Commentaries:
The first to go into captivity are the ones who live in excess, who seem unaware of the times. What happens to the Laodicean? He is thrown into the fire, a severe trial, which could very well be captivity (Revelation 3:18-19; 12:17).
John W. Ritenbaugh
The World, the Church, and Laodiceanism
Self-indulgence leads to excessive striving for yet more worldly pleasure. For those whose chief aim in life is sensual pleasure, there is never enough to satisfy. Self-indulgence can lead to full-blown addiction. Without God's truth of the coming resurrections of mankind, men see no reason to refrain from a life of pleasure and dissipation, ending in death.
Martin G. Collins
Overcoming (Part 8): Self-Indulgence
Now God exposes the root cause: Their pride produced their self-pleasing religion, their overconfidence in their strength, and their self-indulgent lifestyles. Where were their trust and faith in God? Pride causes people to resist and reject Him.
God saw this unwarranted pride most acutely in Israel's leadership. As we have seen, most of this chapter is aimed directly at the leaders, upon whose conduct the nation's destiny is largely dependent. God shows in the Bible that the leader of any institution—nation, church, business, family—can make or break it. If a leader, because of righteousness, comes under the blessing of God, then the people are also blessed. But if God curses the leader because of his wickedness, his people likewise come under the curse.
When Judah had a good and righteous king like Josiah (I Chronicles 34-35), the nation prospered, but under evil Manasseh (I Chronicles 33), the nation declined. In this century, England experienced turmoil in 1936 over Edward VIII's determination to marry the American divorcée, Wallis Simpson. Yet his brother, George VI, who refused to leave London during World War II, rallied the nation during its darkest hour. This principle of leadership holds true in any enterprise, from small to large.
We can also see this in the second commandment: “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children” (Exodus 20:5). The fathers—the leaders—and the children both suffer. When the fathers are blessed or cursed by God, so are the children. The difference is only in the measure of responsibility that each bears.
In life, everyone is a leader and a follower, depending on the circumstances. Amos shows that a leader should never be complacent and content with the way things are because pride follows—and shortly after it, a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Leaders of nations bear a great responsibility because, if they allow morals to collapse, all their military prowess and vaunted technology will not save them. Above all else, a leader's first consideration is to be moral.
But the Israelite leaders of Amos' day were people who first considered their own reputation and condition. They compared themselves with others instead of with God (II Corinthians 10:12). By ignoring their spiritual health, they could neither lead and guide the nation nor help and counsel others. Since they had failed so horribly in their duty, God says the leadership would be among the first to be led away as captives.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Six): Complacency and Laodiceanism
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Amos 6:7:
Amos 7:10-13
