Script embedded in HTML

“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!”[1]

Amos served God as a prophet in Israel and Judah, the divided kingdoms of Israel. After the death of King David, the kingdom split into two kingdoms, Israel to the north, Judah to the south. Israel had its king, Jeroboam II. Judah’s king was Uzziah. In addition to his role as prophet, Amos tended sheep as a sheep breeder.

This particular setting came at a time when both Israel and Judah had rebelled against God. They rejected Him as their God. They maintained a formal appearance of worshipping God, but at the same time, they worshiped idols. Therefore, they really turned aside from fully worshipping God. They tried to worship both idols and God simultaneously.

Further, they pursued after materialism. In fact, if you read a little bit farther in this chapter, you read about the wealthy who lounged at their tables and cots of ivory. They had great wealth and great pride of their money as they chased after possessions. They found contentment in their goods.

In an attempt to reach these self-satisfied people, God sent Amos the prophet to them with this message: “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion.” Zion, another name for Jerusalem, served as the chief city of Judah. As an evidence of God's grace, He sent Amos to startle them and awaken them out of their false sense of contentment.

This setting serves as a warning to us, because they lived in a time of false prophets and leaders as we do today. These leaders did not teach the people to pursue after God. Further, it reveals God's attitude towards humanity in sin. His warning proved His grace and mercy towards those who rejected Him. He desired to bring them back to fellowship with Him. The greatness and severity of the warning should prod us to examine our circumstances, because we, too, have plenty of possessions and live self-satisfied lives. The false prophets of our day have lulled us to sleep with their chants, “Peace. Peace. All is well.”

The Church of Jesus Christ needs to recognize its true condition and heed the message that God gave to Amos thousands of years ago. We will examine it to see the symptoms it describes for us and to grasp the ways that they fit our day. They will help us to turn from reliance upon shaky things to pursue after God and the firm foundations that He provides to all who seek Him. This text describes three symptoms of the conditions in the time of Amos, which describe the Church today.

First, they rested upon an inferior peace. Notice the prophet’s description: “You are at ease.” The people enjoyed a safe and luxurious life. They had plenty of material possessions. They did not ear attack from any enemies. They were secure and safe. All was well. Life could not get better. They were at ease.

However, as you look at the strict definition of this word “ease” it gives a better picture of their true condition. It literally means recklessness, carelessness. Therefore, in the midst of their prosperity with goods and possessions, there was a recklessness and carelessness about them. They lacked concern over those things, which should have concerned them. They enjoyed a false peace, a manufactured peace, created by the false messages of the evil prophets.

In similar fashion, the Church enjoys a smug contentment. We take pride in how good we act. We live in peace and prosperity. We point to the wonderful works we do for others and to the money we give to poor people. With few exceptions, we confront no severe conflicts. We applaud each other about our wonderful conditions.

Our smug contentment has degenerated into apathy. Churches plead desperately for people to serve in various positions. Their pleas frequently go unheeded. We fail to pursue after God, preferring possessions. For our enjoyment, we create big entertainments and productions that bring happy attitudes and smiles on our faces.

Remember, however, that contentment and apathy do not necessarily translate into peace. Like those in the day of Amos, you can rest upon something that you think firm and safe only to discover its fallacy after tragedy. Big productions can produce hilarity and a certain degree of happiness. Yet, when the programs end and the lights shut down, nothing has changed. We experienced a false joy.

Sadly, we have turned from the only source of true joy and peace, God. We have neglected to pursue after God. The false leaders of our day have led us to trade His manifest presence for a poor imitation.

I remind you of another prophet, Jeremiah, who gave the same message in his day that Amos did. In Jeremiah 6, he talked about the leaders in charge in his nation. God through His prophet told the false prophets, kings, and elders, “You have healed the hurts of your people only slightly. And you say ‘Peace, peace’ and there is no peace.”[2] 

Jeremiah and Amos spoke the same message: “Woe to you, woe unto you who are at ease in Zion.” Their messages ring true today, too. We should not rest on our laurels. The spiritual conditions of the Church have sunk to new lows. At the urgings of evil leaders, we have trusted in an inferior peace.

Second, the people in the day of Amos relied upon an imitation power. The northern kingdom, Israel, trusted in the Mountain of Samaria. The Mountain of Samaria served as the headquarters of Israel. They worshiped God on that mountain. As long as they could worship there and held possession of it, they felt secure. However, if you read further in Amos’ prophecy, you would discover that the enemy came in and took possession of the mountain of Samaria. Their mountain provided no safety for them in their time of need.

In similar fashion, the southern kingdom, Judah, trusted in the safety of Zion, or Jerusalem. They felt secure with its thick walls surrounding it with only 12 entrance gates in the walls. There came a day, however, when their enemy destroyed those walls, broke through the doors, captured Jerusalem, and laid waste to them. Their walls provided no protection to them in their time of need.

Then you will notice that Amos commented about those named the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel is come. Who are these people? This described the aristocracy, the leaders, and the elders. This broad group also included the kings and patriarchs of Israel and Judah. In each of their histories, God had blessed them greatly with men of God, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. They had a wonderful heritage that they perpetuated and passed on to their children.

Both kingdoms rested upon their heritage. They reviewed their past Godly leaders and thought that would make them immune to existing and future problems. They placed their trust and confidence in their history, not God. In Amos’ day, they had a degenerated leadership. They did not follow God nor pursue Him. Instead, they sought false prophets and listened to them. They avoided true prophets like Amos. Their false hopes and reliance upon their heroes did not prevail in the time of hardship.

Unfortunately, the Church today relies upon imitation powers, too. We have our heroes, too. We can identify past preachers and leaders whom God used mightily. They cannot help us now. We need leaders and preachers today who will proclaim the truth and resist the enemy, regardless of consequences. However, the prevalence of false prophets and teachers today yield and conform to society, not resist it. They pacify the crowds and make league with the world in a vain attempt to create peace and security.

