The Zone Gathering

In today’s Bible Drill, we return to our favorite mysterious section of the Bible- those minor prophets. Nine chapters in length, Amos is one of the longer minor prophets, and it is found between Joel and Obadiah. He is the first of the “writing prophets” of the 8th century, prophesying during the reigns of Uzziah of Judah (792-740 BC) and Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 BC). Some scholars believe this was the same time Jonah was getting swallowed by that fish. Other 8th century prophets included Hosea to Israel and Micah and Isaiah to Judah.

The name Amos means “Burden Bearer,” and he lived in the town of Tekoa in Judah, about 10 miles south of Jerusalem.

The basic message of Amos is very similar to other Old Testament prophetic writings- I will punish your enemies, I will punish you, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and hope remains.

Here is the basic outline of the book.

Amos 1-2: God says he will judge Israel’s neighbors, including Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.

Amos 2: God says he will judge Israel and Judah.

Amos 3-6: God identifies Israel’s sins- celebrating false religions, violating the moral laws of God, and systematically oppressing the poor.

Amos 7-9: The Five Visions of Doom, the locusts, the fire, the plumb line, the ripe fruit, and God at the Altar.

Amos 9: Hope and Israel’s restoration

Although Amos claims to be an amateur with no professional prophet training (he keeps reminding us he is only a shepherd), his book is the work of a literary genius. It is full of wordplays, puns, and colorful imagery and metaphors. Three times we read that the Lord will “roar”– makes me think of Aslan in Narnia. He tells the enemies of Israel “for three transgressions and for four…” which is a literary mechanism called “graduated numbers” or “numerical parallelism.” The phrase suggests the meaning “You have sinned again and again” as it is translated in the New Living Translation or “enough is enough.” In his vision of the “ripe fruit” Amos uses a Hebrew word for “summer fruit” that sounds similar to the Hebrew word for the “end.”

Some other colorful and interesting passages:

Amos 2:13 “So I will make you groan as a wagon groans when it is loaded down with grain.”

Amost 3:12 “This is what the Lord says, ‘A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth will recover only two legs and a piece of ear. So it will be when the Israelites in Samaria are rescued with only a broken chair and a tattered pillow.’” (I don’t recall learning that memory verse at Vacation Bible School!)

Amos 5:19: “In that day, you will be like a man who runs from a lion– only to meet a bear. After escaping the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house– and is bitten by a snake.” (That is a bummer of a day. But it is God’s description of what his judgment will be)

Amos 6:12: “Can horses gallop over rocks? Can oxen be used to plow rocks? Stupid even to ask– but that’s how stupid you are when you turn justice into poison and make bitter the sweet fruit of righteousness.” (I don’t recall learning this memory verse in Sunday School either)

Or here is one of my favorites, Amos 4:1: “Listen to me, you ‘fat cows’ of Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy…” (God just called some women “fat cows!”)

Here’s the big idea in Amos. Righeousness and justice are essential to building healthy community and societies. Religion is more than ceremony; it is right action and righteous living.

So what happened? The priest in Israel, Amaziah, got really upset with Amos and ordered him to stop prophesying. But Amos kept talking. About 40 years after Amos prophesied, the Assyrians swept in and hammered the nation of Israel, scattering its people throughout the Assyrian Empire. But Amos left them with a promise in verses 14-15 of the last chapter: “I will bring my exiled people back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. The will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them in the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God. “Then they will never be uprooted again.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 1st, 2006 at 9:12 am and is filed under Bible Drills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.