Agere Sequitur Esse

Amos

Book of Amos

Notes.. .

. ..Introduction. By Amos to pronounce God’s judgement upon Israel, the northern kingdom, for their complacency, idolatry, and oppression of the poor. poor. People include Amos, Uzziah, and Jeroboam. Places include Bethel and Samaria.
. ..Themes. Everyone Answers to God, Complacency, Oppressing the Poor, and Superficial Religion.
. ..Outline. “Amos saw himself to be a spokesman of God and not a professional religious leader. He sought to call his people to a relation with God that would result in proper relationship with their fellow human beings; and, in turn, result in proper worship. He called them to righteousness that reflected a right relation with God. He warned his people that a failure to respond ultimately bring the judgement and wrath of God” (William Seay 2019, L13 00:14–00:45).
. ..Application. “God is involved in and concerned with life as it is and as He intends it to be. Basic to this confrontation are several specific ideas” (Seay 2019, L13 07:01–07:14).
. ..Timeline. Written during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah from 760 to 750.

Introduction. 39:10 – The purpose was to pronounce God’s judgement upon Israel, the northern kingdom, for their complacency, idolatry, and oppression of the poor. The book of Amos was written by Amos. The key people are Amos, Uzziah, and Jeroboam. The key places are Bethel and Samaria.

Themes. 39:45 – There are four theological themes. (i) Everyone Answers to God. Amos pronounced judgement from God on all the surrounding nations then he included Judah and Israel. God is in supreme control of all the nations. Everyone is accountable to Him. (ii) Complacency. Everyone was optimistic, business was booming, except for the poor and oppressed, the people were happy, with all the comfort and luxury came self-sufficiency and a false sense of security. Prosperity brought corruption and destruction. (iii) Oppressing the Poor. The wealthy and powerful people of Samaria, the capital of Israel, had become prosperous, greedy, and unfair. Illegal and immoral slavery came as a result of over-taxation and land grabbing. There was also cruelty and indifference towards the poor. God is weary of greed and will not tolerate injustice. (iv) Superficial Religion. Although many people had abandoned real faith in God, they still pretended to be religious. They were carrying on normal religious performances instead of having spiritual integrity and practicing heartfelt obedience toward God.

Outline. Amos saw himself to be a spokesman of God and not a professional religious leader. He sought to call his people to a relation with God that would result in proper relationship with their fellow human beings; and, in turn, result in proper worship. He called them to righteousness that reflected a right relation with God. He warned his people that a failure to respond ultimately bring the judgement and wrath of God. The ministry of Amos was set towards the first half of the 8th century BC in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam. Amos was the first of the great 8th century BC prophets followed by Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah.

God called Amos from the southern kingdom of Judah to confront the sins of the people of the northern kingdom. The times of when Amos ministered were times of great prosperity in the northern kingdom. The economic wealth of the nation was unprecedented. Israel controlled more territory than at any other time in its history except during the reign of David and Solomon. In addition, religious observance was at an all-time high with shrines and sanctuaries. For all appearances, everything in the northern kingdom was going well. The popular theology of the day, even as in ours, indicated that external prosperity was clearly an indication of the blessings of God but was such a belief correct?

To a large extent, the people of the northern kingdom became prosperous because the wealthy political leaders oppressed the poor; especially, the poor farmers. They had been corrupted by bribery. Many of the poor had been forced to give up their land they received as part of their tribal inheritance. Frequently, they had to sell themselves into slavery. The leaders apparently believed this was an indication that the poor were unrighteous which the rich were righteous. The religion of the day was primarily an assembly of the worship of the God of Israel with that of Baal of Canaan. Canaanite religion settled on a fertility cult that appealed to the sexual urges of the people. Gradually, it led Israel astray from God and they assumed their prosperity resulted in their faithfulness to Him in ritual and worship. Unfortunately, they missed the fact that worship, to have any value, must affect the people where they live. So, Amos faced a crowd that needed to rearrange their theological systems and practice of the day. Could they change their way of living amid such prosperity?

Amos, set before the people of Israel, several things they desperately needed to hear. He began with the popular beliefs of the day. Attack them with enthusiasm. Then pointed out the covenant concepts on which the true relation with God was to be based. Merely observing proper forms of worship is not sufficient for a righteous relationship with God. Any religion that does not result in the right treatment of the poor and helpless is a worthless religion. Greed had led the leaders of Israel to oppress the helpless. These oppressed people had been rendered even more helpless by corrupt courts and politicians who sought for and received bribes. Even the women in their insatiable lust for luxury had lost their compassion and had an attitude of burden to the helpless poor. To such people, Amos issued a call for practical righteousness as the foundation for proper worship. Being a part of God’s people does not guarantee exemption from judgement. The people of Israel had ignored the basic idea that privilege carried responsibility.

They had assumed, rightly, that the day of the Lord would bring judgement on God’s enemies. They had also assumed, wrongly, that it would bring deliverance for God’s people. Their own actions of social oppression had made them into enemies of God. Instead of deliverance, judgement had become an inescapable certainty. Rebellion will be judged. Not all judgement seeks to penalize and hurt. In fact, Amos described most temporal judgement as being redemptive in purpose. Designed to bring people into a right relationship with God. God calls whom He will to be an agent of His revelation. God’s prophet becomes a prophet in response to God’s divine call and not through training or as a result of vocational choice. On the other hand, it is also clear that the prophet proclaimed the divine Word in his own human words. God spoke through a particular person to a specific people at a particular time. This revelation laid the foundation for the idea that He can and still does the same.

Application. 6:55 – God is involved in and concerned with life as it is and as He intends it to be. Basic to this confrontation are several specific ideas. (i) Grief for the things of this world can destroy our thinking and our living leading us to oppress or be indifferent to our fellows and to be alienated from God. (ii) Beliefs are measured against God’s Word, not against popular teaching. (iii) Beliefs in the standard logical proposition accompanied by the proper observance or religious ritual are of no value if they are not also accompanied by practical righteousness in our dealings with others. God sometimes uses historical tragedy and natural calamity to call people to an honest confrontation with sin seeking to lead us to repent and turning from sin to God. God is sovereign ruler of the universe and ultimately, will accomplish His purpose with or without the obedient service of His people. God expects us today to be ready to obey Him even to the point of facing hostile situations as servants of His love.

Timeline. 8:40 – Amos was written during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah during the time period of c. 760 BC to c. 750 BC.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS