But as we know, the majority of them have not been faithful. Some are worshiping the Lord in idolatrous ways by mixing pagan religious practices with their worship of the Lord. Some have forsaken Him entirely in favor of the gods of other nations. Yet they seem to be clinging to the notion that because He brought them out of Egypt and settled them in the promised land and made them into a great nation, nothing about their situation will ever change even though they have changed. This would be like me thinking just because I'm from a Christian family I can live any way I want without ever facing any repercussions. Or it would be like me thinking because I attend church on Sundays the Lord will turn a blind eye to my deliberate disobedience. We each need our own personal relationship with the Lord, which is why the people of Amos day can't rest on the fact that they're descended from Abraham. Abraham's faith doesn't save them; their own personal faith is what's needed to save them. They also can't rest on the fact that a lot of them are still going through the motions of worship. Earlier in the week we found the Lord stating how much He despises an outward show of religion when on the inside their hearts aren't true to Him.
The people have a national pride (believing the Lord will never allow them to fall no matter what they do) in addition to being too proud to repent. "The Sovereign Lord has sworn by Himself---the Lord God Almighty declares: 'I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.'" (Amos 6:8) The Bible often uses the names of "Jacob" and "Israel" interchangeably, which is what the Lord is doing in verse 8. When He says He will deliver up "the city", I presume He means Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom.
He paints a graphic and dreadful picture of what is going to happen. "If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, 'Is anyone else with you?' and he says, 'No,' then he will go on to say, 'Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.'" (Amos 6:9-10) It appears as if war does not take most of their lives, and if most of the survivors are not carried away captive, famine or hunger or some other cause will do the majority of the idolaters in. And when a godly relative comes to the house to try to carry out a decent burial for his deceased family members, he will be forbidden by anyone still living there to speak in the name of the Lord. This indicates that there will still be a reluctance to repent even if someone comes and says, "This calamity is from the Lord. You must repent before you end up like these deceased household members."
Disaster will come upon the rich and poor alike, for there are citizens from every walk of life who have forsaken the Lord. "For the Lord has given the command, and He will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits." (Amos 6:11)
This next segment appears to be reference to the futility of the way the people are living their lives. Any life that leaves the Lord out of it is accomplishing nothing of eternal value. Thus we find the Lord comparing their fruitlessness to that of trying to run horses on steep and stony ground or trying to plant crops where they will not grow. "Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness---you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, 'Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?'" (Amos 6:12-13) They are trusting in themselves, not in the Lord. They are not crediting Him for their victories and have begun to believe they don't need Him at all. They do not understand the holy majesty of the One they are dealing with.
Because they have begun to think they've prospered by their own hand, the Lord is going to show them this is not true. They cannot defend themselves against the great Assyrian army that is coming. "For the Lord Almighty declares, 'I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.'" (Amos 6:14) In other words, He is saying, "From north to south they will attack your cities. From north to south they will defeat you."
We can all take to heart the words that are spoken here. Though the Lord was speaking specifically to ancient Israel in this passage, His warning is for anyone to has begun to believe they have done anything on their own. We can't even take our next breath unless the Lord holds us in this life; how much less can we do anything else? We owe everything we have and everything we are to Him. We wouldn't even exist if it weren't His will for us to exist. We wouldn't have the health or the intellect to do anything we've done unless He had given us those gifts. It's important to always acknowledge that we wouldn't be anybody and we wouldn't have anything without Him.
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