Amos 6:4-8, 11-14
Amos directs God’s message to those who are well able to indulge themselves…and freely do so. They are those who believe that being able to afford self-indulgence constitutes license for it. And not only license, but justification as well. Neither God nor Amos presents these folks in a flattering light.
“These folks” — do I flatter myself with that phrasing?
Self-denial. It’s an essential, defining part of being a Christian. Without it, we can’t.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
Excerpted from Self-Resistance
When God says, “I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces” (Amos 6:8), He is speaking of arrogance and pride. The same Hebrew term translated excellency here is translated pride and arrogancy in these next two verses:
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13).
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
And here is my translation of Amos 6:13 in my Spanish Bible: “You who are happy at nothing, that say, Have we not aquired power with our strength?”
Why would I want to be haughty?
When pride goes before destruction?
When God hates a proud look?
When I am supposed to learn from the One who is meek and lowly?
Excerpted from Haughty & Lofty. Me?
Additional Reading
- Behavior God Abhors
- Pride: I Repented
- Your Pride Will Flatten You
- The Lifter Up
- I Want to Be Humble
- The Self-Imagined Wise Man
Why haven’t I received the commentary for: Entering Into Rest. Sure do need it. Thanks
Mostly because I have not been well. Also because my for-pay work has been pressing me. And other issues have trumped this “free time” project as well. I’ll try to get something posted in another hour or so.