Furthermore, we look at our big churches and our big programs and think that we have arrived at a measure of perfection. We honor some of our leaders within the Church who have great influence in the world. The world and its leaders view them as great leaders, but they lead the Church down the path to destruction, because they do not rest upon God. 

In addition, we place great hope in apologetics, the defense of the gospel against attack. However, our hope does not rest upon good arguments. It rests upon God, Who, by His Holy Spirit, overcomes attacks on the truth and convinces unbelievers of the truth when proclaimed. We also follow leaders with winsome personalities with dynamic and forceful presentations. We find them appealing to the eye and minds. That causes us to rely upon man and not God.  

Then, in addition, we use various gimmicks to build the Church. Advertising and promotion has become a staple of the failing Church, instead of seeking God's face to build the body of Christ. In vain, do many false preachers proclaim a false gospel. They leave out crucial elements and present part for the whole. Who would not want to go to heaven instead of hell, especially when they do not realize the full import of the gospel? We look at the vast numbers of those who come and believe that message and we say, “Oh, look at the goodness and blessing of God. Look at the millions and the multitudes that believing.” Sadly, they have not believed the truth.

Again, the false leaders point to the excitement of their meetings and the expressions of emotion. However, the presence of either one does not evidence the presence of God. We have a false sense of God's presence. False pastors give messages filled with generalities, which lack the full truth by conforming them to the world’s desires. They hope that the world will find them appealing and exciting.

All of these examples exhibit reliance upon an imitation power. Results look attractive, but they do not rest upon God and the power of the Holy Spirit. They rely upon false foundations, which produce false results. We must remember what God said to Zechariah, when he faced a difficult time. Several years after Amos, Jerusalem lay in ruins, and Zechariah began to rebuild it. From a human standpoint, he faced an insurmountable task. God assured him with this promise, “It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.”[3]

We need, once again, to restore in our day the dignity of the Holy Spirit. We have set Him aside. We have resisted Him. We have refused to listen to His voice. Consequently, we have relied upon an imitation power. That described the day of Amos. Sadly, it describes our day as well.

Third, these false prophets in Amos’ day rebelled against God with intentional perversity. They deliberately pursued after that which opposed God. The spiritual failure of the people came as a direct result of the evil leadership of their prophets and priests. They worshiped idols made by their hands from wood and stone. They mixed it with a feigned worship of God, complete with sacrifices and celebrations of feast days. They attempted to mix the worship of God with satisfaction of their own fleshly desires, the pursuit of materialism. Their pluralistic worship made God only one God among many others, contrary to God's command to worship Him only.

In our day, we have some similar circumstances. Let me just mention a few. We, too, have rampant sin in our day even within the professing church. We have immorality. Worse than that, we have amorality, no morality. Nothing is moral or sacred anymore. We have pastors, preachers, and leaders who fail to tell us the truth. They preach soft, easy messages to try to encourage us to think that all is well and everything is peaceful and good. They do not tell us the truth. They do not encourage us to examine ourselves in the light of God's word to see if we obey His demands upon us. We have a false sense of security in that we say, “Oh, once saved, always saved.”

A false sense of security in a falsely presented gospel has led many to believe that they do not need to make any changes in their lives. Others rely upon a misleading view of freedom in Christ, which permits them to live as they please. Very similar to the day of Amos, we have rebelled against God with an intentional perversity. The false leaders fail to encourage believers to pursue after God alone.

The Church today replays the conditions of Amos’ day, fostered by false prophets, pastors, and teachers. We rest upon a false peace. We rely upon an imitation power. These occur because we have rebelled against God with intentional perversity.

Stephen in his defense as recorded in described the false spiritual leaders of his day. Just before they stoned him, he told them that they resembled their past leaders. He said, “You always resist the Holy Spirit. You do not listen. You refuse to follow after God.”[4]

Paul in his letters warned of a similar sin: “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.”[5] In his letter to the Church at Thessalonica, he said, “Don’t quench the Holy Spirit.”[6]

The words of Stephen and Paul clearly describe what happened, not only in his day, but also in Amos’ day and ours, too. They and we have resisted the Holy Spirit. We have thrown cold water on His works and extinguished the fires of the Holy Spirit. We have offended Him with our sinful rebellion. As a result, we have a false sense of peace and power, because we have deliberately rebelled against God.

We must heed these warnings as well as those recorded in the book of Amos. We must take them for our day as well and realize that we stand upon the brink of judgment ourselves. We must examine to see whether we might be at ease, contented, satisfied, and apathetic instead of experiencing the true peace of God. We must restore, once again, the dignity of the person of the Holy Spirit of God. 

If it is wrong to call the works of the Holy Spirit the works of satan—which it is—it is also equally sinful to call the works of satan the works of the Holy Spirit. That describes our plight. We call the works of men the works of the Holy Spirit. To experience once again the glorious manifest presence of God by His Holy Spirit, we must repent of our sin and return to the pursuit of God. We must turn from our false ways and trust God to work in us that which He has promised to do.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this record that You have given to us through your man of God thousands of years ago, Amos, who called his people to pursue after You and to forsake that which is false. I pray that You will use these same warnings in our day to cause us to awaken to the true circumstances where we live, to turn from them, to repent from them, and to pursue after You. Help us to forsake our sin and to forsake those false leaders and prophets who would lead us astray. Enable us to seek after the truth of your Word so that we might rest upon true strength and power. Grant that we might experience the reality of Your peace. We will give You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, honor, glory, and praise for what You accomplish in our lives. I ask these things, Father, in the name of Jesus Your Son. Amen.