What was amoss states occupation

If Amos returned to his profession as a shepherd, which he probably did, his life would never be the same again. Studies on Amos. Mays, James L. Old Testament Libraries. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Pritchard, James B.

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Skip to content. Wolff, Hans Walter. Joel and Amos. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, Like this: Like Loading Bookmark the permalink. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. During the affluent period of the eighth century B.

Income inequality was high. Social and political justice and regard for the poor, the widow, and foreigners were non-existent. If there were any form of legal representation for the poor, it was fully exploited by those in power for their own gain. Two major institutions of power turned a blind eye on the needy: the priests were satiating the needs of the crown with lapses in moral consciousness, and the monarchy completely aligned itself with the wealthy.

During this time, Judah had one ruler: King Uzziah. It was in this context that Isaiah sees Yahweh, the king, seated on the throne. Isaiah is reminded who the real king is. What is fascinating is that the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, and Micah were all contemporaries. In other words, they prophesied and ministered about the same time. Yet not one of them ever mentions another. But the fact of the matter was, the southern kingdom of Judah feared a major invasion from stronger nations like Aram Syria , Israel, and Assyria.

Judah looked to Egypt for the protection of its sovereignty. The superpower of the time was the powerful Neo-Assyrians. They modernized military propaganda, psychological warfare, and the total destruction of conquered persons, leading to not only an acquisition of material goods and expanded territories, but also the systematic deportation or forced migration of the conquered peoples for absolute control and domination.

Amos describes Amos as one who deals with sheep. The fact that Amos is from Tekoa is meaningful. Tekoa, a region outside Bethlehem , was known for its desirable olive oil production.

A parallel reference to an earthquake during the reign of Uzziah is also found in Zechariah Such words may refer to either temple or non-temple prostitution. With added environmental and natural agricultural disasters —9 , they all culminate into inevitable doom and collapse of the nation, resulting in forced migration or exile as punishment on the peoples. There is lament, and a later editor even describes Yahweh repenting for the aftermath that is about to happen.

Abuse by the priests and prophets are pronounced. The Nazarites are forced to break their vows , and Levitical musicians use their gifts for entertainment, not liturgical purposes. Worship has become a variety show with various deities on high places on non-approved sanctuaries All of the religious high holy days are rejected. There is recent debate among scholars as to whether the reverse is the case. The Lord asks Amos what he sees. In , Amos sees a great fire, in a plumb line, and in a basket of summer fruit.

All the images are used as final judgments of destruction. All these images reveal inevitable destruction. The most famous encounter of Amos is found in — Amos prophesied that Jeroboam will die by the sword and the nation collapse and then go into exile. In that exchange, Amaziah calls Amos a seer and tells him to go back to Judah and prophesy there, make your living there. The redactions or continued growth of the Book of Amos has a richer complex literary history that extends into the sixth and fifth centuries B.

This literary phrase denotes the threefold exile or forced migration of the southern kingdom of Judah in , , and B. In closing, the Book of Amos continues to be relevant concerning social and economic in justice. As for those in the pulpit or parishes who abuse and exploit their sheep without producing fruit, judgment has been rendered. John Ahn , Ph. Ahn and Stephen Cook, eds. Hermeneia Minneapolis: Fortress Press, Today is Oct 6, I want to thank the readers for reading and engaging the piece.

Your observations and comments are appreciated. Rene, David, Cozumel, and others have offered a good reflection. This is the key verse in the book, since it expresses so clearly what God wanted from His people. It is a clear statement of the importance of moral and ethical righteousness over mere ritual worship. Amos' concerns boil down to justice toward man and righteousness toward God.

God is not pleased by acts of pomp and grandeur but by wholehearted devotion and complete loyalty. With another rhetorical question cf. Animal sacrifices and grain offerings represent the totality of Israel's Levitical offerings. As He clarified in the next verse, they had not. Their hypocritical worship was not something new; it had marked them from the beginning of their nation e. Can we imagine that the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever will wink at this misdirected love?

Acts Amos evidently was ridiculing these gods by substituting the vowels of the Hebrew word for "abomination" shiqqus in their names. However, Keil gave evidence that the star-deity was Egyptian. Stephen's quotation of this verse in Acts was from the Septuagint, which interpreted these names as references to pagan idols.

