Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

When it goes wrong in the church, the question is what is the cause of it? Sometimes one can hear complaints about the youth, for example: they lack zeal, when it comes to entertainment there is always time, but a club evening is easily skipped, let alone that they will make a real effort to come well-prepared to a meeting. How come?

When there are complaints that among our young people zeal for the Lord and His service is lacking, can the cause perhaps also lay in our families? What I mean is this: what kind of example do we as parents give to our children; what kind of example, especially when it comes to serving the Lord?

I realise that when son or daughter goes astray you can not always say that it is the fault of the parents. On the contrary. Nevertheless, the way we live as family has a forming influence our children. Therefore the question is indeed important whether we as parents radiate real genuine love for the Lord and His service; whether -to mention just one other area of life- this is reflected also in our marriage relationship? Yes, also the latter is of great importance viz., how we as husband and wife live together.

Female members of the congregation may sometimes have the idea that they have only a secondary position in the church, especially when they are married. And even if you havn’t this idea yourself, than surely today’s society will try to impress this idea upon you. Yet when we open our Bible we read in more than one place how important the role of a true Christian wife is, to be there as a real help meet for her husband. When wives no longer see this position given to them by the Lord, but instead start to live for themselves, it has its negative effect also on church life. The text chosen for this morning’s sermon gives a clear example of this; a text in which we hear the prophet Amos address the wealthy women of Samaria, who were leading their husbands astray. So to speak these women had all they wanted, they lacked nothing and yet they were not satisfied. The result was that they placed extravagant demands on their husbands, always asking for more, whereby they couldn’t care less how their husbands obtained the money required to meet these demands.

It is these wealthy women who are addressed in our text. Does this now mean that this morning’s sermon is a sermon only for the sisters in the congregation, and that the male members and children can switch off? Surely not, for they too are addressed in the words spoken by Amos, be it more indirectly. After all, the unholy life of these wealthy women affected also the lives of their husbands and children. In more practical terms: when it goes wrong in the church, it concerns all of us. When God’s wrath is kindled, we all are warned! Well, this was exactly the case when Amos directed his prophetic words against the wealthy women of Samaria, telling them that God would no longer leave the sins of His people unpunished.

I minister the Word of God to you under the following heading,

We will see

1. against whom this oath is directed
2. what the LORD swears to do
3. the seriousness of this oath

I For a proper understanding of our text, Br. & Sr., we should know the time during which Amos prophesied. This was when King Jeroboam II reigned over the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Since the reign of King Jeroboam I the Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom no longer went up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD, but instead they had their own places of worship in Bethel and Dan. As we saw a fortnight ago, this was a self-willed serving of the LORD. Yet the Israelites could not see anything wrong with it. Moreover it seemed as if the LORD still blessed them, since the reign of King Jeroboam II was marked by a period of peace and prosperity. Yet the people did not see all this as a blessing of the LORD. Instead they lived life to the full according to their own pleasure. More and more wealth and luxury started to determine life. Especially the ladies from the upper class had never enough.

Well, it is these ladies in particular who in our text are addressed by the prophet Amos: the wealthy women living on the mountain of Samaria. On this mountain was located the city of Samaria, once built by Omri, the father of King Ahab. In the valley around this mountain lived the poor peasants, but the court-officials, large land-owners and merchants together with their wives lived their wealthy life in the city. Yes, the prophecies of Amos indeed picture a sharp contrast between rich and poor among God’s people. There was a lot of social injustice and an oppressing of the poor.

In our text it is in particular the women of these court-officials, large land-owners and merchants who are addressed. In strong prophetic language Amos says, vs. 1, "….." He calls these ladies "cows of Bashan." Now Bashan was a fertile tract of country on the East side of the Upper Jordan, adjacent to the Sea of Galilee. During the reign of King Jeroboam II it had been recapture and so it belonged again to the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes. This area was indeed famous for its excellent pasture and abundant vegetation. Prime cattle was raised here. Well, in our text Amos now compares the wealthy women of Samaria with this prime cattle, the fatlings of Bashan. These ladies are like those cows living for nothing else than fattening themselves by all kind of pleasures and eating food voraciously. And all this at the cost of the poor and needy. Despite the exuberant lifestyle which these ladies were able to live, they were still not content with their luxury. The more wealthy they became, the more they demanded from their husbands. In our text special mention is made of wine. Apparently these wealthy women were thriving on having parties the one after the other, for which their husbands had to provide wine. These women did not worry at all that there were also many poor among God’s people. The main thing was that they could have their parties. In case the ordinary income of their husbands did not suffice to satisfy them, they knew about ways and means to get even more money from those who were renting their land, those poor peasants for whom they had no pity. They thus stirred their husbands up to social injustice and oppression of the needy. In other words the pleasures in which these women indulged ruined the communion of saints. This also shows that sin against the first table of God’s law ( a self-willed service of the LORD) brings consequently with it sin against the second table of God’s law by having no longer an open eye for our fellow brother or sister in the church.

