◄ Amos 6:12 ►
"Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood--
Study Bible
Do horses run on the rocky crags?
This rhetorical question begins with an image that would have been immediately understood by Amos's audience. Horses, symbols of strength and speed, are not meant to run on rocky crags, which are dangerous and unsuitable for such activity. The Hebrew word for "crags" (סֶלַע, sela) refers to a rocky or stony place, emphasizing the absurdity of the action. This imagery sets the stage for the prophet's critique of Israel's leaders, who are engaging in actions as senseless as running horses on rocks. Historically, this reflects the misuse of power and resources, as the leaders pursue policies and practices that are destructive rather than constructive.

Does one plow there with oxen?
Continuing the rhetorical questioning, Amos uses the image of plowing with oxen on rocky ground. The Hebrew word for "plow" (חָרַשׁ, charash) implies breaking the ground for cultivation, an act of preparation and expectation of growth. However, attempting to plow on rocky crags is futile and counterproductive. This metaphor highlights the futility of Israel's actions, as they attempt to cultivate prosperity and justice in a manner that is inherently flawed. The historical context here points to the leaders' misguided attempts to secure their own wealth and power at the expense of true justice and righteousness.

Yet you have turned justice into poison
The phrase "turned justice into poison" is a powerful indictment of the moral corruption in Israel. The Hebrew word for "justice" (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) is a central theme in the Old Testament, representing fairness, equity, and the proper order of society as ordained by God. By turning justice into "poison" (רֹאשׁ, rosh), a term often associated with bitterness or venom, Amos accuses the leaders of perverting what is meant to be life-giving into something harmful and deadly. This reflects a broader biblical theme where the perversion of justice leads to societal decay and divine judgment.

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
The "fruit of righteousness" (צְדָקָה, tzedakah) refers to the outcomes or benefits of living according to God's standards of rightness and moral integrity. In biblical terms, righteousness is expected to yield peace, prosperity, and divine favor. However, Amos declares that this has been turned into "wormwood" (לַעֲנָה, la'anah), a bitter plant often used metaphorically in the Bible to signify sorrow, calamity, and divine judgment. This transformation from sweetness to bitterness underscores the complete reversal of God's intended order due to the people's sin and corruption. Historically, this serves as a warning to the nation that their actions have dire consequences, both spiritually and socially.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, a small town in Judah, who was called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

2. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, which was experiencing a time of prosperity but was spiritually and morally corrupt.

3. Justice and Righteousness
Central themes in Amos's prophecy, representing God's standards for ethical and moral behavior, which Israel had perverted.

4. Horses and Oxen
Used metaphorically to illustrate the absurdity of Israel's actions, as horses do not run on rocky crags, nor do oxen plow there.

5. Wormwood
A bitter plant, symbolizing the bitterness and corruption that Israel's perversion of justice and righteousness had produced.
Teaching Points
The Absurdity of Sin
Just as it is absurd for horses to run on rocky crags, it is equally absurd for God's people to pervert justice and righteousness. We must recognize the irrationality of sin in our lives.

Consequences of Injustice
Turning justice into poison leads to societal decay. We must strive to uphold justice and righteousness in our communities to avoid such consequences.

Bitterness of Sin
Like wormwood, sin leaves a bitter taste and leads to destruction. We should seek the sweetness of righteousness through Christ.

Call to Repentance
Amos's message is a call to return to God's standards. We must examine our lives and repent where we have strayed from justice and righteousness.

Living Out Justice and Righteousness
As believers, we are called to be agents of justice and righteousness, reflecting God's character in our actions and decisions.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the metaphor of horses running on rocky crags illustrate the folly of Israel's actions, and how can we apply this understanding to our own lives?

2. In what ways have you seen justice turned into "poison" in today's society, and how can you be a part of the solution?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced the "bitterness" of sin. How did you find restoration through Christ?

4. How do the themes of justice and righteousness in Amos 6:12 connect with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament?

5. What practical steps can you take to ensure that your actions align with God's standards of justice and righteousness in your daily life?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Micah 6:8
This verse emphasizes what God requires: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, contrasting with Israel's actions in Amos.

Isaiah 5:20
Warns against calling evil good and good evil, similar to how Israel turned justice into poison.

Proverbs 21:3
Highlights that doing what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice, aligning with Amos's call for justice.