The worshippers may have carried pedestals for their images of various idols, including astral deities. Many scholars believe that the Israelites conceived of "the golden calf" as a representation of that on which Yahweh rode, a visible support for their invisible God.

Another view is that the golden calf represented Yahweh Himself. The bull in Egyptian iconography was a symbol of strength and power. Jeroboam I had erected bulls at Dan and Bethel in Israel, and had revived this idolatrous form of worship. Amos pointed out that Israel had always mixed idolatry with the worship of Yahweh, so Israel's worship of Him had been hypocritical throughout her history.

Certainly, at times, the Israelites worshipped God exclusively and wholeheartedly, but throughout their history there had been these instances of syncretistic hypocrisy. Do we still carry our idols around with us? Because of this hypocritical worship, Yahweh, the God of armies, promised that the Israelites would go into exile beyond Damascus.

They did go into exile in Assyria, to the northeast of Damascus, after B. In this lament, Amos announced again that Israel would fall under God's judgment. Garland called the subject of this chapter "the tragedy of wasted opportunity. The word woe is one that ought to draw our special attention to that which follows.

Each statement of 'woe' with its accompanying challenge to reality [ and ] is followed by the Lord announcing His rejection of the nation and the judgment that will inevitably follow [ and ]. Those who felt "at ease in Zion" Jerusalem and "secure in … Samaria" were the subjects of his message.

Those who felt comfortable in Samaria, partially because it stood on a high hill that was easily defensible, were the distinguished men. They regarded Israel, and Judah, as the foremost of the nations of their day. They were the men to whom the rest of the house of Israel the people of the Northern Kingdom came for advice and or justice. Luke ; God looks at the heart, and the heart of the two Jewish kingdoms was far from the Lord.

This is the last reference to the people of Zion in this message; from now on Amos spoke only of the Northern Kingdom. Perhaps he referred to the Judean leaders because they were also guilty of the same sins cf. Presently Judah controlled Gath. Samaria was no "better" than those city-states, and their territories were larger "greater" than Samaria's. Yet they had fallen to foreign invaders.

What had happened to them could happen to Samaria—even though the people of Israel believed that Yahweh would protect it. But they were really hastening the day of terror or seat of violence by refusing to acknowledge and repent of their sins.

Amos raised the possibilities as questions, but the answers were obvious. Six kings reigned, three of whom seized power by political coup and assassination.

Fear and violence marked this period cf. They reclined on very expensive beds inlaid with "ivory. They imitated great King David by composing and improvising songs and inventing musical instruments, but they entertained themselves rather than praising God. They also spent much time and money anointing their bodies with oils and lotions to preserve and enhance their appearance. One of the benefits of anointing one's body with oil was that the oil killed lice. To summarize, the sins of the Israelites were excessive preoccupation with relaxation possibly sexual relaxation [] , food, music, drinking, and cosmetics.

Their banquets would cease, and they would lounge on their soft couches no longer. Money and material possessions are not wrong in themselves, but the love of them leads to all types of evil 1 Tim. This was a solemn warning, because God can swear by no one greater than Himself cf. He "loathed the pride arrogance of Jacob. The Lord also hated their fortified mansions from which they oppressed the poor and needy cf. Its security and power make God's protection and blessing irrelevant crutches in the real world of economic and political influence.

Therefore, Yahweh would fight against them, and deliver up Samaria and all it contained to an enemy. If the "uncle" of one of the dead rulers came to bury his nephew "carry out his bones" , or if a less interested "undertaker" did so, those still alive and hiding in the house would beg him not to reveal their presence.

Or perhaps the idea is that there would be so many dead bodies that they had to be burned to prevent a plague from breaking out. Another view, which seems less likely, is that the burning of incense to honor the dead is in view cf.

As bad as the situation was, they could not bring themselves to seek the Lord for help. Not only would the people of the city die vv. Horses normally ran on rock-free ground, and oxen plowed fields from which farmers had removed the rocks. Yet these leaders had replaced justice with corrupt courtroom decisions that had killed the defendants—just as though they had taken "poison. This included the town of Lo-debar in Transjordan cf. Amos, however, cleverly made light of this feat by mispronouncing the city "Lo-dabar," which means "not a thing.

