8.14.25 – Amos 6

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Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.

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Today we are in Amos chapter 6. We’ll listen to our guest reader, Roy Hanske, read the Last Judgment Oracle in the book of Amos. Roy is the co-host of the Breakfast Table Show on KPOF, 9-10 a.m., The Point of Faith, here in Denver. Let’s listen to Roy Hanske read Amos chapter 6.

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Amos chapter 6. Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation to whom the people of Israel come. Go to Calna and look at it. Go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than you two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowl full and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore, you will be among the first to go into exile. Your feasting and lounging will end. 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. If 10 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. For the Lord has given the command and he will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits. 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 Lodabar and say, did we not take Karim by our own strength? For the Lord God 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 Ereba.

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We are using my journals from 1997 when I was 42 years old, 2004 when I was 49 years old, and 2011 when I was 56 years old, seven years apart each. I vary my Bible reading each year, so in 1997 I was reading only the Old Testament. In 2004 I read the Bible chronologically. And in 2011, I read the whole Bible. So in 1997, when reading just the Old Testament, I read Amos chapters four through six on the same day. I made notes on chapters four and five, but I didn’t make any notes on Amos six. Seven years later in 2004, When I was reading the Bible chronologically, I was reading Amos chapters 5 through 9 on the same day with some passages out of 2 Kings. I didn’t make any notes on anything but chapter 8, which I’ll share in a later recording. And in 2011, I was reading the whole Bible. So that means you read Old Testament passages each day and New Testament passages each day. So on this day, I read Amos chapters 4 through 6 and Revelation 6. Concerning Amos 6, I wrote, Those who are at ease, who think everything is fine, shall be the first to suffer God’s wrath. And I was referring to verses 1 through 7. Chapter 6 begins with a woe. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria. So Zion is referring to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, and Samaria is the capital of Israel. The problem here in chapter 6 is that Judah and Israel think they’re better than the nations around them. Look at verse 2. Are you better than these kingdoms? Israel and Judah were comparing themselves to others. We do the same, don’t we? How do we do that today? Well, we say, well, I haven’t done what so-and-so has done, or I’m not as bad as so-and-so. And comparing ourselves with others, or having pride or arrogance, is not pleasing in God’s sight. So let’s use caution when we start comparing ourselves to others. The next woe from Amos starts in verse 6. Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils. This woe is to those who are comfortable, those who kind of have it made, those who have disregard for what’s going on around them because their life is okay, their life is easy. This is also a warning to us today. Most of you listening to this recording are probably just fine. You probably have what you need in life. You’re comfortable. You’re cruising along through life just fine. But do you care about the things of God? Is your attention on yourself and your Let’s see what Amos has to say about these people with this attitude. Verse 7, In other words, God’s judgment is coming on those who have disregard for others or who are too comfortable to care about what God cares about. Verse 8 continues this judgment. 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. Now, I’m always concerned when I see the word hate and God in the same sentence. But God does hate. He says it right here. He hates Israel’s strongholds. He abhors the pride of Jacob. These strong emotional words about God can relate to us today. Those of us who are just living life, we’re comfortable, we’re doing whatever we want. We’re just kind of frolicking through life without any regard, again, to what God wants from us or what he’s trying to do here on earth. He is the one that gives us life, and yet we take him for granted. So our careless, carefree attitude about life could cause God strong emotions against us as well. Amos is warning his listeners there and us today that God is not pleased with this kind of behavior and he will judge. Of those he is referring to here, none will be left. All will be judged by God. So what’s our application today from this chapter? It is to heed the warning of Amos and these two woes we see in chapter 6. Again, the first warning is for those who are at ease, those who feel secure, those who think they’re better than those around them. Be careful. God is not pleased with that kind of an attitude. And the second is like it. For those who are living high on the hog, who are just going through life the way they want, that