Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
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Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
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Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
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Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Amos 6:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 9:10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
- Isaiah 56:12 “Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”
- Ezekiel 12:27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.’
- Ezekiel 12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’
- Amos 3:10 “Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
- Matthew 24:48 But if that evil servant should say in his heart, ‘My lord is delaying his coming,’
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
- 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
- Psalms 94:20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Isaiah 47:7 You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the results.
- Amos 5:12 For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.
- Amos 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
- Amos 6:12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
- Revelation 18:17 For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.’ Every ship master, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here reproves the Jews and Israelites for…
The Prophet here reproves the Jews and Israelites for another crime, — that they had often provoked God’s wrath, and ceased not by their sins to call forth new punishments, and in the meantime rejected, through their haughtiness and obstinacy, all his threatening, as if they were vain, and would never be executed on them. We must ever remember what I have said before, — that the Prophet speaks not here of the whole people, but of the chiefs; for the expression, that they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, could not have been applied to the common people. This discourse then was addressed particularly to the judges and counselors, and those who were in power in both kingdoms, in Judah as well as in Israel.
But it is a remarkable saying, that they drove far off the evil day, while they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, or of violence; as though he said, “Ye seek for yourselves a fever by your intemperance, and yet ye drive it far off, as drunken men are wont to do, who swallow down wine without any moderation; and when a physician comes or one more moderate, and warns them not to indulge in excess, they ridicule all their forebodings: ‘What! will a fever seize on me? I am wholly free from fever; I am indeed accustomed to drink wine.’” Such are ungodly men, when they provoke God’s wrath as it were designedly, and at the same time scorn all threatening, as though they were safe through some special privilege. We now then see what the Prophet had in view by saying, that they drove far the evil day, and yet drew nigh the throne of iniquity He means, that they drew nigh the throne of iniquity, when the judges strengthened themselves in their tyranny, and took the liberty to steal, to rob, to plunder, to oppress. When therefore they thus hardened themselves in all kinds of licentiousness, they then drew nigh the throne of iniquity. And they put away the evil day, because they were touched by no alarm; for when the Prophets denounced God’s vengeance, they regarded it as a fable.
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In short, Amos charges here the principal men of the two kingdoms with two crimes, — that they ceased not to provoke continually the wrath of God by subverting and casting under foot all equity, and by ruling the people in a tyrannical and haughty manner — and that, in the mean time, they heedlessly despised all threatening, prolonged time, and promised impunity to themselves: even when God seriously and sharply addressed them, they still thought that the evil day was not nigh. Passages of this kind meet us everywhere in the Prophets, in which they show their indignation at this kind of heedlessness, when hypocrites putting off every feeling of grief, as though they had fascinated themselves, laughed to scorn all the Prophets, because they thought that the hand of God was far removed from them. Thus they are spoken of by Isaiah, as saying,
‘Let us eat and drink, since we must die,’ (Isaiah 22:13)
They indeed thought that the Prophets did not seriously threaten them; but they regarded the mention of a near destruction as an empty bugbear. We now then understand what the Prophet meant. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Ye that continue still in your wickedness, and think…
Ye that continue still in your wickedness, and think that God’s plagues are not at hand, but give yourselves to all idleness, wantonness, and riot.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Amo 6:3 Ye that put far away the evil…
Amo 6:3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
Ver. 3. Ye that put far away the evil day] Woe to you that would do so if you could; that fondly persuade yourselves there is no such danger in evil doing as the prophets pretend: but that all shall be hail and well with you, though ye walk in the imagination of your hearts, to add drunkenness to thirst, Deu 29:19, and to heap up sin as high as heaven, Rev 18:5. This cursed security and hope of impunity is the source of much wickedness in the world. See Pro 7:19-20 Mat 24:48. {See Trapp on "Pro 7:19"} {See Trapp on "Pro 7:20"} {See Trapp on "Mat 24:48"} Quae longinqua sunt, non metuuntur (Arist. Rhet. l. 2, c. 5). It is a sad thing when men shall say, as Eze 12:27, "The vision that he seeth is for many day to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off." This atheistic conceit accelerates the judgment: Eze 12:28, "Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God." Tarditatemque supplicii, gravitate compensabo (Val. Max.).