The people were also claiming that they had taken the town of "Karnaim" lit. It was not they but Yahweh, however, who had strengthened them to achieve this victory over a symbolically strong town.

Actually, Karnaim was quite insignificant. He was the really Strong One. Once again, God's people would fall under the control of a foreign oppressor, as they had done in the past cf. This enemy would "afflict" the Israelites throughout the length and breadth of their nation, from "Hamath" in the north to "the brook or sea, cf. This nation, of course, proved to be Assyria. In summary, the reasons for Israel's coming judgment that Amos identified in these five messages, were: legal injustice, economic exploitation, religious hypocrisy, luxurious self-indulgence, and boastful complacency.

These sins involved unfaithfulness to Yahweh, the supreme, all-powerful Lord of Israel—with whom the Israelites lived in covenant relationship. Though national judgment was inevitable, individuals who repented could escape punishment. Amos next recorded five visions that he received from the Lord that described the results of the coming judgment of Israel, plus one historical incident Throughout this section of the book, two phrases stand out: "sovereign Yahweh" , 4 [twice], ; , 3, 9, 11; and "My people" , 15; ; They are constant reminders that Yahweh has authority over all nations and individuals, and that He still recognized Israel's special covenant relationship with Himself.

The whole section builds to a terrifying climax of inevitable judgment for Israel. Some scholars believe these visions formed Amos' call. The three visions in this section are similar and may have followed one another in quick succession. The first two describe methods of divine judgment from which Amos persuaded God to turn aside, and the last one the method He would not abandon to judge Israel.

Ideally, the very first crops harvested in the spring went to feed the king's household and animals cf. The crops that the people harvested later in the spring fed their own animals and themselves. If anything happened to prevent that second harvesting, the people would have little to eat until the next harvest in the fall.

The summer months were very dry and the Israelites had nothing to harvest during that season of the year. The swarming of locusts indicated that they were about to sweep through an area and destroy all the crops. There was no way to prevent this in Amos' day. Locust invasions were a perennial threat, and they were a method of discipline that God had said He might use if His people proved unfaithful to His covenant with them Deut.

Joel ; Amos Then he prayed and asked the sovereign Lord to pardon Jacob Israel for its covenant unfaithfulness. Jacob was only a small nation, and could not survive such a devastating judgment—if the Lord allowed it to happen as Amos had seen in his vision. Keil interpreted this vision spiritually:. The growing of the second crop is a figurative representation of the prosperity which flourished again after those judgments; in actual fact, therefore, it denotes the time when the dawn had risen again for Israel ch.

Then the locusts came and devoured all the vegetables of the earth. Amos' view of Israel, as "small" and weak , stands in contrast to the opinion of Israel's leaders, who believed it was strong and invincible cf.

Israel occupied a large territory under Jeroboam II, second only in its history to what Solomon controlled, but it was still small in relation to the larger empires of the ancient Near East.

Amos may have meant that Israel was "small" in the sense of helpless. God had promised to take care of Jacob when that patriarch encountered Yahweh at Bethel, now a center of apostate worship in Israel cf.

Perhaps that is why Amos appealed to God with the name of "Jacob" cf. He would be merciful and patient, and would grant Israel more grace cf. God loves to be entreated. He delights to answer when He hears the cry of such as bear His needy people on their heart. The prayers of righteous individuals, like Amos, can alter the events of history cf. James Some things that God intends to do are not firmly determined by Him; He is open to changing His mind about these things.

However, He has firmly decreed other things, and no amount of praying will change His mind about those things cf. It is important, therefore, that we understand, from Scripture, what aspects of His will are fixed, and which are negotiable. The same distinction between determined choices and optional choices is observable in human interpersonal relations.

Good parents, for example, will not permit their children to do certain things no matter how much the children may beg, but they do allow their children to influence their decisions in other matters. Moreover, the reference is to a promise of God, whether to the entire people of Israel Num. When God promises something, He cannot change His mind because that would make the promise a lie. However, He can relent of His wrath in response to prayer and repentance.

Like a great drought, it consumed all the water and all the farmland or people in Israel cf. What he saw may have been a scorching heat wave that resulted in a drought. The "great deep" is a phrase that refers to subterranean waters that feed springs cf. So intense was the fire that Amos saw that it dried up even these underground water reservoirs.