Jeremiah 9:15
Speaks of God giving wormwood to drink as a consequence of Israel's disobedience, paralleling the imagery in Amos.

Matthew 23:23
Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness, echoing the themes in Amos.
Sermons
Labour in VainAmos 6:12
Man's Perverting PowerHomilistAmos 6:12
Man's Perverting PowerD. Thomas Amos 6:12
The Vanity of the Sinner's Principles and HopesJ.R. Thomson Amos 6:12
Trying the ImpossibleD. Thomas Amos 6:12
People
Amos, David, Hemath, Jacob, Joseph
Places
Ashteroth-karnaim, Brook of the Arabah, Calneh, Gath, Hamath, Lebo-hamath, Lo-debar, Samaria, Zion
Topics
Bitter, Bitterness, Crags, Fruit, Gall, Hemlock, Horses, Judgment, Justice, Oxen, Plant, Plough, Ploughed, Plow, Poison, Possible, Righteousness, Rock, Rocks, Rocky, Run, Running, Thereon, Wormwood, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 6:12

     4498   ploughing
     4500   poison

Library
The Carcass and the Eagles
'Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! 2. Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? 3. Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 4. That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

June the Twenty-Fourth at Ease in Zion
"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!" --AMOS vi. 1-7. I would be delivered from the folly of confusing ease and rest. There is an infinite difference between comforts and comfort. It is one thing to lie down on a luxurious couch: it is a very different thing to "lie down in green pastures" under the gracious shepherdliness of the Lord. The ease which men covet is so often a fruit of stupefaction, the dull product of sinful drugs, the wretched sluggishness of carnal gratification and excess. …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

A Sermon for the Time Present
I am going to begin with the last verse of the text, and work my way upwards. The first; head is, a trying day for God's people. They are sorrowful because a cloud is upon their solemn assembly, and the reproach thereof is a burden. Secondly, we will note a glorious ground of consolation. We read in the seventeenth verse, "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." And, thirdly, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 33: 1887

Whether it is Proper to Christ to be Head of the Church?
Objection 1: It seems that it is not proper to Christ to be Head of the Church. For it is written (1 Kings 15:17): "When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel?" Now there is but one Church in the New and the Old Testament. Therefore it seems that with equal reason any other man than Christ might be head of the Church. Objection 2: Further, Christ is called Head of the Church from His bestowing grace on the Church's members. But it belongs to others …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Of Christian Liberty.
1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one on Justification. A true knowledge of Christian liberty useful and necessary. 1. It purifies the conscience. 2. It checks licentiousness. 3. It maintains the merits of Christ, the truth of the Gospel, and the peace of the soul. 2. This liberty consists of three parts. First, Believers renouncing the righteousness of the law, look only to Christ. Objection. Answer, distinguishing between Legal and Evangelical righteousness. 3. This first part clearly …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Of Orders.
Of this sacrament the Church of Christ knows nothing; it was invented by the church of the Pope. It not only has no promise of grace, anywhere declared, but not a word is said about it in the whole of the New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to set up as a sacrament of God that which can nowhere be proved to have been instituted by God. Not that I consider that a rite practised for so many ages is to be condemned; but I would not have human inventions established in sacred things, nor should it be …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Tiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire from 745 to 722 B. C.
TIGLATH-PILESER III. AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE FROM 745 to 722 B.C. FAILURE OF URARTU AND RE-CONQUEST Of SYRIA--EGYPT AGAIN UNITED UNDER ETHIOPIAN AUSPICES--PIONKHI--THE DOWNFALL OF DAMASCUS, OF BABYLON, AND OF ISRAEL. Assyria and its neighbours at the accession of Tiglath-pileser III.: progress of the Aramaeans in the basin of the Middle Tigris--Urartu and its expansion into the north of Syria--Damascus and Israel--Vengeance of Israel on Damascus--Jeroboam II.--Civilisation …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7

The Wrath of God
What does every sin deserve? God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and in that which is to come. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.' Matt 25: 41. Man having sinned, is like a favourite turned out of the king's favour, and deserves the wrath and curse of God. He deserves God's curse. Gal 3: 10. As when Christ cursed the fig-tree, it withered; so, when God curses any, he withers in his soul. Matt 21: 19. God's curse blasts wherever it comes. He deserves also God's wrath, which is …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

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