Now Scripture teaches us in many places, Br. & Sr., that the LORD is a Defender of the poor and needy. However in Amos day the needy in the church were oppressed. Yet in Proverbs 14, 31 it reads, "He who oppresses the poor reproaches His Maker."

See there, beloved, what was happening in the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes in the day of Amos. The question now is: what lesson can we learn from the words of this prophecy. Well, at least two things come to mind.

First there is an element to which I have not paid attention thus far, viz., that these women still called their husbands ‘lord’. I base this on what it says in the concluding part of vs. 1. The NKJV translates there, "who say to your husbands . . ." Yet literally it reads, "who say to their masters or lords . . ." So these women still called their husbands ‘lords’. Well, that’s how also Sarah called Abraham. The apostle Peter refers to this in his first letter, saying that Christian wives as daughters of Sarah should follow this example. Sarah she indeed called her husband ‘lord’, but at the same time she was a real help-meet to her husband in the way God designed it from the beginning. After an initial laugh of unbelief, faith in God gave Sarah the strength to become mother at high age. Beloved, what would Abraham have done without the faithful support of his wife.

No, as I said it not so long ago in a wedding address, this does not mean that even nowadays Christian wives still should call their husbands ‘lord’. However for the rest the example of Sarah can be neglected only to great detriment.

This becomes quite clear from our text. Seemingly these wealthy women indeed followed the example of Sarah, calling their husbands ‘lord’. But for the rest they don’t show any resemblance with the mother of their people. Their ‘lords’, their husbands, had become their servants. For the sake of the greed of their wives, these husbands oppress the needy. But that’s creation upside down. Instead of being a support to their husbands in serving the LORD, these wealthy women boss their husbands around for own pleasure saying, "Bring wine, let us drink!"

The text chosen for this morning’s sermon thus teaches us what happens when wives are no longer content with the position given to them by the LORD, what kind of negative influence this can have also on church life. There are more examples of this in Scripture. I think of what we read in Isaiah 3 about the women of Jerusalem, who were walking around with their heads high, and wanton eyes, walking and tripping as they went, making a jingling with their feet, Isa. 3,16. But again it had its effect on God’s people as a whole.

No, with this I don’t want to say that for the woman there is only a secondary position in the church. On the contrary, in more than one place Scripture points us to the importance of the place of a God-fearing wifehas. I may refer to Proverbs 31, for example, a chapter which extols the virtues of a wife who exemplifies the principles of wisdom, both practically and spiritually. By such women the church is served well. But if women in the church are no longer content with this God-given place, and also try to get their husbands on side, it ruins the church. That’s the first lesson we may learn from these prophetic words.

There still is another lesson to which I would like to draw the attention. In our text we read about all kind of festivities at the cost of the poor. Without any pity for the poor peasants who were suffering, fellow brother and sisters, for those wealthy women the parties had to go on at any cost. Well, how is this with us? In general we lack nothing, instead most of us are able comparatively to live an affluent life. But do we indeed count our blessings? Or are we at times so accustomed to a certain lifestyle, that we can’t do without any more. I now think of many a party also in the church where alcohol must be served freely, otherwise there is no fun. But the consequence often is that there is too much drinking and the level of our language becomes also lower and lower, more rough, coarse. Is that what is pleasing the LORD? Moreover for these parties there always seems to be enough money and time, whilst in certain instances the church can do with only $ 5 a week. Is this not robbing the LORD in the same way as those wealthy women did.

No, then Scripture does not forbid a good meal, or a nice glass of wine. Scripture tells about many a festive meal which meat consisted of a fatted sheep. The Lord Jesus Himself provided more than sufficient good wine for the wedding at Cana. And also the future of the church is pictured with the image of a wedding feast. Yet the point is how do we use the gifts God has given us, the gifts He has laid in creation. As I read somewhere: the same hand that on a Saturday night takes a glass of wine, that same hand must also be able the next Sunday morning to take the cup of wine in a worthy manner. Food for thought also this second lesson which we may learn from the prophetic words spoken by Amos at the address of those wealthy women in Samaria.

II I now come to the second point of my sermon in which we will listen to God’s response to the unfaithfulness among His people, vss. 2 & 3, "….." All this the LORD swears with an oath. Of course, for God whose ‘word is truth’ there is no need to swear. Yet at certain moments in redemptive history God indeed does swear an oath, mostly to reinforce the surety of the infallible promise given to His children. That’s how God swore to Abraham that He would multiply him as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, Gen. 22, 16, and also that he would give His descendants the land of Canaan; a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land in which the Israelites could eat bread without scarcity; indeed a land where they would lack nothing. Thus the LORD would make them enjoy the land of promise.