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And cause the seat of violence to come near] Amota Iustitiae sella: setting aside the care of justice together with the fear of God, for whom ye ought to have reserved the chief room in all your public meetings, as the Ethiopian judges are said to do. Atque vi angeritur res, might overcomes right; and robberies are daily done by authority. See Psa 94:20. The throne of iniquity shall not have fellowship with God; neither will he take the wicked by the hand, whatever those corrupt vice gods do (as we may in the worst sense best term them), "whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not," 2Pe 2:3. The evil day that they put far away will suddenly surprise them, and then what will they do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what will they answer him? Job 31:14 (Clandian, l. 2, in Eutrop.).
“ Sed quam caecus inest vitiis amor? omne futurum,
Despicitur, suadentque brevem praesentia fructum. ”
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Woe to you that flatter yourselves that the day…
Woe to you that flatter yourselves that the day of darkness and misery foretold is far off! See Poole "Eze 12:27". These were great ones too, that the prophet here threateneth, who thus postponed the day of Israel’s and Judah’s calamities.
The evil day; not as if it should be a short calamity, as a day; but it speaks the determinate, fixed time, and the haste wherewith the execution shall be made.
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The seat; the throne, or judgment-seat, which should relieve the oppressed, condemn the wicked, and acquit the innocent, this is made a seat of violence, where unjust judges condemn the just and take bribes.
To come near; thus you draw the judgments of God on yourselves, by acting violence against the poor, and contemning the threats of the prophets.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ye that put far away the evil day,.... The…
Ye that put far away the evil day,.... The day of Israel's captivity, threatened by, the Lord, and prophesied of by the prophets; by this prophet, and by Hoshea and others: this they endeavoured to put out of their minds and thoughts, and supposed it to be at a great distance, yea, hoped it never would be; and like the Jews, with respect to their captivity, and the destruction of their city, said it was not near, but prolonged, yea, would never come to pass, Eze 11:3; so some men put far from them the day of death; which though to a good man is better than the day of his birth, yet to a wicked man is an evil and terrible day; he do not care to hear or speak, or think of it, lest it should dampen his carnal joys and pleasures: as also the day of Christ's coming to judgment; which though a good man hastens to in his affections, desires, and prayers, wicked men set at the greatest distance, yea, scoff at it, as believing it never will be, and to show that they are in no pain or uneasiness about it; see Isa 56:12. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "who are separated to the evil day"; appointed to it; foreordained to this condemnation; destined to ruin and destruction for their sins; see Pro 16:4;
and cause the seat of violence to come near; boldly venture upon the commission of acts of injustice, rapine, and violence, on a presumption the evil day threatened will never come; or place themselves on the bench in courts of judicature, and there, without any manner of concern, commit the greatest acts of unrighteousness, as believing they shall never be called to an account for them by God or man.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ye - That flatter yourselves the day of darkness…
Ye - That flatter yourselves the day of darkness foretold, is far off. The seat - The judgment seat which should relieve the oppressed, is made a seat of violence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Ye that put far away the evil…
Verse 3. Ye that put far away the evil day] Wo to you who will not consider the day of approaching vengeance; but continue in your iniquity, and harden your hearts. Ye bring your iniquities nearer, and still suppose your punishment to be at a greater distance.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Amo 6:3-6. Ye that put far away the evil…
