Lesson One: January 14, 2014
Early Prophets
Samuel
Nathan
Elijah and Elisha I Kings
17-II Kings 13
Micaiah I Kings 22:1-38
Jonah son of Amittai II Kings
14:25
ASSYRIA THE DOMINANT WORLD
POWER
Jeroboam II (783-743 BC) II
Kings 14:23-29
(1) Amos (Israel 760 BC)
1:3-2:16
5:18-24
Amos and the Philosophical Context
In the middle of
the reign of Jeroboam II, around 760, we have the appearance of the prophet
Amos on the scene.
Amos preached at Bethel in 760 BC, a
time when Jeroboam II was king in Israel and Uzziah king in Judah. His home was
Tekoa, twelve miles north of Jerusalem. He preached less than a year, and then
went back to his occupation of shepherding.
His preaching reflects his stance as a “social critic” as over against a
critic of the religious life. As we have seen, Assyria is the dominant
political entity. In 1:1, he preached two year before “the earthquake.” His
affirmation that he is no prophet is an attempt to explain the strange fact
that he suddenly began to speak with inspiration, even though as a peasant he
had no right to do so. The poetry shows Amos had some training. The beginning of the poetry uses the image in
1:2 of the Lord roaring as a lion, an image Amos will use several times.
Barth[1]
offers a reflection on Amos in the context of a discussion of the sloth of
humanity. He discusses the inhumanity of humanity. He uses the book of Amos as
an example of the way that God deals with such inhumanity. Amos has a
compulsion to speak. His message is one of judgment. His message is one-sided
and specific in the inhumanity of social relationships in the time of Jeroboam
II. Therefore, he can proclaim only the wrath of the Lord. Wrong here, in the
horizontal relationship, also means wrong in the veritical relationship with
the Lord. He points out that the Book of Kings does not prepare us for this
critique. The point in Amos is to restrain the powerful and protect the poor.
God would have to be unfaithful to the covenant not to take seriously this
inhumanity of people to each other.
Amos offers an oracle against the
nations in 1:3-10, 1:13-2:16. While referring to the injustice of surrounding
nations, including Judah, Amos focuses on the lack of justice in the land of
the Northern Kingdom.
Amos
2:6 (NRSV)
6
Thus says the Lord:
For
three transgressions of Israel,
and
for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
because
they sell the righteous for silver,
and
the needy for a pair of sandals-
Amos
4:1 (NRSV)
4
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
who
are on Mount Samaria,
who
oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who
say to their husbands, "Bring something to drink!"
Amos
5:10 (NRSV)
10
They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and
they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Amos
5:14-15 (NRSV)
14
Seek good and not evil,
that
you may live;
and so
the Lord, the God of hosts, will
be with you,
just
as you have said.
15
Hate evil and love good,
and
establish justice in the gate;
it may
be that the Lord, the God of
hosts,
will
be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amos
6:12 (NRSV)
12
Do horses run on rocks?
Does
one plow the sea with oxen?
But
you have turned justice into poison
and
the fruit of righteousness into wormwood-
Amos
8:4 (NRSV)
4
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and
bring to ruin the poor of the land,
Amos offers another discourse on the sins of Israel and
threatened punishment in 3:1-6, 3:8-5:12, 5:14-6:14. He speaks beautifully of
the special relationship God has with the Northern Kingdom.
Amos
3:2 (NRSV)
2
You only have I known
of all
the families of the earth;
therefore
I will punish you
for
all your iniquities.
Barth[2]
stresses the importance of freely electing love. Israel has not chosen the
Lord. We look in vain for any natural or historical reason for election. The
Lord decides to set aside Israel as a separate people and become its God.
Pannenberg[3]
refers to the verb ydh as a parallel to bhr, and thus, the idea of election was
already a current theme in his day. He[4]
stresses that the election of the people was the chief issue in the election
traditions of Israel, not that of individuals. He[5]
also stresses that to Israel, Moses declared the righteous will of God and
Israel sees that the catastrophes in its history are the effect and expression
of divine judgment. This is how we are to construe the say here that because
God has chosen Israel alone of all the nations, God will therefore punish it
for its sins. The prophet is reversing the expectations that his hearers had in
relation to the theses of election, stressing the obligation that goes along
with election.
Amos speaks of the
opportunity that, if they seek the Lord, they will survive.
Amos
5:4-7 (NRSV)
4
For thus says the Lord to
the house of Israel:
Seek
me and live;
5
but do not seek Bethel,
and do
not enter into Gilgal
or
cross over to Beer-sheba;
for
Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and
Bethel shall come to nothing.
6
Seek the Lord and live,
or he
will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
and it
will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
7
Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood,
and
bring righteousness to the ground!
