Jim Hoggard will be teaching the book of Amos during the Living the Questions Sunday School class on January 18 and January 25, 2009. Please read Amos and if you would like some additional reading for Amos, please don't hesitate to email me at michael_paris@hotmail.com for a PDF copy.
I encourage everyone to share thoughts about your reading and hopefully responses to Mr. Hoggard's insight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Amos is a great and often overlooked book of the Bible. It speaks to issues that we still face in our society today and that often make us feel uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteA warning: It is often easy to get bogged down in the "negativity" of the book of Amos and not listen to the message. It can make us say that the God of the New Testament is a God of love, but the God of the Old Testament (and, therefore, Amos) is not.
Yet, consider that maybe Amos is negative because God is a God of Love. God is concerned for the welfare of the poor and needy and is upset because we (humans) have not look to the needs of others.
Take a look at Luke 6:20-26:
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets." (NRSV)
I would argue that the "blessings" in Amos are assumed, though not spoken of explicitly as they are in Luke 6:20-23. Thus, Amos is expressing the "woes" as Jesus does above in verses 24-26. God desires "blessings" for those who have none, so "woe" to those who don't provide.
Enjoy your study!
You get a sense that after the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah have reigned in some territories and are feeling good about themselves, the prophesying of Amos focuses on the internal matters of the kingdoms. Amos highlights montheistic worship, ethics and moral code as diseases that will eat away of not only the identity of a people but the structure of the polis.
ReplyDeleteRevision - Amos highlights the "lack of" monotheistic...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. In a sense, Israel has become the new Egypt / Pharaoh to the Israelites, focusing only on the ruling, rich, and powerful - not ALL of the people. There is definitely a political indictment of those in power who are keeping the focus off of distributive justice.
ReplyDeleteJim's lesson last week was very insightful. Sorry that I will be out of town this weekend and miss the second part.
ReplyDeleteLast week Elizabeth mentioned modern day prophets and MLK. Another that came to mind later was William Wilberforce, who fought for abolition of slavery in England. I'd highly recommend the movie about him and his struggle. Here's the movie website. Also here's my post on MLK and Inauguration week.
See you all next week!