Amos 6:12

10 And when¹ a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the² bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?” Then someone will say, “None.” And he will say, ^a“Hold your tongue! ^bFor we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, ^athe Lord gives a command:
^bHe will break the great house into bits,
And the little house into pieces.

12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
Yet ^ayou have turned justice into gall,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

13 You who rejoice over¹ Lo Debar,
Who say, “Have we not taken¹ Karnaim for ourselves
By our own strength?”

14 “But, behold, ^aI will raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,”
Says the Lord God of hosts;
“And they will afflict you from the ^bentrance of Hamath
To the Valley of the Arabah.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Amos 6:12 Mean?

Amos 6:12

What absurd things to suggest! Such things are impossibilities. Just as ridiculous is Israel's turning justice into poison and righteousness into bitter and sickening wormwood. Amos implies that though we may do something technical or mechanical that had previously seemed impossible—like plowing the sea—improving our morality is vastly more important.

John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Four)

Amos 6:12

In their false security, none of the people worried about the collapse of the nation, even though the signs of it were all around them. In fact, put far off literally means "drive out" or "cast out" (see Isaiah 66:5). They did not just ignore the danger signals, they utterly rejected any notion of an imminent downfall. In doing so, they had done a very stupid thing, as foolish as running horses upon crags or trying to plow the sea. They had allowed violence, corruption, and exploitation to mount in their midst (verse 12).

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part Two)

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