THE CARCASS AND THE EAGLES

’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! 2.  Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines:  be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? 3.  Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 4.  That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5.  That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; 6.  That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments:  but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7.  Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. 8.  The Lord God hath sworn by Himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces:  therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.’—­AMOS vi. 1-8.

Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash.  Jeroboam’s reign was a time of great prosperity for Israel.  Moab, Gilead, and part of Syria were reconquered, and the usual effects of conquest, increased luxury and vainglory, followed.  Amos was not an Israelite born, for he came from Tekoa, away down south, in the wild country west of the Dead Sea, where he had been a simple herdsman till the divine call sent him into the midst of the corrupt civilisation of the Northern Kingdom.  The first words of his prophecy give its whole spirit:  ‘The Lord will roar from Zion.’  The word rendered ‘roar’ is the term specially used for the terrible cry with which a lion leaps on its surprised prey (Amos iii. 4, 8).  It is from Zion, the seat of God’s Temple, that the ‘roar’ proceeds, and Amos’s prophecy is but the echo of it in Israel.

The prophecy of judgment in this passage is directed against the sins of the upper classes in Samaria.  They are described in verse 1 as the ‘notable men ... to whom the house of Israel come,’ which, in modern language, is just ‘conspicuous citizens,’ who set the fashion, and are looked to as authorities and leaders, whether in political or commercial or social life.  The word by which they are designated is used in Numbers i. 17:  ‘Which are expressed by name.’  The word ’carried back the thoughts of the degenerate aristocracy of Israel to the faith and zeal of their forefathers’ (Pusey, Minor Prophets, on this verse).  Israel, Amos calls ‘The first of the nations.’  It is singular that such a title should be given to the nation against whose corruption his one business is to testify, but probably there is keen irony in the word.  It takes Israel at its own estimate,