Amos 6:3
"You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror."
Basically, when we compromise our principles we invite destruction. And why? Well it's simple, in the world there will always be evil spirits stirring up trouble. The world is populated by evil spirits, and their enemy is Christ Jesus. And the people who follow Christ, especially in the west, are complacent.
The Prayer of Saint Michael
"Satan and the evil spirits (demons) that wander around the world seeking the ruin of souls”
There is a clear and ever-present danger for all people, believers and unbelievers. Many are taking what they can while they can. Lounging around, dining on fine food, drinking wine, and polishing their skin with expensive lotions. Securing their life, improvising their faith, and forfeiting their souls. The judges corrupt the justice system. The poor find no mercy as the courts turn justice into poison. They're feasting on the innocent souls, and lying on beds adorned with the taxation of the weaker classes.
And for the most part we're all complacent. But are we complicit? In our inaction and silence, are we helping them to commit their crimes? As we protect our own interests, are we inviting the terror into our lives?
Q: How did this sinful ease of God’s people show itself, and how is it happening even now?
A: Presumption, complacency (procrastination), cruelty, and love of self.
In their pride and indulgence the people are going about here and there, no boundaries for their sins, obeying their own will, and hastening their own destruction. The politicians use the preachers, and teachers, judges and lawyers, towards their own political ends. Many are becoming callous, and hardhearted. They brutalize justice, and even the jurors of our peers are careless with the law they dispense. It's to the point that no one can trust any one to do righteous things. We can no longer safely assume that we'll find justice in any of our social structures.
They say, with privilege comes accountability (responsibility). It's true, but honestly most folks don't take that axiom very seriously. Unfortunately the privileged become complacent and by virtue of their lukewarm attitude they also become complicit in the behind the scenes activities of the evil spirits working in the world. And so the judgment of God is coming with cause. Like a lion he comes, roaring, because he has cause. And it's not like they didn't know. It was by their own choice that they chose to travel on the highway they knew they should avoid.
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
They purposefully choose other routes. They deserve nothing other than their just deserts. Not like a pastry or icecream dessert, but desert like an arid land. They chose the arid path either willingly or by complacency. The paradox is not lost on me, because they choose the sweet thing and swallow a dry dead thing.
"Pity is the virtue of the law,
And none but tyrants use it cruelly."
(ALCIBIADES - Timon of Athens)