Great heat with consequent drought was another of the punishments that the Lord warned of for covenant unfaithfulness Deut. Israel, or the people of Jehovah; so tehom rabbah is not the ocean, but the heathen world, the great sea of nations, in their rebellion against the kingdom of God. Again the Lord relented, and determined that it would not come then cf.

He would not discipline Israel with a locust plague or with a raging "fire. There are two interpretations of it. The traditional interpretation translates the Hebrew word 'anak as "plumb line. The wall was probably a city wall rather than the wall of a house. A better interpretation translates the Hebrew word, which appears only here in the Old Testament, as "tin.

This tin wall represented the military might of Assyria cf. Extra-biblical writings also describe military might as walls of various kinds of metal. According to the traditional view, Amos replied that he saw a "plumb line. The true standard by which He would judge Israel was undoubtedly the Mosaic Law, the covenant that He had given her by which God measured her uprightness cf.

According to the preferred view, Amos replied that he saw "tin. In other words, He would use the Assyrian army to defeat the Israelites. In both views, the Lord is understood as announcing that He would not spare the Israelites from His judgment any longer; Amos' prayers for Israel would not turn away His punishment as earlier vv.

The nation was so inferior that God would tear it down. This enemy, as Yahweh's agent, would destroy the outdoor "high places" on the hilltops, and the temple "sanctuaries" at Dan and Bethel, where the people worshipped God and idols, namely: all their worship centers. Amos probably used "Isaac" simply as a synonym for "Jacob" and "Israel.

The "house of Jeroboam" probably refers to the dynasty of Jeroboam II, but it could refer to the nation of Israel as headed by Jeroboam I. Jeroboam II's dynasty came to an end with the assassination of his son and successor, Zechariah 2 Kings These three visions appear to have come to Amos in close succession.

The final compiler of Amos' prophecies, probably Amos himself, undoubtedly grouped them because of their similarity. They are obviously alike, and together present a picture of judgment, mercifully deferred twice but finally brought on Israel. They clarify the method of Israel's punishment, namely, defeat by an enemy's invading army, and they show that judgment would come after God's patience with the nation had been exhausted.

The event described in this pericope evidently followed and grew out of the preceding visions that Amos announced vv. Certain key words occur in both sections of the book but not elsewhere in it: Isaac vv. Also, the historical incident is a concrete example of God's plumb line in operation, but here it judged individuals.

The prophet Amos passed the test, but one of the priests of Bethel, Amaziah, failed the test. He felt that Israel could not afford to endure Amos' prophesying any longer. Previously, internal revolt against a king had sometimes followed a prophet's pronouncements cf. While we have no record that Amos said these exact words, they do represent fairly the message that Amos was announcing cf. By claiming that Amos was predicting Jeroboam's death, the priest was personalizing the danger of Amos' ministry to the king and was emotionally inciting him to take action against the prophet.

Amaziah regarded Amos' prophecies as simply the prophet's own words. He had no respect for them as messages from Israel's God, but viewed them only as a challenge to the status quo.

By referring to Amos as a "seer" another term for a prophet, cf. Amaziah told Amos to stop prophesying in Bethel "no longer prophesy"; emphatic in the Hebrew text , because it was one of the king's sanctuaries places of worship , as well as one of the king's residences places of living.

Bethel, of all places, was an inappropriate town in which Amos should utter messages of doom against Israel, from Amaziah's perspective. Amos had become an embarrassment to the political and religious establishment in Israel. Neither had he become a prophet because his father had been one.

In Amos' agrarian, rural culture, it was common and expected for sons to follow in their father's line of work, though this was not true of genuine prophets. It is possible that Amos meant that he was not the "son of a prophet" in the sense that he had not been trained in one of the schools of the prophets , or under the tutelage of a fatherly mentor cf.

Rather, Amos had previously earned his living in a totally unrelated occupation cf. Elisha, 1 Kings He had been a "herdsman" and a "nipper grower, cultivator of sycamore figs. They were not simple, working shepherds, but managers of large herds; they were probably also engaged in the marketing of sheep products. A nipper of sycamore figs was one who pierced sycamore figs so they would be edible. Thus, Amos had a respectable agricultural business background before he moved to Israel to prophesy.

