FRAMEWORKS:
INTRODUCTION
TO AMOS
Why
Read Amos? Amos is a relatively
short book of prophecies, delivered at roughly the same period
as Hosea. To understand its significance, note the following:
Ch.1
& 2 A Broader Accounting to seven other people groups before
Ch.3-9
Against Israel.
Amos
himself was “a
shepherd, and … took care of sycamore-fig trees, but
who “the Lord
took … from tending the flock and said …., “Go, prophesy to my
people Israel.” [7:14,15]
Cause
of disaster: God! see 3:3-8
etc.
Israel's
failures:
3:10
they have greedily plundered others
3:14,
5:5,26 idolatry
5:7,10,
6:12 thrown aside righteousness and justice
5:11,12,
8:4,6 oppressed the poor
5:21-23
godless religiosity
6:4-16
slothful lives of wealth and privilege but not caring for the
nation
6:13
unwarranted pride
8:5
disdaining the sabbath
The
Judgments experienced by them [past] or declared on them [future]:
3:11
They will be plundered by others
4:2,3
They will be hauled out of the land
4:6
famine
4:7,8
drought
4:9
blight, mildew, locusts
4:10
plagues
5:5,27,
6:7 exile
5:16,17,
6:8-10, 8:14, 9:1,8 destruction & death in city and country
6:11
destruction of their big houses
6:14
invasion
7:9
destruction of their places of worship
8:2,3
impending attack and death
8:8-10,
9:5,6 upheaval, darkness, and mourning
Note
in some of the above e.g.4:6-10 these seem to
be disciplinary judgments Israel had already experienced and should
have responded to. Most of the others are various aspects of the
coming judgment that will involve destruction, death, and exile.
The warnings are vivid and accurate in the light of what followed.
Repentance is mostly implied as the requirement to avoid this
destruction.
A
Future Hope? The fact that
there are relatively frequent references to exile
suggests the possibility of restoration which is not spelt out
until the end of the last chapter, 9:11-15, i.e. although being
sent into exile that does not mean the extinction of Israel.
Historical
Context: As
1:1 shows us, these prophecies come in the reigns of Uzziah of
Judah [767-740/39] and Jeroboam II [782/81-753] i.e. sometime
in these timeframes.
Content:
Ch.1
– An Accounting for FIVE people groups
Ch.2
– An Accounting for Moab, Judah, and then Israel
Ch.3
– The Lord continues to speak against Israel
Ch.4
– Israel has not returned to God
Ch.5
– Lament, a call to repentance, and
the coming of the Lord
Ch.6
– Woe to the complacent, idle rich
Ch.7
– Judgments, Intercession & Rebuke
Ch.8
– A basket of ripe fruit & the coming judgment
Ch.9
– Destruction and Restoration
Continue
to Chapter 1