Amos 4 starts with a rebuke of the women of Samaria, who the LORD calls “cows”, because they have fattened themselves with leisure, and turning away from the LORD. The LORD tells the people over and over how He is judging them through various types of natural events such as drought, and famine. He calls the people to repent, but they do not repent, so the judgment continues.
In Amos 5, he tells the people to seek the LORD and they will live, but if not then 1,000 will go out to battle and 100 will be left; 100 will go out and ten will be left. The natural disasters and the battles will mount to Israel’s loss, and the people of various regions of Israel will be carried off to exile. Even so, the LORD calls the people to let justice roll down like the waters. He continues to call for repentance, to a return to following Him. As always, the LORD’s judgment on sin and idolatry is sure, but He calls for repentance and a return to Him.
In Amos 6, the LORD pronounces judgment against the wealthy in Zion and Israel. He tells them they will be the first to be carried off into exile or destroyed when the enemy comes. They have lived a life of ease and ignored the commands of the LORD and the needs of others. As always justice and obedience to the LORD are His call, and the people have neither heeded the call nor cared about it.
As we return to Mark 14, we read again the events leading up to the arrest and trial of Jesus. They have become so familiar to us by this time, and we could write paragraphs about each one. Jesus’ being anointed in Bethany, and the complaint by many that the ointment was “wasted,” while Jesus pointed out He was being anointed for burial. Judas leaves the group and goes to the religious leaders to betray Jesus to them. We read of the Last Supper, and all that went with it, including the disciples not knowing which of them would betray Jesus, and Peter’s claim he would never deny Jesus. The group leaves the meal to go to Gethsemane for prayer, but only Jesus perseveres in prayer. Then Jesus is arrested even though everyone knows He did nothing wrong. When the religious leaders attempted to get false witnesses to testify against Him, they couldn’t even get their stories straight. Even so, as the chapter ends, Jesus is bound, and Peter has denied knowing Jesus three times, just as Jesus said he would. Peter weeps bitterly as the chapter ends, and each of us who love Jesus see the scene and are brought to tears as well. But as we know, chapter 14 isn’t the worst that humanity did to Jesus. That’s coming up tomorrow in Mark 15.