In
5:4 in particular, according to Pannenberg, Amos says that all the people of
God are in a state of apostasy and revolt against their God.[6]
Amost observes in 5:10,
10 They
hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and
they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
He speaks powerfully of the Day of the Lord and against the
formal character of a religion that has no justice with it.
Amos
5:18-24 (NRSV)
18
Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do
you want the day of the Lord?
It is
darkness, not light;
19
as if someone fled from a
lion,
and
was met by a bear;
or went
into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and
was bitten by a snake.
20
Is not the day of the Lord
darkness, not light,
and
gloom with no brightness in it?
21
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I
take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will
not accept them;
and
the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will
not look upon.
23
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will
not listen to the melody of your harps.
24
But let justice roll down like waters,
and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
In
verse 21, the prophet criticizes their whole way of worship. Barth[7]
says in verses 21-22 that we have the well-known inflexible attitude of the
prophets against sacrifice. However, when sacrifice works, it reflects an
offering of what one ought to render to God, but will not. One recognizes the
guilt and obligation. One confesses that in spite of disobedience one is still
part of the elect people. The offering is a relative and provisional
fulfillment of the will of God.
In 6:1-7, Amos condemns the whole ruling class. They are out
of touch with the living conditions of those they govern. Therefore, “Disaster,” “Alas,” or “Woe” is
toward “those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount
Samaria.”
In 6:8-14, we have a plague description in verses 8-10. The
Lord abhors “the pride of Jacob.” Further, in 6:12b,
But you
have turned justice into poison
and the
fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
The vision in ch 7 & 9 reveal an introspective side to
his character. They foretell doom upon Israel in 7:1-9:8a.
In 7:1-3, we
have the first vision of locusts. Pannenberg[8]
points out that the wrath of God is not an attribute of God, for as we learn
here, God can interrupt or the mercy of God can turn it aside. In 7:4-6, we
have the second vision of fire. Amos 7:7-9 is the third in a series of visions.
The theme is the plumline. Pannenberg[9]
will say that we have here an example of one of many biblical ideas of
revelation. The prophet sees an ordinary object that strikes him with peculiar
force. It contains a message revealed by God. 7: 10-17 is the challenge Amaziah
offers to Amos. Verse 10 shows that Amos viewed his preaching as announcing
divine judgment. Amaziah views it as sedition. We might also note the power of
the word as well.
10
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel,
saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of
Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos
has said,
'Jeroboam
shall die by the sword,
and
Israel must go into exile
away
from his land.' "
12
And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of
Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again
prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the
kingdom."
14
Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son;
but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, 15 and the Lord took me from following the flock,
and the Lord said to me, 'Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.'
16
"Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
You say,
'Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do
not preach against the house of Isaac.'
17
Therefore thus says the Lord:
'Your
wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
and
your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and
your land shall be parceled out by line;
you
yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and
Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.' "
Amos 8:1-3 contains the fourth vision, focusing upon the
basket of ripe fruit. Amos 8:4-8 show the business leaders of the city having a
booming economy, trying to capitalize on every opportunity. Consistent with the
first vision that focused upon the sins of the poor, this vision also focuses
upon such sins. The actions of the business community of Israel lead to the
extermination of the poor. For example, in verse 4, we read:
4 Hear
this, you that trample on the needy,
and
bring to ruin the poor of the land,
Verses 8:9-14 have a similar subject matter. “On that day”in
verses 9 and 13 judgment will come.
In 9:1-4, we finally have the fifth vision. Amos is probably
speaking at the Autumn Festival and anticipates the festivals climax. Those who desire the appearance of the Lord
may not encounter what they expect.
Religious people, beware. 9:5-6
is a doxology. It interrupts the flow. It describes God as the builder and
maintainer of nature and as the engineer of history. He promises disaster upon
the Northern Kingdom.
Amos
9:7-10 (NRSV)
7
Are you not like the Ethiopians to me,
O
people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I
not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and
the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8
The eyes of the Lord God are
upon the sinful kingdom,
and I
will destroy it from the face of the earth
-except
that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.
9
For lo, I will command,
and
shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one
shakes with a sieve,
but no
pebble shall fall to the ground.
10
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who
say, "Evil shall not overtake or meet us."