He had not always made his living by being a prophet but only functioned as a "called" prophet. Therefore, Amaziah should not think that Amos came to Israel to prophesy because that was the only work that he could do or to make money. God had given him a definite commission, and Amos had left his former occupation to obey that divine calling cf.

Amos' ministry and his location were God's choosing. Because the priest had told the prophet to stop doing what Yahweh had commanded him to do cf. She would have to stoop to this in order to earn a living, because she would have no husband or sons to support her.

Her children would die by the sword. This may also imply the end of Amaziah's family line. Amaziah's "land" would become the property of others "parceled up" , presumably the Assyrians, and he himself would "die" in a foreign, pagan land "unclean soil". All these things would eventually happen when the foreign enemy destroyed Israel. Stifling the Word of God proved disastrous for Amaziah, as it still does today.

Finally, Amos repeated that "Israel" would indeed go "into exile," the message that Amaziah had reported that Amos was preaching cf. Amaziah had told Amos to stop prophesying, namely, to stop preaching v. Amos The idea is that Amos should stop raining down messages from heaven on his hearers. True prophets were people who spoke fervently for Yahweh.

My friend in the ministry, if you are not giving out the Word of God, there is no other traitor in this land today as guilty as you are. If you are called to be a minister, you are called to be a minister of the Word of God. If you are not giving that Word out, you are a traitor to the cause of Christ today. Those are strong words, I know, just as Amos' words were strong.

Sidlow Baxter saw in chapter seven: judgment averted vv. Then, in chapter 9: judgment executed. Amos received two more visions from the Lord that he continued to preach to the Israelites—in spite of Amaziah's threats.

The previous vision revealed that the end of the Northern Kingdom was certain; this one, that it was near at hand. The vision with which this chapter opens vv. Amos saw what God enabled him to see. The Lord asked him what he saw cf. Normally this would have been a pleasant sight associated with the joys and provisions of harvest. Then Yahweh told him that Israel was also ripe Heb. The Lord would spare the Israelites no longer.

Like the fruit in the basket, Israel also needed to be consumed soon. God would judge the religious hypocrisy and greed of the people.

My business and your business is just sowing the seed. It is the Lord's business to do the converting. We are just seed-sowers. We are not harvesters. Harvest speaks of judgment, and it speaks of the end of an age. Our business today is to be out sowing the seed. I wish so much that I could get this message across to people. I wish I could motivate all believers to do what God has called us to do. Our business is to sow the seed of the Word of God. There would be many dead bodies lying around from the enemy's slaughter, and those people who remained alive would dispose of them in silence because it would be such a terrible sight.

Like so much rotten fruit, the dead Israelites would be thrown out. Non-visionary material oracles followed the third vision , and non-visionary material follows the fourth vision Israel's law called God's people to extend an open hand of generosity to the poor Deut.

These holidays were days of rest and worship cf. They were anxious to enslave "the needy" in their debt "buy the helpless for money" , so they could control them and use them for their own selfish ends cf.

Archaeologists have found at Tirzah the remains of shops from the eighth century B. Their practices were both dishonest and inhumane.

Merchandising was their priority, not worshipping. Profit was their god, and they willingly sacrificed more important things for it. People who focus intently on what they will do after worship is over do not engage in true worship, or enter into the spirit of worship. The following two passages vv. This time He swore by "the pride of Jacob.

In this case, God vowed never to forget any of the sinful Israelites' unrighteous deeds. Perhaps a literal earthquake did occur, [] but probably trembling with fear is in view cf.

All the inhabitants would mourn over the coming destruction. The waves of terror and destruction would be like the rising and falling of the Nile River. Sometimes the flooding of the Nile was highly destructive. Amos may have been comparing the destructiveness of social injustice, civil strife, economic exploitation, and religious shallowness in Israel to the destruction caused by the inundation of the Nile.

The flooding of the Nile occurred repeatedly, as did the social, civil, economic, and religious problems of society. This may refer to an eclipse of the sun, or it may be a figurative description of the coming judgment as an unnaturally bad day. The figure of "the sun" going "down at noon" was particularly appropriate, since Jeroboam's reign was the zenith of Israel's prosperity, power, and glory.

