The False Security of Luxury
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Introduction
Introduction
If you throw a frog into boiling water he will jump out. But if you put him in cool water and turn the heat on slowly, he will go to sleep in the warm water and slowly die as the heat increases.
Human beings can be lulled to sleep by material prosperity to the point they have it so good that they are blind to their danger.
Luxury and false security go hand in hand. We see this happen in Israel and we also see it today in America. Our abundance of wealth has blinded us to the threat of Communism in this great nation.
Though we secure and spend our money in ungodly ways we see our prosperity as a "sign" that God is with us, but prosperity is not always a sign that God is pleased with us. It is a "sin sickness" which has really placed God against us.
This is the theme of chapter six. Look at how the Bible describes the nation of Israel in these verses:
1. They had become Indifferent (vs. 1-3)
2. They had become Indulgent (vs. 4-6a)
3. They had become Insensitive (vs. 6b)
4. They were Indicted (vs. 7-14)
God was fed up with them and said judgment is on its way. This is true today in our country and in our churches. I’m going to say this and I’ll leave it right here and say no more about it, but when you study the Bible, the way that God brought judgment to a nation was by giving them wicked leaders...
The two main problems I want to point out in this text are complacency in vs. 1, 4, 5 and apathy in vs. 6.
Apathy always follows complacency.
First, we get comfortable (at ease) then we get apathetic. Apathy is the cousin to complacency. Apathy means: “a lack of interest or enthusiasm, unconcern, without feeling, or an absence of emotion.” Now if that doesn’t sum up what we see in most churches today, I don’t know what does...
Look at what happens to people when they become apathetic.
Their faith is in self (vs. 1)
Their faith is in self (vs. 1)
They were "at ease in Zion" (6:1), the holy hill of God.
In her pride and indulgence, all Israel sought was ease. This indulgent lust for comfort and luxury is a sin, and God promised to judge Israel for it.
"At ease" means they were complacent, or had a false sense of security.
The idea of rest isn’t all bad. Jesus wants to give us rest.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
There is a rest waiting for the people of God.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Then there is another kind of rest, a sinful kind of rest – connected to indifference, laziness, and indulgence; that’s what we see here...
“Zion” is a title here used to refer to Israel’s capital city, Samaria) and they “trusted in the mountain of Samaria.” Samaria was built upon a natural fort. The armies of Assyria besieged the mountain of Samaria for three years before they were able to enter the city of Samaria on its summit, 2 Kgs. 17:5-6.
They trusted in their own military strength...
Goliath, 1 Sam. 17:41–47, Rabshakeh (rav-shaqeh), Isa. 36:18–20, and Belshazzar, Daniel 5, all trusted in carnal things, failing to recognize that “the Lord saves not by many or by few,” 1 Sam. 14:6; or “there is no king saved by the multitude of a host,” “a mighty man is not delivered by much strength,” Psa. 33:16.
Gideon teaches us that victory comes through obedience to God and trust in God and not through human wisdom and military superiority.
What is America trusting in today? What are you trusting in today?
Christianity is designed to instill hope and assurance but this must be based upon true Christianity, not our human perversions.
To trust in our own goodness, our church, or, as in the case of these people, our faith and religious activity without righteous character is doing nothing but leaning upon a rotten crutch.
They fail to see (vs. 2-3)
They fail to see (vs. 2-3)
Look at verse 2...
God wanted to rebuke the pride of Israel by making them compare themselves to some of their pagan neighbors. Perhaps they weren’t so great after all. These were all great cities/states around Israel that had bitten the dust recently and God wanted them to know they would be next, however, the Israelites, especially those living promiscuous lives, paid no attention.
Both the Israelites and their leaders failed to recognize that their high blessing obligated them to be to the nations around them examples of godliness and righteousness. They should have especially been examples in religion and morality to the leaders of the pagan nations surrounding them.
But…they didn’t.
Notice verse 3...
In times of prosperity, signs of danger are often not seen or not heeded. The leaders of Israel put the day of evil far off, but around thirty years after Amos’ prophecy, Israel was destroyed.
Are Christians asleep today when they put the Lord’s coming afar off, like I mentioned this morning, are you looking for Jesus to come?