Pannenberg[10]
refers to the verb ydh as a parallel to bhr, and thus, the idea of election was
already a current theme in his day. Amos puts the exodus on the same footing as
the migrations of other people. He[11]
points out that God engages with other peoples and cultures that one can
describe as special and similar to election. Amos suggests this when he has God
put the question whether he did not bring up Israel from Egypt in the same way
as he brought up the Philistines from Caphtor and the Armean from Kir. With
this question and it implied equation of Israel with other peoples, the prophet
was attacking his people’s sense of uniqueness that rested on the events of the
exodus from Egypt and the granting of the land of Palestine that are the themes
in the most important tradition of election of Israel. Yet if we ignore the
polemical equation of Israel with other peoples that this saying involves, it
maybe harmonized with other statements about Israel’s election in the sense
that the uniqueness of Israel’s election dodoes not rule out all comparisons
with other peoples. The prophet ascribes to other peoples a relation to the God
of Israel. In their own religions, so far as we know, there is no echo of these
peoples being led by the God of Israel, who is also their Creator, out of their
original territories. Instead, we find variations of the cosmogonic myth t
account for their social and cultural orders. Amos is thus rereading the
religious self-understanding of the peoples from the standpoint of experience
of the God of Israel. Nevertheless, this interpretation is not just a
projection from the standpoint o9f the faith of Israel. It can adduce empirical
support, the actual historical origin of these peoples. He suggests a universal
theology of the religions might apply this thought of election very generally
to the relation of the divine world government to the origin and development of
the various religious cultures of the race.
In 9:11-15 Amos offers prospects of restoration and
prosperity. If this passage is from Amos, and does not refer to the end of the
Davidic monarchy, Amos may have in mind a "Greater Israel," including
nations that used to be under Israel's dominion. Both von Rad and Koch accept
that passage as from Amos, but many scholars would not. The passage also refers
to “on that day” and “the time is coming.” If not from Amos, it likely refers
to 520-515 BC.
The series of visions he relates
have no parallels, for he has no older tradition on which he depends for the
contents. He simply ponders the situation he saw in Israel. He had concern for
the changes and tensions in the political world of Israel. Locusts, fire, God
standing at a wall, and a sheaf of ripe grain are the content of the visions. A
psychological turning point may appear between the second and third, in that
the possibility of repentance no longer exists. He may have had a premonition
of disaster at the beginning of his call, and later interpreted the present in
light of that.
He preached that God alone is the
God of Israel, as well as of the nations, Amos viewed breaches of the
convention of international relations seriously enough to bring the judgment of
Yahweh upon the nations. Further, he accused the people of Israel, and its
leaders, with flagrant breaches of the law. This was something new.
He preached that God would expel Israel from
the land, that both Israel and the nations are equal as God brings judgment
upon them. One could summarize his prophecy of the future with the simple
statement that Israel is to suffer a calamitous military defeat and experience
exile. Israel must deal directly with Yahweh, not of sanctuaries and
pilgrimages, but the Yahweh who will perform new deeds upon Israel. Amaziah
defends his faith and the faith of his people.
Amos had gone beyond any prophet before him in declaring that Israel
will disappear from the land. He was
denying the very foundation of religion and state. Yahweh would no longer forgive these people.
The fulfillment of his prophecies came 30-40 years later with the coming of
Assyria, which defeated all the nations, including Samaria.
He preached that Israel has failed
to defend the weak. This represents the social criticism of Amos. The guilt of
the leaders of Israel is the reason for its downfall. Amos is enraged at the irresponsible
and devastating spread of the sale of human beings. He imagines an exploitive
ruling class. He lashes out at their revelry at banquets. The poor have lost
their independent livelihood. The injustice to which the king subjects this
group is the heart of Amos' social criticisms.
The Dallim were probably a class of peasant farmers. Apparently, small farmers had to sell their
farms to the rich, possibly eventually becoming slaves for debt. He does not condemn luxury as such, but the
way the rich financed their wealth. Amos may assume a constitutional
ideal. However, it is also interesting
that many of his social critiques end with reference to sanctuaries. He may have a religious attitude toward the
land. The exploitation of the poor makes
a sham of their religious quest.
The rapture of religious enthusiasms was not enough to do away with
exploitation. Instead, Israel is
producing pesa, rebellion. The people believe they will find God and
life at Bethel, etc., but they won't.
They go to worship, believing they will find God, but this will not
happen. Amos gives a picture of a
thoughtless upper class complacent in its material prosperity.
As
a Judean, he took his stand on the election traditions of the south, and in
particular those attaching to David and Zion. However, he holds out the
possibility of God restoring the Davidic kingdom.
[1]
Church Dogmatics IV.2 [65.2] 445-452.
[2]
Church Dogmatics IV.2 [68.2] 768.
[3]
Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 443.
[4]
Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 455.
[5]
Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 495.
[6]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 239.
[7]
Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.2] 278.
[8]
Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 439.
[9]
Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 202.
[10]
Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 443.
[11]
Systematic Theology, Volume 3,
487-8.`
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