The people would wear sackcloth and shave their heads, as signs of their grief. It would be as sad a time as the death of "an only son. It also implies long-lasting grief. The few remaining Israelites would be silent as they disposed of the corpses of their fellows v. This would be like a famine, not of physical food and drink but of spiritual food.

God's words provide spiritual nourishment and refreshment, so when they are not available, people suffer spiritually cf. The Israelites had rejected the Lord's words to them ; , so He would not send them to them any longer cf. This is a fearful prospect. If we do not listen to the Word of God, we may not be able to hear the Word of God cf. Luke ; John This does not mean that God would remove all copies of His Word from them, but that when they sought a word of help, advice, or comfort from Him, they would not get it cf.

King Saul. Prophets would not bring God's words to them anymore. There is a Gideon Bible in every room in every hotel and motel in this country.

Nearly everyone owns a Bible. But who is studying it? Who is reading it? Who is believing it? I think we are beginning to see the famine of the Word of God in this country.

Even "beautiful virgins" and strong "young men" would "faint" from lack of spiritual refreshment. These types of individuals would have the greatest stamina and could look the hardest and longest, but even they would find nothing. Their deaths would also mean the cutting back of the nation since they could not provide children. Amos described the prominent idol in Samaria as "Samaria's guilt" or "shame.

From "Dan" to "Beersheba," that is, throughout the whole Promised Land, the Israelites would seek some word from Yahweh, but they would find none to meet their need. There were cultic sites at both Dan and Beersheba cf. In view of other prophecies of Israel's restoration, the prediction that the Israelites would fall and not rise again must have a limited scope.

That generation as a whole would not survive the coming judgment, but presumably individuals could repent and escape. This final vision differs from the preceding four in some significant ways. First, there is no introductory formula that explains the divine enablement of the prophet.

Second, in the first pair of visions, Amos spoke more than the Lord, in the second pair, he spoke only a few words, and in the last one, he said nothing. He played no active part in this vision. This creates an impression of Yahweh being increasingly separate from people and ready to judge. However, as with the preceding two visions, oracles follow the brief vision.

Another possibility is that any and every Israelite shrine might be in view. The Lord then gave a command that someone an angel? From capitals to thresholds top to bottom is a merism for a thorough destruction. The Lord also said He would slay with the sword the rest of the priests and worshippers who survived being killed by the collapse of the temple. No one would escape with his or her life. Rather it represents the religion of the northern kingdom, which, in the end, brought about the destruction of its adherents.

The decay of the social structure that resulted from their cold externalism could lead only to national ruin. The gross sin of idolatry could lead only to judgment. Another view is that the temple represents the whole kingdom of God, consisting of both kingdoms: Israel and Judah. The ancients conceived of Sheol as under the surface of the earth, so digging "into Sheol" meant hiding in the ground.

Neither would hiding in the forests and caves of Mt. Carmel, one of the highest elevations in Israel, or trying to conceal oneself on the floor of the sea, be effective. I have been there several times and have noted the caves which are along the sides of that mountain.

It is said that there are over a thousand caves there, especially on the side toward the sea. But even there God said He would search them out. And although they should try to hide in the bottom of the sea, they would find God there. They could not escape Him. The Lord would seek the guilty out and command His agents to execute them, even if that agent had to be a "serpent" in the sea cf.

Note the chiastic structure in these verses going from down, to up, and back down—signifying all places. Yahweh would order "the sword" to "slay them" even "from there," though there they would presumably be under the protection of a strong foreign power. They would not be able to hide from His all-seeing eye. Normally, God watched over His people for their good , but here He promised to set His eyes on them "for evil. So thorough was the dispersion following the Assyrian invasion of Israel, that the exiles came to be known as the "lost tribes.

These verses describe the great God who would judge the Israelites. The section closes, "Yahweh is His name" v. What precedes that clause is a revelation of His person name. As sovereign, He is the One to whom all people and nations are responsible—not just Israel. He is the One who, simply with a touch, can cause the earth to melt—a figure that recalls the effect on ice when a human finger presses on it.