Amo 6:3-6. Ye that put far away the evil day — Ye who persuade yourselves that God’s judgments will not overtake you so soon as the predictions of the prophet import. And cause the seat of violence to come near — Who take every opportunity of perverting justice by pronouncing unrighteous decrees, and of turning the seat of justice into the seat of oppression. Or, this latter clause may be interpreted of the Israelites’ bringing the Assyrians, who were to be their destroyers, upon them, by continuing in their sins, and thereby provoking God’s wrath more and more; or by their imprudence, such as that of Menahem, who, having got possession of the throne by slaying Shallum, gave Pul, the king of Assyria, a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand, 2Ki 15:19. That lie upon beds of ivory — This and the two following verses are an elegant description of the bad use men too often make of a plentiful fortune; so that it shuts out all serious consideration, and makes them void of compassion toward persons in want and misery, and to regard nothing but their present gratification; eat the lambs out of the flock — The choicest and best of them. That chant to the sound of the viol, &c. — Who, though but private persons, make use of all manner of musical instruments, the same as David did, when he was a king; and employ as great a variety of music for their own diversion as he did in the service of God. That drink wine in bowls — Not in small, but in large vessels; that is, who drink to excess, and in all respects live very luxuriously. But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph — Do not humble themselves under God’s afflicting hand, nor lay to heart the calamities which the divine judgments have brought, and are still bringing more and more upon the kingdom of Israel, called by the name of Joseph. The words allude to the afflicted state of Joseph, when he was sold by his brethren into Egypt.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Ye that put far away - Probably “with aversion.”…
Ye that put far away - Probably “with aversion.” They bade that day as it were, be gone. The Hebrew idiom expresses, how they would put it off, if they could; as far as in them lay, they “assigned a distance to it, , although they could not remove the day itself. The “evil day” is that same “day of the Lord,” which the scoffers or misbelievers professed to long for Amo 5:18. The thought that the Lord has a Day, in which to judge man, frets or frightens the irreligious, and they use different ways to get rid of it. The strong harden themselves against it, distort the belief in it, or disbelieve it. The weak and voluptuous shut their eyes to it, like the bird in the fable, as if what they dread would cease to be there, because they cease to see it.
And cause the seat - (literally, the session, sitting) of violence to come near They dismissed the thought of the Day of account, in order that they might sin with less fear. They put from them the judgment of God, that they might exercise violence over His creatures. People do not put away the thought of God, except to invite His Enemy into their souls. But therewith, they “brought near” another “seat of violence,” not their own, but upon them. They brought near what they wished to put away, the day, in which, through the violence of the Assyrians, God would avenge their own.
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Rib.: “Let them consider this, who put no bound to their sins. For the more they obey their own will, the more they hasten to destruction; and while they think they draw near to pleasures, they draw near to everlasting woes.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Separated. Hebrew, "remove the evil day," as if it…
Separated. Hebrew, "remove the evil day," as if it would not overtake you, Ezechiel xii. 22. Septuagint, "who are praying (Calmet) or coming (Grabe) to the evil day, approaching and touching false sabbaths." (Haydock) --- They pray to be delivered, while they continue (Calmet) their false worship. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Ye persuade yourselves that "the evil day" foretold by…
Ye persuade yourselves that "the evil day" foretold by the prophets is "far off," though they declare it near (Eze 12:22, Eze 12:27). Ye in your imagination put it far off, and therefore bring near violent oppression, suffering it to sit enthroned, as it were, among you (Psa 94:20). The notion of judgment being far off has always been an incentive to the sinner's recklessness of living (Ecc 8:12-13; Mat 24:48). Yet that very recklessness brings near the evil day which he puts far off. "Ye bring on fever by your intemperance, and yet would put it far off" [CALVIN].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Ye that put far away the evil day]…
3. Ye that put far away the evil day] Probably, with aversion: cf. the use of the word in Isa_66:5. They feel themselves secure against coming disaster (Amo_9:10), and will not hear of it, while at the same time they bring near the seat of violence, or, more literally, the sitting of violence: i.e. they prepare in their very midst a place where, instead of justice, violence may sit enthroned. “They put from them the judgement of God (Amo_2:6 f. &c.), that they may exercise violence over His creatures” (Pusey).