Are our leaders blind when they speak of long-continued prosperity and of universal and permanent peace in our day?
In the belief that all would be well. They did not see the "evil day" and "violence" that inevitably comes when people forget God and forget each other. With indifference, injustice and immorality they were sowing the seeds for their nation's downfall.
They caused the seat or (throne) of violence to come near (they enthroned violence as the rule of life in Israel). The whole book of Amos tells us that the wealthy in Israel had become wealthy through injustice and violence toward the poor.
They have a false security (vs. 4-6)
They have a false security (vs. 4-6)
They were living like there were no problems, and they were living like there were no punishments.
They got comfortable! “They lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch themselves upon their couches.”
They were prosperous, extravagant, and comfortable!
Taking us into a home, Amos shows us people with their extravagant ivory furniture (4); sumptuous diet (4); happy songs (5); excessive drinking habits (6); and practice of anointing themselves with finest oils...
Notice the luxurious life pictured in these verses.
The leaders of Israel became rich through oppression of the poor. They used their ill-gotten riches to gratify their carnal desires. They showed no concern for the Israelites made poor through their (the leaders’) oppression and injustice.
They forget the suffering (vs. 6b)
They forget the suffering (vs. 6b)
The last part of verse 6 says, "... but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph." Their real sin was not wealth but selfishness and sin.
Wealthy people have a marvelous opportunity to share their goods with others and to be good examples of righteousness in the context of wealth.
Their sin was the misuse of wealth.
God tells us we are
1) To Earn Our Money Honestly and Fairly (James 5:1-5). They had done neither (Amos 5:11-12).
We are
2) To Share Our Money Generously. They chose extravagance over charity.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
God tells us
3) To Subordinate Our Money Inwardly. Money is not to be our god.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
These people's self pleasing and unconcern over the ruin of Joseph (a synonym for the church of God) show that material possessions were first with them.
The old phrase "Money Talks!" is right. How you get it and what you do with it tells what kind of person you are, where your values lie, and ultimately where you will spend eternity...
But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
They face severe consequences (vs. 7-14)
They face severe consequences (vs. 7-14)
Once again Amos pictures
1. Israel's Suffering (7:10, 13). He promises divine judgment in the form of captivity. Starting with these prosperous leaders, he promises them that they will be the first to go (7). The God who hates the pride of their false security swears "by Himself" that judgment will come (8). The awful details (9) are given in the picture of a man after the siege burning bodies to prevent plague. The survivors, hiding in corners, are afraid to even mention the name of the Lord (10) because He is the source of their judgment. From one end of the country to the other (13) they would suffer.
This judgment was the result of
2. Israel's Stupidity (11-13). Their life-style was as absurd as running horses through rocks or plowing the ocean with oxen (12). Their rejoicing over some recent victory over the Syrians was foolish if seen as a sign of ultimate victory (13). In their stupidity they trusted in their own strength (13). Their own Bible warned them, "Pride goeth before destruction."
In all this we see
3. Israel's Suicide. Here we see that Israel's fall was as natural as it was supernatural. In God's order of things a lazy, indulgent nation that forgets character, forgets God and forgets to care for its needy, rots from the inside and becomes easy prey.
Edward Gibbon listed these reasons among others for the fall of the Roman Empire.
(1) Extravagant spending.
(2) The mounting desire for pleasure.
(3) The continual production of armaments.
(4) The decay of religion into confusing, meaningless forms.
Conclusion
Conclusion
God didn't have to destroy Israel.
They were destroying themselves. What about us?
The causes of complacency and apathy in the church are very well described here. We have been raised and live in the most prosperous nation in the world. We are accustomed to a lifestyle that would be viewed as extravagant by most of the rest of the world.
1. We trust much in our military might, many in our country seem to have no serious thoughts about anything, least of all their relationship to God.
2. We pursue riches and things as if they will last forever. Most in our country, and in our churches, are not at all grieved over the sins of our nation or churches, or the ever-worsening condition of both.
3. Even in the church, we trust most in our wealth, our buildings, the strength of our denomination and our ability, rather than trusting God.
4. Many of us seldom stop to think about our relationship to God, and what He requires of us.
5. And we are not grieved for the lost!
MAY GOD HELP US!