Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
Amos 6:13 belongs to the northern kingdom in the reign of Jeroboam II just after his great successes, when prosperity brought grave evils in its train. To rejoice in a thing of nought is to rejoice in what is worthless and empty, and to speak of taking horns is to boast that power has been gained by one's own strength, though the confidence rests on what is worthless. The horns are the biblical symbol of power, so the boast is a claim to have won strength for oneself out of nothing of true value.
The rejoicing rebuked was that of a society in which the rich lived in great luxury in houses built of hewn stone and paneled with ivory, drinking and feasting to excess amid delicate perfumes and varied music. That life was marked by extravagance, riotous feasting and drunkenness, licentiousness and debauchery. It was all obtained through violence and robbery, oppression and gross injustice, afflicting the just, taking bribes, selling the poor and needy as slaves, turning aside the poor from their right, and using false weights and measures. Judges were notoriously corrupt, turning judgment into bitterness and the fruit of righteousness into poison, while reproof and uprightness were hated and unpopular.
Israel might have stood as spiritual leaders among the nations but set aside the statutes of God and fell prey to evil passions while perverting justice. Pride and excessive luxury of that kind helped bring about Israel's downfall. Justice between man and man is one of the divine foundations of society, privilege implies responsibility and failure to recognize responsibility will surely bring punishment, and nations and by analogy individuals are bound to live up to the measure of light and knowledge granted them. The most elaborate worship is an insult to God when offered by those with no mind to conform in will and conduct to His requirements.
In general, finding gladness apart from God in the lustful things of this life, such as riches, fame, pleasure, and man and what man has done or may do, is rejoicing in what is worthless, which is folly belonging to one destitute of wisdom. Such godless joy lasts only for a moment and is temporary because human life is few days and full of trouble. The pursuit of pleasure ends in weariness, tears, sorrow, utter disappointment, and despair and death.
The horns are also applied to the steeples and spires of the churches of the present time, so that boasting of thousands of towers becomes a proud claim to strength and progress. The verse is especially applicable to them as emblems of pride and as objects of divine judgment in the day of wrath.
Amos 6:13 belongs to the northern kingdom in the reign of Jeroboam II just after his great successes, when prosperity brought grave evils in its train. To rejoice in a thing of nought is to rejoice in what is worthless and empty, and to speak of taking horns is to boast that power has been gained by one's own strength, though the confidence rests on what is worthless. The horns are the biblical symbol of power, so the boast is a claim to have won strength for oneself out of nothing of true value.
The rejoicing rebuked was that of a society in which the rich lived in great luxury in houses built of hewn stone and paneled with ivory, drinking and feasting to excess amid delicate perfumes and varied music. That life was marked by extravagance, riotous feasting and drunkenness, licentiousness and debauchery. It was all obtained through violence and robbery, oppression and gross injustice, afflicting the just, taking bribes, selling the poor and needy as slaves, turning aside the poor from their right, and using false weights and measures. Judges were notoriously corrupt, turning judgment into bitterness and the fruit of righteousness into poison, while reproof and uprightness were hated and unpopular.
Israel might have stood as spiritual leaders among the nations but set aside the statutes of God and fell prey to evil passions while perverting justice. Pride and excessive luxury of that kind helped bring about Israel's downfall. Justice between man and man is one of the divine foundations of society, privilege implies responsibility and failure to recognize responsibility will surely bring punishment, and nations and by analogy individuals are bound to live up to the measure of light and knowledge granted them. The most elaborate worship is an insult to God when offered by those with no mind to conform in will and conduct to His requirements.
In general, finding gladness apart from God in the lustful things of this life, such as riches, fame, pleasure, and man and what man has done or may do, is rejoicing in what is worthless, which is folly belonging to one destitute of wisdom. Such godless joy lasts only for a moment and is temporary because human life is few days and full of trouble. The pursuit of pleasure ends in weariness, tears, sorrow, utter disappointment, and despair and death.
The horns are also applied to the steeples and spires of the churches of the present time, so that boasting of thousands of towers becomes a proud claim to strength and progress. The verse is especially applicable to them as emblems of pride and as objects of divine judgment in the day of wrath.