4:1 - The area around Bashan was very fertile...good land for grazing cattle, so Amos uses a stinging play on words to describe the rich women that lived in this area. He basically calls them fattened cows, which has nothing to do with their physical appearance and everything to do with their hearts. The rich women in Samaria live in luxury and they pressure their husbands to crush the poor around them to maintain their lifestyles. Definitely applicable to our culture...people who are willing to use anybody they need to use and support systems of economic oppression to maintain consumer lifestyles.
4:6 - Cleanness of teeth - what does that mean? Well, let me ask you something - what are your teeth like when you haven't eaten anything? Clean, right? There is no food in your teeth when you haven't had food in a while. Amos is using that phrase to describe people who are in a famine. People who just happen to be so stubborn that they refuse to return to God no matter what He throws at them for discipline.
4:12 - This is the final climactic moment of the chapter...no more will God warn them...no more will He throw bad situations at them so that they will return to Him...He is coming. And it is never a good thing when somebody says, "Prepare to meet your God!" Especially when it is God Himself saying it. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). The time for warnings is over and the time for judgment has come. Nothing good ever comes from living life in opposition to God.
5:3 - Amos wants the people to understand the situation they are in - how dire it is. They will have no human power to place their hope in...their armies will be decimated by 90%! Human strength will fail them as it always does.
5:4 - This is such a powerful verse - "Seek me and live." These are the words of life. If we seek God we will find life. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life...no one comes to the Father except through me." Life has always been found in God...Jesus gives us access to God...all other roads end in death.
5:11-12 - Amos once again lays out the huge problem God has with the people of Samaria...God's people are neglecting the poor, abusing the weak, neglecting the helpless and oppressing others to feed their own greed. God hates behavior like this. As Christians who pattern their lives after Jesus Christ, we should do everything we can to fight systems that make oppression possible today.
5:15 - Amos gives us a little hint about how you combat the selfish human nature that exists within you...go to war on evil in your life - prepare for it, defend against it, know where you are weak, etc. Seek God as 4:6 told us to do and you will find life...you will be able to love good things and live a life that brings honor to God.
5:20 - I know this verse sounds strange, but it really does make sense. The Day of the Lord truly is terrifying to those who walk in the dark. If you have spent your whole life refusing to live in the Light, then it is a fearful and terrible thing when God shows up. The Jewish people are crying out, saying that they want the Day of the Lord to come, but Amos is warning them - "No you don't! You people are the enemies of God because of your greed and selfishness...if He shows up your will be terrified!"
5:21-23 - God hates empty and meaningless religious behavior. It is pointless to go through the motions of worshipping God if there is no relationships behind it. This is just as true today as it was thousands of years ago. How many Christians today attend services week after week out of duty to "what they have always done" or "what is expected of them" as opposed to be driven to Christian community by their love of God?
5:24 - What happens when millions of gallons of water moving at a high rate of speed tear through an area? Mass destruction. Basically anything that is not solidly built is scoured away. Amos is crying out to God...let justice roll through this land like mighty waters that will wash away all the foundationless evil here. When God's justice rolls through - only that which is anchored in Him will be left.
6:4-6 - It is a terrible thing in the eyes of the Lord for the Jews to sit idly by, to stuff themselves, to live in comfort without a care in the world...while the Promised Land and the Nation of Israel are in an absolute sin-filled shambles. It is also a terrible thing for Christians today to ignore the fact that so few Christians are concerned about being actual disciples of Jesus and just living comfortably in their suburban bubbles.
6:9-10 - This sounds really weird, but it is a description of the destruction that will come down on the rebellious Jews in Samaria. Those who live in fortresses, believing that they will be protected by thick walls and strong arms, will die in their fortresses. When their concerned relatives show up to see if there are any survivors, there will be none. And they cannot call on the Name of the Lord, because it is already too late...they had their chance, but they refused to return to God...now they are dead. This should remind us of the frailty of human strength and the necessity to seek a relationship with God now, because we never know how long we have.
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