Amos 6-7
2014 Bible Reading,  Amos

Amos 6-7

Amos 6-7

Bible Passage:  Amos 6-7

In Amos 6, God proclaims woe to those who are at ease on Zion. That’s referring to the people of God! So when we study into the points of why woe is to Zion, we will see many points we have to consider for our Christian lifestyle.

So what is the problem of being at ease? Are we at ease today?

The problem of them being at ease was they were living in times they should not be at ease. Verse 2 tells the people of God to look at the peoples around them and consider if they were better than the others to be enjoying peace.

What about us? We are similarly living in times of peace in Singapore, the little red dot. Do we look beyond our comfortable lives to consider the happenings of the world? The world is far from peaceful – struck with natural calamities, civil unrests and also international tensions.

Amos listed out the things that Zion did that were not right:

1. They trusted in the might of Mount Samaria.

Do we put our trust in other things than God?

2. They put far off the day of doom.

Do we also think that judgment day is far from us? This means we are essentially denying that we are living in the last days, and that there is no time to waste for us but for us to do His will and preach the gospel.

3. They indulge in wine and food, enjoying life but not grieved by the affliction of Joseph.

Do we make use of the peace and comfort God blessed us with, to indulge in our own enjoyments?

What does it mean to be not grieved by the affliction of Joseph? I understand that to be being nonchalant to the persecutions of the church and the sufferings of our fellow brethren in other countries.

We live in the age of information. We will know the conflicts in Thailand if we follow the news. If we want to know, we could also be informed about the situation of our churches in neighboring countries. But do we concern ourselves with the matters of the Church? Do we only come to church as a routine and return to our worldly lives the moment we step out of church?

So while reading this chapter should we not consider if God is also speaking to us today, and whether we are being too at ease with our lives?

Chapter 7 starts off with 3 visions God showed Amos. Amos prayed for the mercy of The Lord in the first two instances, and God relented.

Is that not very comforting? It shows we cannot downplay the power of prayers. For God relented because of the prayers of the prophet.

The third vision is disturbing to me though. The vision is God using a plumb line to measure Israel, and He ends off with that He will not pass by them anymore.

A plumb line is used to measure if a wall is built straight. Obviously Israel had failed when God measured them against His standard. What will be the result when God measures the Church today?

We need to be Christians inwardly and outwardly. We need to be concerned about the matters that God is concerned about. We have to do more than going to church weekly to listen to sermons, but actually live out Christian values in our lives, show love for others, and bring the gospel of peace to them. May God help us to live appropriately to the times we are in. Time to get out of being at ease!

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