3–7. The luxury and indifference of the leaders of the nation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Far away.—They choose to think that the day…
(3) Far away.—They choose to think that the day of reckoning is far off, and cling yet closer to their habits of defrauding the poor at the seat of judgment. (Comp. Eze_12:21-28.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ye that put far away the evil day. They…
Ye that put far away the evil day. They assigned a distant date to the time of punishment and calamity; they would not look it in the face or contemplate it as approaching and ready to come upon them. Septuagint, oiJ ejrcomenoi eijv hJmeran kakhn, "Ye who are coming unto the evil day." The Alexandrian manuscript has oiJ eujcomenoi, "ye who pray for", (Amo_5:18) with which the Syriac seems to agree. The Vulgate (as Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion), taking the verb passively, renders, qui separati estis in diem malum. But it is beat to translate it as above, in the sense of "repelling," "putting away with aversion," as in Isa_66:5. And cause the seat of violence to comenear. They erected the throne (shebheth, "the sitting," or "enthroning of violence in their midst, made themselves the subjects and slaves of wickedness and oppression. The LXX, mistaking shebheth for shabbath translates, OiJ ejggizontev kaimenoi sabbatwn yeudwn. "Ye who are drawing near and clinging to false sabbaths.
The procrastinator family.
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The fear of suffering is universal and instinctive. All the lower animals exhibit it. So do men in different ways. It is not joyous, but grievous. Human life and happiness are shaped largely by this feeling. Men make their relations to it a chief concern. If it be past, they seek compensations for it. If it be present, they seek relief. If it be coming, they try to prevent it; or, failing that, to postpone it; or, failing both, to mitigate it. And as a certain proportion of the pain is altogether mental, and due to our thoughts about it, one of the commonest palliatives for it is the endeavour to ignore it altogether. Among her other follies and sins, the attempt to do so on the part of Israel is here announced.
I THE EVIL DAY WHICH MEN WOULD PUT OFF. This will be:
1. The day of actual evil. To the wicked there are many such days, with almost as many individual characteristics. Such a day pre-eminently is:
(1) The day of death. This is the king of terrors. To the wicked it means the end of all the good they know of, and the beginning of sufferings of every possible kind and a magnitude inconceivable. It is, therefore, the day of evil in a sense peculiar to itself.
(2) The day of visitation for sin. Such days are sure and frequent. Israel had experienced many of them, and the reminiscence was not agreeable. They had brought, and might again bring, every calamity for body, mind, and estate short of utter destruction. They were evil days in a very emphatic sense, and as such were specially feared.
2. The day of imagined evil. Such days would be:
(1) The day of submission to God, which is an evil day in the estimation of pride.
(2) The day of forsaking sin, which is disagreeable to lust.
(3) The day of coming into relation to spiritual things, against all which the carnal mind is enmity. For such things the "more convenient season" is convenient in proportion as it is or can be regarded as distant.
II THE FOOLISH DEVICES BY WHICH MEN TRY TO ACCOMPLISH THE IMPOSSIBLE. A foolish thing is never attempted for a wise reason or in a wise way. As to the evil day:
1. Some do not practically believe that it is coming at all. They minimize their own guilt, which is the provoking cause. They magnify the considerations which bear in the direction of postponement. They ignore the sure Word of God, which denounces inevitable suffering on sin. The result is an amount of ignorance or scepticism about the matter sufficient to prevent its exercising any practical effect. It is believed in a vague and heedless way, but not so as to lead to appropriate, nor in fact to any, action.
2. Some trust to the chapter of accidents. They know the evil day is denounced. They know it is coming. They know that, if it comes, it will involve them in its calamities. But they hope events will take some happy turn. and something indefinite, but highly convenient, will occur, which will change the issue, and prevent the crisis from touching them. (Isa_28:15) All sinners persist in the life of sin, yet hope, somehow or other, to escape hell.
3. Some endeavour not to think about it at all. They, of set purpose, divert their attention from the subject. They refuse to "consider their latter end." They busy themselves about other things. They insanely act as if the danger would be annihilated by being ignored. Into this snare of the devil many fall. They cannot see the nearness of the evil day who refuse to look at the matter. Blinder and more stupid than the ox or the ass is the people that will not consider. (Isa_1:3)
III THE LAST STATE OF THE PROCRASTINATOR, WHICH IS WORSE THAN THE FIRST. What he gains is a heritage of woe (ver. 1). As to the coming of this, it is evident:
1. He cannot prevent it. God makes his own arrangements and keeps to them. We cannot resist his power. We cannot change his purpose. His word on any matter is the last word, and fixes it once for all. What he has spoken, and as he has spoken, must come to pass.
