James 4:6.
- Amos 6:8 (BSB)“The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.””The Lord GOD swears by Himself that He abhors Jacob's pride.
- Amos 6:11 (BSB)“For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.””At the LORD's command both great and small houses will be destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:13 (BSB)“When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,”God swears by Himself because there is no one greater, as in Amos's oath.
- Proverbs 16:18 (BSB)“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”Pride leads to destruction, the pattern Amos announces for Jacob.
- James 4:6 (BSB)“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””God sets Himself against the proud, as He does against Jacob's pride.
General
After describing ivory beds, choice meat, music, and bowls of wine, what failure does 6:6 name?
Answer: They felt no sorrow at all over their nation's ruin
Amos pictures the rich stretched out on beds decorated with ivory, eating the best lambs and calves, composing tunes on harps, drinking wine from whole bowls, and rubbing themselves with the best oils (6:4-6). The charge that sums it all up is that none of them were grieved at Joseph's ruin, Joseph being a name for the northern tribes of Israel (6:6). Their comfort had made them numb to the nation's sickness. The LORD had already said that the ivory-decked houses would perish (3:15), and Jesus warns those who are full and laughing now that they will mourn (Luke 6:25).
- Amos 6:4-6 (BSB)“You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”Amos describes the feasting elite and their lack of grief over Joseph's ruin.
- Amos 3:15 (BSB)“I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.”The LORD had already announced that the ivory-decked houses would perish.
- Luke 6:25 (BSB)“Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.”Jesus warns the comfortable and well fed that mourning will follow.
Theological
What is the climactic charge against the feasting elite in 6:4-6?
Answer: They felt no sorrow at all over their nation's ruin
The portrait of 6:4-6 is of an elite at leisure: ivory-inlaid beds, lambs and stall-fed calves, improvised music, wine drunk by the bowl, and the finest anointing oils. The climactic indictment is not the luxury itself but their indifference: they are not grieved at Joseph's ruin, that is, the northern kingdom (6:6). Comfort had dulled their concern for the covenant people. The LORD has already decreed that the ivory-decked houses will perish (3:15), and Jesus pronounces a similar woe on the well-fed who laugh now (Luke 6:25).
- Amos 6:4-6 (BSB)“You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”Amos describes the feasting elite and their lack of grief over Joseph's ruin.
- Amos 3:15 (BSB)“I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.”The LORD had already announced that the ivory-decked houses would perish.
- Luke 6:25 (BSB)“Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.”Jesus warns the comfortable and well fed that mourning will follow.