God is not pleased. And in both instances, he’s watching and he will judge. So what can we do? We can confess those kind of attitudes to the Lord. We can also set aside our pride and thank the Lord for His goodness to us, His mercy for us, His love for us, all the gifts that He has so that we can enjoy life, but give Him the credit due His name. So let’s do that as we close this chapter in prayer. Father, we thank you that you, through Amos, warned the people then, and through Amos today, you warn us as well. Forgive us, Lord, if we have an attitude of pride or arrogance, and forgive us if we have taken the credit for our comfort, our security, our life of ease. And, Lord, forgive us if we’re not in tune with what you are doing in our world around us. Maybe you want us to do something for you and not just for ourselves as we live this thing called life. If so, Lord, reveal that to us today as we ponder these things. And, Lord, we thank you that, yes, you are a God of judgment, but you are also always a God of reconciliation. You always give us a chance to come back to you. And we do that today. In Jesus’ name, amen. According to a recent Barna research study entitled Bible Reading, A New Year’s Resolution, most Americans are not satisfied with their current level of Scripture reading. A majority express a desire to read the Bible more than they currently do. Born-again and practicing Christians are the most likely to desire more Bible reading in their day-to-day lives. It should not come as a surprise that the majority of Americans wish they read Scripture more than they do, says Roxanne Stone, editor-in-chief of Barna Group. After all, two-thirds of Americans agree that the Bible contains everything you need to know to live a meaningful life. Why wouldn’t you want to read such a book more often? The study continues. However, like other New Year’s resolutions, such as exercising more and eating healthier, Scripture reading is often an aspirational goal. It’s the goal that for most people probably doesn’t feel necessary to survive and so can easily get swamped by the day-to-day demands of a busy life. Scripture reading takes time and focus, two things that feel like scarcities in today’s fast-paced and on-demand culture. Like exercise, like dieting, regular Bible reading does not offer instant payoff. It’s a discipline whose rewards are reaped over the long haul. And the study continues, when people go from feeling they should read the Bible more to needing to read the Bible more, they find the time. Access to the Bible is not the issue in the USA, is it? We all have Bibles. According to another study done a few years ago, 88% of Americans own a Bible. We have 3.5 Bibles in our homes. And this is amazing. 59% of people who have no faith or are atheists even own a Bible, probably just in case. So if you have a smartphone, you have access to the Word of God. My Gideon Bible app has over 2,100 languages. Access to the Bible is not the issue. The issue is changing our beliefs about the Bible to behavior with the Bible. So where are Christians with the Bible today? Christians are well-intentioned when it comes to the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God. We believe, we just don’t behave. Our belief in the Bible and our behavior with the Bible are inconsistent. The middle ground related to the Bible seems to be disappearing. The decrease of Bible-neutral and Bible-friendly people and the increase of Bible antagonists suggests that more people are picking a side. Which side are you on? Are you a Bible antagonist questioning the Bible? Are you Bible-neutral? I just don’t know. Or are you Bible-friendly? I love the Bible. Wherever you are, pick a side. Because of our neglect of God’s Word, we are becoming biblically illiterate. For example, in a private religious elementary school, kids were asked about the Old and New Testaments. Here are some funny things that they had to say. The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat that apple. Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day but a ball of fire by night. What kind of man was Boaz before he married? Ruthless. The epistles were the wives of the apostles. Christians have only one spouse. That’s called monotony. So, if we think about Bible literacy or illiteracy, we think about it this way. If God decided to come down from his throne in heaven, become an author here on earth, you’d think his book would be on the bestseller list. And the fact is, the Bible is the number one best-selling book of all time. 2.5 to 5 billion, according to research. It’s also the most read book of all time. Praise the Lord, that alone might be evidence that the Bible, not any other so-called writing, is God’s Word. According to a weekly World News report, here are a few other Bible facts. About 50 Bibles are sold every minute. The Bible is the world’s best-selling book. It’s also the world’s most shoplifted book. That’s interesting. And that doesn’t even count all the Gideon Bibles stolen out of those hotels. So I encourage you to enjoy a portion of God’s Word every day. Make it a daily spiritual habit. And so until next time, I’m Alan J. Huth, and this program is sponsored by The Ezra Project, with support from listeners like you. Visit EzraProject.net to keep AdBible, connecting God’s people to God’s Word, on the air.