AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:1 HEAR THIS WORD introduces the first three messages against Israel (Amos 3:1; Amos 4:1; Amos 5:1). Israel and Judah believed that their role as God’s chosen people would protect them from harm (see note on 5:18–20). Amos says the very opposite is true. Precisely _because_ God ha... [ Continue Reading ]
AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:3 With a series of questions, Amos shows that disaster is coming for Israel. In nature, certain sequences of events lead to predictable outcomes. If a LION roars (vv. Amos 3:4, Amos 3:8), then it has probably taken, or is about to take, its prey. Likewise, since the LORD GOD has... [ Continue Reading ]
AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:9 Israel’s capital city SAMARIA was a powerful stronghold. It was on a high hill (MOUNTAINS), in a place that was easy to defend. But it was also just off the great highway that connected Egypt with Assyria. If Samaria fell to the Assyrians, there was nothing to prevent the destr... [ Continue Reading ]
AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:13 The term GOD OF HOSTS was popular among the later prophets. “Hosts” here would ordinarily signify troops of soldiers, so the term expresses God’s unlimited power. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:14 BETHEL was associated with Jacob and his vision (Genesis 28:10). It was close to the border between Israel and Judah. Thus, Jeroboam I chose it as a worship site for his new religion (1 Kings 12:25). Amos chose this as the place to deliver his prophecies (Amos 7:12) because it... [ Continue Reading ]
AMOS—NOTE ON AMOS 3:15 All of Israel’s social injustice is represented by the sin of accumulating large amounts of property (see also Isaiah 5:8). This violated the covenant, which said a family’s land was a permanent gift from God to that family, not to be taken from them. Amos condemns wealth crea... [ Continue Reading ]