2. He cannot postpone it. The justice, goodness, and wisdom that combine in fixing an event enter also into the timing of it. All possible considerations are taken into account, and infinite power no more surely does the thing it means than at the time it means. It would be as wise to attempt and as easy to accomplish the defeat of God"s purposes as their postponement. Our mental and active attitude are alike inoperative as to both.
3. He disqualifies himself for facing it. "Be ye also ready" is the Divine prescription in reference to the unrevealed date of the day of God. To be unready is to face it at tremendous disadvantage. To be inexpectant besides is to aggravate the disadvantage to the very utmost. Prepare and watch are equally essential conditions of meeting the day of God in safety. Wilful delusion about the event means woeful injury by it. Men ought to be prepared for what is sure to come, and when it comes be in expectation of it. "Be ye also ready;" "Watch therefore." By the confluence of these streams of action is made the river of a life "throughly furnished.
Putting away the evil day.
By the "evil day" must be meant the day of account and reckoning which comes to all men and to all communities. As surely as there is a moral government and a moral Governor in the universe, so surely must all reasonable and intelligent natures be held responsible for their conduct and for their influence. Yet it is no unusual thing for men to follow the example of those who are censured in this verse.
I THE THOUGHT OF A DAY OF ACCOUNT IS UNWELCOME TO THE UNFAITHFUL AND THE IRRELIGIOUS. Such persons need not be disbelievers in judgment, in accountability; they may accept the assurance of their own reason and conscience that an account must be rendered to the Judge of all. Yet, as the thought of a reckoning is one altogether repugnant to them, they persuade themselves that it may be indefinitely deferred. It must come, but it may not come yet; it may not come for a very long time; indeed, may be so remote that it need not be taken into consideration in arranging the plans of life. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
II THE DEFERRING OF THE THOUGHT OF THE DAY OF ACCOUNT WILL NOT DEFER THE DAY ITSELF. Moral law is never inoperative, is never suspended. Judgment lingereth not. The history alike of nations and of individuals proves that there is a Ruler on high, who is not remiss in carrying out his purposes. There is a reckoning in time; there will be a reckoning in eternity.
Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, he exactly judgeth all.
It is irrational and futile to imagine that by forgetting responsibility men can efface it. Such a supposition reminds of the action of the foolish ostrich who thrusts his head into a hush, and, because he loses sight of his pursuers, supposes that he has eluded them. There is no discharge in this war.
III NEGLIGENCE CONCERNING RESPONSIBILITY MAY EVEN HASTEN THE APPROACH OF THE INEVITABLE DAY OF ACCOUNT. They who forget their accountability to God for their unfaithfulness are likely to be confirmed in their sinful courses; and, as iniquity abounds, judgment approaches. Thus the dreaded retribution is hastened rather than postponed; and the evil day which men would fain put far from them is brought near, and the tempest, which they dread and would avoid and escape, breaks upon them in all its force and fury. T.
Man"s evil day.
that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near." This is another denunciation addressed to the great men in Zion and Samaria. They are said "to keep the day of calamity afar off, and bring the seat of violence near" (Delitzsch). Three remarks are suggested by these words.
I ALL MEN HAVE AN "EVIL DAY" IN THEIR FUTURE. Even the holiest men, men whose path through life has been most calm and prosperous, have to expect certain calamities that befall all. There are trials common to all men, whatever their condition or character afflictions, bereavements, infirmities; these await most men. There is one evil day, however, for us all. Death is in many respects an "evil day." What mysterious sufferings it generally involves! What privileges and pleasures it terminates! What disruptions it produces! Sinner, thy death will be an evil day; and it is before thee, and it is nearer now than ever.
II SOME MEN ADJOURN IN THOUGHT THIS "EVIL DAY." They "put far away the evil day." Ungodly men put this evil day so far on in the course of time that they seldom discern it and never realize it. It is a mere speck, seldom visible on the horizon of many years of unclouded sunshine. Why do men adjourn in thought this evil day?
1. Not because they have any doubt as to its advent. No day is more certain. Sooner shall all the wheels of nature be stopped than the sun of this day fail to break on every eye. "It is appointed to men once to die.
