Amos the
“herdsman” prophet of God was commissioned with sharing
judgment and punishment upon not only Israel's enemies, but also upon
the people of Israel themselves. In chapter six and verse one of his
prophesy, Amos declared, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion”
where we read:
The
verse begins, “Woe to them that
are at ease in Zion, and trust in the
mountain of Samaria,...” Amos
began with the word, “Woe”
which means “ah! Alas! Ha! Ho! and O!” “to
them”
which refers to the people of Israel “that
are at ease”
or “that are quiet, secure, careless, wanton and arrogant” “in
Zion”
which means “parched place” and was “another
name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books”,
“and trust”
or “have confidence in and are bold and secure” “in
the mountains”
which refers to “in the hills or hill country” “of
Samaria”
which means “watch mountain” and was “the region of northern
Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the ten tribes of
Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during
the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam”. The LORD
through Amos gave warning to those who were “quietly comfortable in
Jerusalem” and who “had confidence in” the surrounding “hill
country” of “Samaria” for
protection.
The
verse continues, “...which
are named chief of the nations, to whom
the house of Israel came!” Amos
added, “which are named” or
“appointed, designated and specified” “chief”
which refers
to “the first or choice” “of the
nations”
or “people who were non-Hebrew and descendants of Abraham”, “to
whom the house”
or “dwelling, habitation, shelter and abode” “of
Israel”
which means “God prevails”
and was “the name of the descendants and
the nation of the descendants of Jacob”
“came” or
“entered, fell upon, attacked and attained”. The warning from the
LORD was to the people of Israel who became “first and foremost”
among all the “nations”
to which they entered and overcame.
When
we consider these words of Amos, we understand the LORD's warning to
Israel who became comfortable and confident in their position and
standing. They thought themselves to be the “primary” among all
other nations and were secure in their “trust” of the “Samarian
mountains”. God Almighty desires for us to have “confidence”
and “faith” in Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and when we
place our trust in Him, we shall avoid the warnings of “woe”
that Israel experienced and endured.
Next
time we
see Amos write concerning, “Calneh,
Hamath and Gath”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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