Amos begins his second oracle of judgment with these strong words: Hear this word, you cows of Bashan.
That is really a strange way of addressing people; it sounds offensive. However, there was a different understanding back then in Israel. Bashan’s location was beautiful. It was a fertile region very well suited for farming. Bashan’s cows were, therefore, some of the best in Israel. They were well fed and looked after. The women are compared to the cows in this sense: they are well fed and living in luxury. Unfortunately, these women were living in a luxury where they had no concern for God. They put themselves in center stage as they lived a lavish life of parties and feasts.
With his rebuke to these women, Amos is not condemning them for being rich, as if there is a problem with wealth itself. Instead, he is rebuking them for the manner in which they have acquired their wealth and are now using their wealth. They have contributed and participated in a system that exploited those who are poor—paying unfair wages, demanding fines, and abusing debt slavery. Once they have the wealth, they use it simply to indulge their sensual desires. Their husbands are working hard to bring them their drinks (provide them with all their jewellery, clothes, and other wants).
By treating people in this manner, the women were showing that they had no concern for God. Proverbs 14:31 says, Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
The women were not thankful in their prosperity, using their wealth to serve the Lord. They were boastful and self‑centered.
Before considering the implications for our day, we should consider the positive uses of wealth that we see in Scripture. Job was a very wealthy man, yet he still lived close to God. He invited the poor to join him at his table—he used his wealth in a way that honoured God.
The warning in Amos 4:1–2 is that we must not forget God in luxury. If the Lord has blessed us with material gifts—if we earn a large salary and live in a nice house—we must thank him for his provision and use the wealth he has given to us in a way that honours him. We cannot build our fortunes on the backs of slave labour or exploitation. We must pay a fair wage to those that work for us. We must be concerned to help care for people in our community. We cannot hoard our wealth only for ourselves; we are stewards of wealth—we must use wealth for God’s glory.
1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’