6:4-6 Amos described the luxury and self-indulgence that characterized the leaders of Samaria during his day. They reclined on very expensive beds inlaid with ivory. They sprawled, implying laziness or drunkenness, on couches. They ate the best, most tender meat obtainable.
"Ordinary citizens probably ate meat only three times a year, at the annual festivals."61
They imitated great King David by composing and improvising songs and inventing musical instruments with which they entertained themselves. They consumed wine by the bowlful rather than in cups. And they spent much time and money anointing their bodies with oils and lotions to preserve and enhance their beauty. Instead they should have been mourning over the moral weakness and decadence of their nation that would lead to its ruin.
6:7 Amos announced that these luxuriant leaders would go into captivity at the head of the people of Israel. Their banquets would cease, and they would lounge on their soft couches no longer.
Money and material possessions are not wrong in themselves, but the love of them leads to all types of evil (1 Tim. 6:9-10; James 5:1-6).
