Totally Lacking #6

 

Read Amos 6

Background: As we said at the beginning of this book, Amos was from Judah but was called to preach to Israel, the Northern Kingdom.  He begins this chapter with the warning: 

Key verse: 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!

Thoughts: Judah and Jerusalem needed to beware the tendency to sit back and glory over the fall of Israel, finding joy in the fact that the rebellious nation was "getting their just rewards." Judah was not far behind.  They were living a life of gluttony and pleasure, ignoring the fact that all around them nations stronger at the time than they were finding themselves taken away.  Amos then turns his words back toward Israel:

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

“I abhor the pride of Jacob

    and hate his strongholds,

    and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

Pride once again, is what goes before the great fall.  The men of the nation would be few in number after all the defeats they would have in battle, and the capital city of  Samaria would fall a great fall.