Living Theology | Amos 6

Living Theology is a blog series that draws out the theological principles of each week's sermon text and thinks through how we can apply them to our personal lives. In other words, this series asks how we can live out the theology of Scripture each day.

Sermon Text: Amos 6

You can watch Pastor Brian's sermon on Amos 6 here:

Amos 6 concludes the major section of Amos's prophetic oracles against Israel. We only need to read through this chapter to realize that the role of the biblical prophets—though sometimes predictive of future events—was primarily concerned with calling out disloyalty and disobedience to God's covenant.

In this chapter, Amos focuses on the arrogant sense of security among the leaders of Israel.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria— the notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to."

Amos 6:1, CSB

"They lie on beds inlaid with ivory, sprawled out on their couches, and dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. They improvise songs to the sound of the harp and invent their own musical instruments like David. They drink wine by the bowlful and anoint themselves with the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph."

Amos 6:4–6, CSB

Their confidence is arrogant because they believe that the success, blessings, and victories that they've had came from their own strength.

"Didn’t we capture Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?"

Amos 6:13, CSB

Throughout the book of Amos the prophet has complained that Israel has forgotten the LORD, their God, as the source of justice. Here in this chapter, we see that they have also forgotten him as the source of their wealth. They cling to the blessings of the covenant but they have forgotten its warnings.

"‘The one who denies justice to a resident alien, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ 'The one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ‘Anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’"

Deuteronomy 27:19, 25–26, CSB

Ironically, God's blessings became an excuse for disobedience. It's as if they're saying, "God's not angry with us. Look at how blessed we are!" The blessings of the LORD had become a source, not of repentance, but of sin!

Do we ever use God's promises and blessings as an excuse for our sin?

"God can't be too upset. Things are going great! We must be doing something right."

The apostle Paul asks,

"Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?"

Romans 6:1, CSB

Can we use God's blessings as an excuse for our sin? Paul's answer is resounding, "

"Absolutely not!"

Romans 6:2, CSB

This sort of thinking, the thinking that excuses sin by pointing to God's blessings and mercy and patience, this is what happens when we claim the promises of God with no change in our hearts.

In some ways, the deception of the Israelites in Amos's day was the opposite of our own. They reveled in their blessings and assumed blessings were a sign of God's approval. For us, we often ignore or downplay the blessings we have. We focus on our difficulties and trials and think that God has forgotten us. That can also lead to sin. "Well, if God isn't going to bless us anyway, then why are we even trying?"

But in the case of the Israelites and in our own case, our focus is not on God but on what we get from him. This is how we become deceived. We focus on the gift rather than the giver.

Is there any sin that you are excusing on the basis of what God is or is not doing for you?

How does Amos's warning to the Israelites who were spurning God's covenant relate to our own disobedience and disloyalty to God?