The message of Amos the prophet was given in a time of great seeming prosperity. Both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were victorious in war, winning back from their enemies much of the territory that had been taken away. Jeroboam the second was king over Israel and "He restored the coast of Israel. ... For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." (2 Kings 14:25-27)
Uzziah reigned over the kingdom of Judah, "and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. ... And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians. ... And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. ... And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong." (2 Chronicles 26:5,7-8,15)
Neither Were Thankful
But it was the same old, sad story over again. Israel and Judah forgot that it was God who made them rich and strong, and began once more to trust in themselves and their uncertain riches. "For she did not know that I gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. Therefore will I take back my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness." (Hosea 2:8-9,RV)
Thus spoke Hosea, who prophesied at the same time as Amos.
Lessons Unlearned
In despising the long-suffering of God and forgetting all His benefits, Israel was surely preparing the way for another experience of suffering and oppression, such as that from which they had been lately delivered. The Lord was not willing that the lessons of the past should thus be wasted, and sent His servants the prophets with messages of warning and instruction. These called attention to the patience and mercy of the Lord, as revealed in their past history, denounced the sins into which the people had fallen, and pointed out the inevitable results of continuance in their evil way. "Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you as you say." (Amos 5:14)
An Inspired Herdman
Amos had not been educated as a prophet. He was not declaring God's Word because that was the kind of work he had been brought up to do. When the priest of Bethel told him to get out of Israel and go to Judah if he wanted to prophesy, because Bethel was very well contented with things as they were, and could not consent to hear anything against the king who supported its false worship, Amos replied that he was not engaged in the work by his own choice, but that God who gave him the message told him where to speak it. Said he, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a dresser of sycamore trees: And the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." (Amos 7:14-15,RV)
We Cannot but Speak
The time needed such a man, one who was filled with a solemn sense of the fact that God had given him a message for the people, and that they must hear it. It was no light thing to Amos that the Lord had spoken, and he could not withhold the message from those for whom it was intended. He says, "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all? Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and the Lord has not done it? Surely the Lord; God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets. The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God Has Spoken, Who Can But Prophesy?" (Amos 3:4-8)
At Ease in Zion
"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." (Amos 6:1)
Zion has never been a place for the idle and self-indulgent. It is true that there is rest in the presence of the Lord, but because this is true, no one who truly believes and enters into the rest, can be contented without bringing others to the same knowledge of God's nearness to them, "That they too should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one." (Acts 17:27)
Christ had not held to the riches and glory of heaven, but for our sakes became poor that we might be rich. Israel had been exalted once more among the nations that these might learn how blessed a thing it was to have "God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for;" (Deuteronomy 4:7) and that in the spread of this knowledge, the promise to Abraham should be fulfilled that his seed should be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
Debtors to All Men
Instead, however, of recognizing God in His gifts, and exalting His name among the heathen, Israel resigned itself to the sinful enjoyment of its temporal blessings, unmindful of the crying need of a world that lay in darkness, without God and without hope. (Ephesians 2:12)
Had they carried the knowledge of God to other nations, these would have been subdued by the influence of the Gospel, but they were not, and Israel had only themselves to thank when, in after days, brought into bondage to those heathen nations, they learned how cruel a people could become when unenlightened by the Word of God. Then the work which might have been done in comparative ease, had to be done under a terrible pressure of discouragement and difficulty. It would have been better for them had they gone to the heathen than waited for the heathen to come to them.
Carnal Security
At present they felt secure in the mountain of Samaria. They put far away the evil day, and rejoiced in deeds of violence and shame. Lying on beds of ivory, and stretched on luxurious couches, they feasted on dainties, and sang idle songs to the sound of the viol. They devoted much time to the fine arts, inventing instruments of music. Wine flowed freely at their banquets, and fragrant ointments perfumed their persons.
But the anger of the Lord was against them because their one thought was to use all His gifts for their own gratification, and in their self-centered pleasures they were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Like Elijah's disturbing message, there came to them the stern reproof of the herd-man Amos, that for these things, "shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away. The Lord God has sworn by himself, says the Lord, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." (Amos 6:7-8,RV)
Unacceptable Worship
The services of the temple had taken on new magnificence in those days of prosperity. The newly invented instruments of music were introduced into the public worship, but the Lord was not pleased with them. "I hate, I despise your feasts. ... Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols." (Amos 5:21,23,RV)
What God desired was that they should receive from Him the righteousness that was bestowed as freely as the corn and wine. "Let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." (Amos 5:24,RV)
But Israel did not appreciate the best gifts of all, and failing to receive these, they also lost the lesser gifts. The promise is given to us that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all necessary things shall certainly be added. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:31-33)
The Present Situation
The situation now is the same as it was in the days of Amos. There are judgments waiting to be poured out, not upon one nation only, but upon all nations. Men put far away the evil day, and there are many at ease in Zion. "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them...and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
Some are scoffing at the promise of His coming, and "As in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:38-39)
God's servants should now be proclaiming His Word, calling on men to "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come;" (Revelation 14:7) to recognize God in His works and receive life and righteousness at His hands, that the prophecy of Amos may be fulfilled to them, "I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, says the Lord your God." (Amos 9:15)--Present Truth, September 1, 1898--Amos 6:1-8
E.J. Waggoner