Indeed, beloved, when God distributes His gifts He never does so in a scanty way. Yet He gives in order that His people may praise Him with these gifts. God does not allow His children to use His wonderful gifts simply for own pleasure without thanking Him for it. And not only are we to use God’s gifts to praise Him with it, but God also calls us to use His gifts for the well-being and benefit of one another. Well, all this was lacking in Samaria. There the upper-class within society lived only for selfish pleasure, meanwhile oppressing the needy. That’s why under oath the LORD swears that all their riches will be taken away from them. This is said, first in symbolic language, but next also in real terms.

First in symbolic language. Those wealthy ladies in Samaria felt themselves with their feasts and luxuries like fish in the water. But in the same way as a fish is sometimes suddenly caught by swallowing the tasty bait, failing to see the dangerous fishhook inside, likewise the love of luxury and abundance would lead to the downfall of these wealthy ladies in Samaria. Their abundance would become total poverty. Amos prophecies that Samaria would be besieged. The walls of the city would be so completely battered down that there would be a hole in the wall for each woman, and through it she would be taken out of the city. Not detour would be necessary. As the NIV translates, "You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall." Instead of leading a life of luxury in the palace, these women would end up in exile in a land where they would be outcasts. The text speaks about Harmon, a location unknown

One may wonder how this can be reconciled with the rich promises God had given to His people, even under oath. I referred to this in the beginning of the second point. Indeed under oath God had sworn to care for His people. But He had also said, as we have sung with the words of Ps. 89,

"If my children ever will forsake My law,

If I now for a moment I draw the line through to today, beloved. Then it is indeed true that at our baptism already God has promised us to that He will provide us with all good, avert all evil or turn it to our benefit. But it is equally true, Br. & Sr., that the LORD will provide us with all evil and avert all blessing turning it to a curse, if we no longer live for Him but for ourselves. God shall surely bless us, as long as we with the gifts He has given us are willing to serve Him and our neighbour. But when we start living simply for own pleasure, then the Lord will show us how serious He takes His covenant. This brings me to my third and last thought. The seriousness of this oath.

III In the beginning of vs. 2 we read, "The LORD God has sworn by His holiness." Amos does not say that the LORD has sworn by Himself, but by His holiness. Now you may say does this make so much difference? If the LORD swears by His holiness isn’t that the same as that He swears by Himself. That’s true. Yet it is on purpose that Amos speaks of God’s holiness.

We read the same expression in Psalm 89,35-37, "….." Psalm 89: by oath God swears that David’s generation is the chosen one. However, in our text the oath is not made in connection with sovereign election, but in connection with divine judgment. David was chosen to special service, but the wealthy ladies of Samaria are rejected by God for not serving Him in the task He in sovereign love had given them. They denied their place behind their husband. They did not want to serve the LORD as God-fearing wives. Instead they stirred their husbands up to unfaithfulness in God’s covenant: "Bring wine and let us drink, even if it is at the cost of the needy. We can’t miss out on our parties." Where love had to be shown and bear fruit, these women were consumed by their own sinful pleasures, dragging their husbands along.

Well, the LORD in His holiness no longer tolerates this. He no longer tolerates that these women forsake their calling, are enslaved to drinking and luxury and this at the cost of the needy in the church. God swears by His holiness that He will visit the unfaithfulness of these women and their husbands. Indeed, and their husbands: for they should have stood up and have pointed their wives to the task God had given them. Yet we don’t read about this. Apparently they just gave in.

Br. & Sr., this happens when a marriage in the church is no longer seen as a holy institution given by God to serve Him together as husband and wife. Yes, marriage too is a wonderful gift of God. But God does not tolerate when we stain this wonderful gift simply for own pleasures. If this happens it becomes dark in the church. Then there might be a lot of earthly pleasure: a party here and a party there. But in the meantime what are we doing with the gifts God has given us.

No, in saying this I do not mean that we should ban all parties. Although I do think that we could do with less. For there is always time when a party is organised. No, we don’t want to miss out on that. But what about the work in God’s kingdom, how often is this load not carried just by a few shoulders.

Nevertheless, a party in itself does not need to be wrong, neither is a good glass of wine. Paul writes in his first letter to Timothy, "Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer." However, if we indulge in our own pleasures God gifts are profaned and this will kindle God’s wrath. God has sworn so by His holiness. Beloved, let us never make light of this.

This morning’s sermon thus contains a serious warning. God’s holiness is not to be trifled with. In Scripture we also read that God is a consuming fire. No, then I don’t say these things to make you scared this morning, but I say it in order that we may indeed seek our refuge only with God who in Christ has richly blessed also us. Let us then also show thankfulness for all these blessings in living a life which is not only dedicated in love towards the LORD, but also in true genuine love towards each other. Let it never be that because of our selfishness the communion of saints suffers. Instead out of thankfulness for what we together share in Christ let us always use our gifts readily and cheerfully for the benefit and well-being of the other members. Beloved, God will surely bless such a congregational life.

Amen.

Last modified: December 01, 2002