Amos 4 Commentary
Cows of Bashan were known for their sleek looks! It is a direct reference to the well-fed and pampered women of Samaria. They oppress the poor; they crush the needy.
Great care must be taken, even by the saints, when the LORD has blessed you with wealth. It is easier to sin in this position. It becomes normal to disrespect the poor and everyone else with a lower income than you, regardless of age.
We accuse them of less intelligence, poor work culture, poor planning, or poor administration of resources. At the same time and in the same breath, we elevate our own and tell the world just how well we have managed our faculties.
Check your talk and see how you are always the better one!
But here the women are doing more harm. They sit down and indulge. Probably drunkenness contributes to their wickedness.
The LORD promises to punish Israel for her sins. Scattering. Exile. Kicked out of the ‘Promised Land’. It is the ‘Eden experience’ copied and pasted! Wickedness attracts scattering from the Creator God.
In the meantime, men and women take pride in their religious rituals. They think they are right. How we enjoy to deceive ourselves even when we know we are down and out spiritually!
But the LORD hasn’t stopped sending signals. Even for the rich, strange occurrences such as rain here and no rain in the neighboring yard should make you wake up. When gardens and farms suffer from diseases, won’t the farmer stop and reconsider?
Israel has ignored the calls to repentance. And so the LORD promises to unleash more punishment on the nation.
There is a pattern in scripture: ungodliness comes and then we have repeated calls for repentance. These messages come through prophetic utterances but also through strategic withdraws of blessings here and there. Scattering is the last result. It mirrors the terrible separation of man from His creator as we saw back in the Garden of Peace and Tranquility.
Wickedness has consequences and the participants are called to “prepare to meet your God.”
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