Amos 6:1-14 At Ease No More
At the time that Amos is speaking for the Lord to the northern kingdom of Israel, they are prosperous. They are not encountering drought or starvation. They are happy with how things are in their lives. They don’t have a reason to change. There is nothing to cry out in anguish against. They are even better off than the nations around them. Or at least SOME of the people are.
We have seen God’s list of inditements against Israel. A BIG portion of those inditements includes how they treat the poor and needy. Put simply, they oppress them. On the backs of the poor, the wealthy find their ease. The wealthy take whatever they want from those who have little. I would not be surprised to learn of enforced labor to the point of slavery. This is something that God’s Law strictly forbids Israel to do; enslaving their brothers.
God is going to BREAK this cycle by having those in authority or ease be the FIRST ones to go into exile. No more ‘good life’ for them. They will be treated as slaves; just as they treated their brothers. I was trying to see if Israel was conquered in phases as Judah was but I didn’t find a parallel. I did see that the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan were conquered first. Then, 20 years later, the rest of the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria. This first capture hadn’t happened yet in the time of Amos; with the date that is expected for its writings. I’m wondering if the eastern tribes were the more ‘at east’ group of the people. They would be removed from a lot of the fighting going on in and around Israel by the barrier of the Jordan River. Did this give them an added sense of security?
I will just about bank of the fact that there wasn’t a ‘poor’ and ‘elite’ class with the exiles. God would have had ALL of then treated with contempt by their captors. And all their wealth left behind would go to their conquers; those who could take it from them. The rich as well as the poor would feel the whip of the taskmaster. Only the poorest people would be left in the land of Israel by the time Assyria was through with them. I wonder if those left felt lost or grateful for their freedom.
Father God, don’t let me become an oppressor to ANYONE. Let Jesus be the ONLY one I stand on, for HE is my SOLID foundation. My FIRM Foundation.
Help me to be sensitive to the plight of my ‘brothers and sisters’ and to help wherever and whenever I can.
