Woe to them that are at ease in Zion and that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the renowned of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come.
Amos cries woe over the leading men of two kingdoms — the comfortable in Zion, the confident on the mountain of Samaria, the men the whole nation looked up to. The question is whether honour, borders and comfort can shield anyone from the judgment of God.
The woe is aimed at a settled sense of safety. One writer reads the whole chapter as God's renewed appeal to men wrapped up in it.
Amos 6 is a fresh appeal from Jehovah to men wrapped up in self-security, warning them of sorrow that is certain… They are shown here that the resources of nature cannot hide them from the judgment of God. Their place of honour is just as powerless — the honour of being raised above the nations, with the house of Israel looking up to them.
The "notable men" are the chiefs of the nation. The next verse sends them to look at three other places — Calneh, Hamath and Gath — and asks whether Israel is any better than them.
This woe concerns the great men, the chiefs of the nation. They had sunk into a godless self-security. They dreamt on in their darkness, while the clouds of judgment gathered above them. They were to go from Calneh to Hamath, and then down to Gath of the Philistines… These places were the places of vileness and corruption. But were the kingdoms of both Judah and Israel any better than these?
Being "the first of the nations" is what makes the woe land. One writer draws out what Israel's unique place with God meant for them.
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth." But the conclusion is very solemn. They alone were set apart to know Jehovah; they alone were known as His people. So God says, "therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The measure of relationship is always the measure of responsibility. The nearer a people is brought to God, the stronger the grounds and the higher the standard on which they must answer His claims in obedience.
The ease had a cause. Under king Jeroboam, Israel had won its borders back as far as Hamath. (Older translations call the day of disaster in verse 3 "the evil day.")
Jeroboam had "put far away the evil day" by winning Israel's borders back to "Hamath the great," and to the sea of the plain. Look, says Amos, the evil day is near. On the eve of ruin, the prince was relaxing, thinking only of his ease. Yet Hamath itself and Gath (recaptured by Uzziah), and Calneh and Babylonia were about to fall into the hands of the Assyrians!
Refusing to face that day is not harmless. It changes how people live.
Some desired the day of the Lord. Others put it far off, refusing to believe that judgment was near… The evil servant says, "My Lord delays His coming," and so he behaves outrageously. What were the results in Israel when the evil day was put far off? They committed violence; violence increased in the land.
Ease can be more dangerous than pressure. One writer points to two men who trusted God in danger and failed in comfort.
It is easier to some to be abased than to abound. David trusted God when he was hunted like a partridge on the mountains. When he lived at ease in Zion, Satan lured him into the foulest sins. Jehoshaphat counted on God when he was weak, saying, "We do not know what to do." When he was strong and rich, he allied himself with Ahab and helped the ungodly.
The words have long been used of a spirit found among God's people in any age — and one mark of it is impatience with those who mourn.
Those who are at ease in Zion, to use an expression from the Old Testament, will always scorn the grief of those who feel how far the holy city has departed from her God… Those who were led by the Spirit of God were always a weeping people. It was not that they distrusted the faithfulness of God Himself. They were overwhelmed by what they felt when they saw how little the faithful respond to the power and grace of God.
- Ease. The woe falls on men who felt safe in Zion and in Samaria. Neither place nor comfort could hide them from judgment.
- Eminence. They were the notable men of the first of the nations. That honour did not answer the charge; it raised it. The measure of relationship is always the measure of responsibility.
- Evidence. Israel was told to look at Calneh, Hamath and Gath. Those cities were about to fall to Assyria, so Israel had no ground for confidence.
- Evasion. They pushed the evil day far away while Jeroboam's new borders made ruin look impossible. The same refusal returns in the servant who says his Lord is delayed.
- Exposure. Comfort tests a person harder than hardship. David and Jehoshaphat stood when weak and fell when strong. And those at ease will scorn the few who still grieve.
Pass unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go to Hamath the great; and go down to Gath of the Philistines are they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?
Amos sends Israel's leaders on a tour: east to Calneh, north to Hamath, west to Gath. Does being bigger, older or better placed than your neighbours shelter you when God judges?
The three cities lie east, north and west of Israel. Kelly points to what became of them.
Here God shows them that the resources of nature have no power to hide them from His judgment. Their place of honour has no power either — raised above the nations, with the house of Israel looking up to them… Calneh was far east, a very ancient city and one that lasted a long time. (Compare Genesis 10:10 and Isaiah 10:9.) Hamath was a Canaanite kingdom north of the land. Gath lay in the west. Where were they now? What cause Israel had to fear, worse and more guilty than they!
The word "great" attached to Hamath is not decoration. It marks a military prize, and one Israel had won back not long before.
Damascus and Hamath were both capitals of two once powerful kingdoms. David had brought them under his rule long before (1 Chronicles 18:3-6). Jeroboam won them back for Israel more than a hundred and fifty years after they broke away from Judah. That says much about the success and power of his arms against those hostile nations on his northern border. Hamath, called "the great" in Amos 6:2, was the chief city of upper Syria. It held a key strategic position, commanding the whole valley of the Orontes, which led down to the countries to the south.
Amos aims this at the top men of the nation. The cities he sends them to had a name for evil.
This woe concerns the great men, the chiefs of the nation. They had sunk into a godless self-security. They dreamed on in their darkness, while the clouds of judgment gathered above them… Nimrod built Calneh in the land of Shinar (Genesis 10:10). Hamath was the capital of a Syrian kingdom, and Gath the centre of Philistia. These places were places of vileness and corruption. But were the kingdoms of both Judah and Israel any better than these?
Israel had just enlarged its own border, which is what makes the question sting. Commentators differ on when these cities fell. Some treat them as ruins already. Others point to a blow still coming.
Jeroboam had "put far away the evil day" by reconquering Israel's borders as far as "Hamath the great," and up to the sea of the plain. Look, says Amos, the evil day is near at hand. On the eve of ruin, the prince was relaxing, thinking only of his ease. And see — Hamath itself and Gath (Uzziah had recaptured Gath, 2 Chronicles 26:6), along with Calneh and Babylonia, were about to fall into the hands of the Assyrians!
The comparison also carries a warning:
Amos 6 dwells on the false confidence that deceived the heads of Israel. A judgment like that of Calneh and Hamath might fall upon Israel.
Israel treated closeness to God as cover. Earlier in the book, Amos states the opposite rule.
They were separated to the knowledge of Jehovah, and they alone were known as His people. That is why He says, "therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The measure of relationship is always the measure of responsibility. The closer God brings a person, the stronger the grounds and the higher the standard on which that person must obey God's claims.
The rule reaches further than Israel:
It is God's people when in a bad state who are worse than anybody… The more light people have, the worse they are if they are not faithful… the nearer you are to the blessing, if the blessing is not yours, the more guilty you are.
- Look. Amos sends the leaders east, north and west to three famous cities and lets the ruins do the arguing.
- Compare. Those kingdoms were places of vileness and corruption. Were Israel and Judah any better?
- Borders. Jeroboam had just pushed Israel's border out to Hamath the great. The very cities Israel measured itself against were about to fall to Assyria.
- Powerless. Size, age, honour and a strong border are resources of nature, and none of them can hide a nation from the judgment of God.
- Nearer, heavier. The measure of relationship is the measure of responsibility. The privilege Israel trusted in made their guilt greater, not smaller.