He has the power to alter the course of human affairs as well so everyone mourns, if that is His choice. He causes the earth and human affairs to rise and fall, to ebb and flow, like the waters of the mighty Nile River. Since He exercises this control over the whole planet, it is impossible to hide from Him or to escape His powerful hand.

Because the final verses of the book offer hope for the future, some commentators concluded that someone in a generation later than Amos' added them. It was, in the sense that it was only one nation among many others in the world, that lived under His sovereign authority. It was like them, too, in that it was full of idolaters. The Ethiopians Cushites were a remote people in Amos' day, living on the edge of the earth from an ancient Near Easterner's perspective, yet God watched over them.

He had separated "the Philistines from Caphtor" Crete; cf. He could justly send the Israelites into another part of the world, since He had sovereignly relocated these other nations as well.

The Israelites considered themselves superior because of their election, but really they were no better or less accountable than any other nation.

By referring to the pagan nations at the end of the book, Amos came full circle, having begun with oracles against these nations. Thus, the emphasis on Yahweh's universal sovereignty brackets the rest of the contents like bookends. He would do to Israel what He would do to any other sinful nation cf. Yet He promised not to destroy completely "the house of Jacob" i. He would allow the righteous person true wheat to slip through, but would retain the unrighteous a kernel, pebble, anything compacted, Heb.

Another possibility is that those who do not pass through the screen represent the righteous remnant and all others are the sinful Israelites. He would separate the righteous from the sinful as He sifted through the Israelites. God determines just how much sinfulness makes His punishment inevitable; He determines the mesh of the sifting screen. None of them who claimed that they would escape that calamity would get away.

The rest of the book is quite different from what has preceded because of its positive message. As is true of other eighth-century B. There is common agreement among most commentators that the last verses are from the hand of an exile or postexilic theologian-redactor who, from his own Judean point of view, bore tidings of consolation and salvation to his people.

The arguments for the lateness of the pericope are based on linguistic and ideological grounds, all of which, however, are seriously open to question. Thomas Finlay saw a chiastic structure in the whole Book of Amos, with as the turning point:.

A' Restoration of the Land " []. The booth tent of David is probably a figurative reference to the dynasty of David, which acted as a shelter over the Israelites, or it may refer to the combined kingdom. Literally, it probably refers to the temporary shelter that David occupied when he was at war. When Amos prophesied, the tent of David had suffered major damage due to the division of the kingdom into two parts, though it had not yet collapsed completely.

This may be why Amos referred to the Davidic dynasty as a "booth" or tent, rather than as the "house" of David cf. That day, still future from our point in history, will be a day of restoration as well as a day of judgment. The restoration will follow in the Millennium after the judgments of the Tribulation. Amillennial interpretation equates the tabernacle of David with the church militant.

This will include even the small number of Edomites alive then, people who had formerly been implacable enemies of the Israelites cf. Israel's blessing will extend even to them, representing all of Israel's former enemies. Amos described three different groups as remnants: 1 a small group of the faithful within Israel in his day in contrast to all Israel ; ; ; ; , 2 a small group of faithful Israelites in the future , 15 , and 3 a small group of Edomites and other neighbors of Israel who would benefit from the Davidic promise in the future At the Jerusalem Council, the Apostle James quoted verses 11 and 12 to support his view that the Gentiles of his day did not need to submit to circumcision and the Mosaic Law, in order to obtain salvation or to live acceptably as Christians Acts James knew that the judgments of Israel were not yet over cf.

He also knew, from this passage and others Isa. James concluded, therefore, that Gentiles did not need to become Jews to enter into these millennial blessings. He did not mean that the church fulfills the promises to Israel, but that since Gentiles will experience millennial blessings as Gentiles, they do not need to live as Jews in the church.

The topsoil would become so productive that farmers "the plowman" , planting seed for the next harvest, would hurry "overtake" the reapers of the same fields to finish their work, so they could plant the next crop. Normally the Israelites plowed their fields in October and the reaping ended in May, but in the future reaping would still be going on in October because of the huge harvests.

Wine-makers "the treader of grapes" would similarly pressure the farmers to plant more vines. The grape harvest took place in August, and farmers planted new vines in November. Harvests would be so abundant that the gathering of one crop would not end before it was time to begin the new crop. This verse pictures the reversing of the curse that God pronounced on the earth at the Fall Gen.