2. Not because they lack reminders of its approach. Every physical pain, every tolling knell, every funeral procession, every graveyard all remind us almost every moment that our evil day is coming. Why, then, adjourn the thought? The reason is found:
1. In the strength of our material attachments.
2. In our dread of the mysterious.
3. In our lack of interest in the spiritual and material.
4. In our conscious want of preparation for the scenes of retribution.
III NONE WHO ADJOURN THIS "EVIL DAY" IN THOUGHT CAN DELAY IT IN FACT. "And cause the seat of violence to come near.
Perhaps what is meant here is that these men so ignored their coming calamities that by their conduct they hastened them on. Ignoring the evil day, they pursued such a course of injustice, falsehood, dishonesty, sinful indulgence, and impiety as served to bring it nearer. Thus the more they put it off in thought the nearer it drew, because they became more self-destructive in their conduct. A general truth is suggested here, viz. that a man who adjourns all thought of his end will pursue such a course of conduct as will hasten its approach. Some men imagine that by thinking upon death they will hasten its advent; hence their dread of making wills. But such is not the fact. He who keeps the evil day in view, rightly regards it, prepares for it, will render such a practical obedience to the laws of health as to delay rather than hasten it. "Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Ye that put far away the evil day, and…
Amo_6:3-6
Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near.
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Man s evil day
I. All men have an evil day in their future. Calamities and trials are common to all. There is one evil day, it is death; but it need not be evil.
II. Some men adjourn in thought this evil day.
1. Not because they have any doubt as to its advent.
2. Not because they lack reminders of its approach. Why then do they adjourn the thought? The reason is found--
(1) In the strength of our material attachments.
(2) In our lack of interest in the spiritual.
(3) In our dread of the mysterious.
(4) In our conscious unpreparation for the scenes of retribution.
III. None who adjourn this evil day in thought can delay it in fact. These men so ignored their coming calamities that by their conduct they hastened them on. A general truth is suggested here,--That a man who adjourns all thought of his end, will pursue such a course of conduct as will hasten its approach. (Homilist.)
The knowledge of sin
Only history can tell what sin is; nothing but Divine judgment can give you a definition of bad doing. We must watch the desolation if we would know the meaning of certain terms and the range of certain actions. We must study Divine judgment if we would know human sin. The difficulty of the teacher herein is that so many persons are unconscious of sin and are therefore mayhap the greater sinners. Some do not distinguish between crime and sin. They have not been criminals, and therefore they think they have not been sinners,--as if all the story of life did not lie in the disposition rather than in the action. The heart is the seat of evil. None knoweth the heart but God. The heart does not know itself; and if there were not a concurrent line called history, or providence, or judgment, we should never know the real state of the heart. We must go to the broader history, the larger experience of mankind, and find, not in it alone, but in it as interpreted by Divine providence, Gods meaning of the term sin. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 to those who put off the day of disaster
to those who put off the day of disaster
Refusing to believe that Yahweh will cause disaster is spoken of as if the "day of disaster" were an object the people could put far from themselves. AT: "to those who refuse to believe that I will cause them to experience disaster" (See: Metaphor)
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and make the throne of violence come near
Here "throne" is a metonym that represents reign or rule. The people doing evil things, which causes Yahweh to bring disaster on them, is spoken of as if they were causing "violence" to rule them. AT: "but who are actually causing me to send violent people to destroy you" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
lie ... lounge
Israelites at that time usually ate while sitting on a floor cloth or a simple seat.
beds of ivory
"beds decorated with ivory" or "costly beds"
ivory
a white substance made from the teeth and horns of large animals (See: Translate Unknowns)
lounge
lie around like lazy people
couches
soft seats large enough to lie down on
translationWords
woe
throne
flocks
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:3 day of judgment (literally seat of violence): By…
6:3 day of judgment (literally seat of violence): By this phrase, Amos either meant that Israel’s behavior hastened the violence of the Assyrian conquest, or that the people encouraged everyday violence against the poor by pushing the thought of coming disaster from their minds.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.