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The People Guilty of Security and Luxury
v. 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, given to a false security, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, those who are apparently without a care as they occupy their mountain dwellings where they consider themselves safe, which are named chief of the nations, the most excellent heads of the chosen people in both Judah and Israel, to whom the house of Israel came, namely, for counsel and direction, for the decision of their controversies.
v. 2. Pass ye unto Calneh, a city in Babylonia, on the river Tigris, and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath, the great, a district and city of Syria beyond the extreme northern boundary of Canaan; then go down. to Gath of the Philistines, so that they would visit some of the most powerful of the neighboring nations. Be they better than these kingdoms? that is, these two kingdoms were in no better condition than Judah and Israel, or their border greater than your border? Israel thus ranking at that time with the first of the nations, unexcelled by any of their heathen neighbors. But for this very fact, on account of their reliance upon their prosperity and power, the Lord pronounces a woe upon them.
v. 3. Ye that put far away the evil day, refusing to believe that a day of reckoning is near, and cause the seat of violence to come near, so that violence and oppression come ever nearer to them, that they become guilty of these transgressions with ever-increasing frequency. This ignoring of the Lord and His holy will was apparent particularly in their luxurious feasting;
v. 4. that lie upon beds of ivory, on costly couches, inlaid with ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, reclining, in luxurious self-indulgence, on the sofas of their dining-rooms, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, in either case the choicest animals,
v. 5. that chant to the sound of the viol, in quavering and silly songs, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David, but only for the gratification of their own vanity and sensuality, instead of for the glory of God, as did David;
v. 6. that drink wine in bowls, out of sacrificial vessels, such as were used in worship, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, using only the finest grades for their purpose; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, literally, "the breach of Joseph," that is, the impending calamity, the destruction of the northern kingdom. This same fact stands out time and again in the history of nations, namely, that they indulge in wanton luxury even while their country is hastening to its ruin.