Please read these study guide questions on Amos and Isaiah and then all nine chapters of Amos. Choose one or two of the first 13 study guide questions and suggest an answer to that question/those questions here..I would be particularly interested in your comments on Amos' use of imagery. Do you find any of Amos' images particularly effective? Particularly disturbing?
In the book of Isaiah Amos sends a message to these nations. It is interesting to note that these nations such as Babylon and Assyria each of them invaded Israel and Judah as it was prophesized to happened. Amos says such things as he says that God has used these Kingdoms to punish Israel for their sins against him as they invade and destroy as they go through Israel. Even though these nations are very powerful Amos sends a message to them. The message is that there power their victories and their wealth are not because of their own doing but it is Gods doing. That it was only by Gods wills these nations became powerful so they could perform the actions that he had set down for them to do. Once though they had done the things se out for them though Gods Judgement would come down upon them. All their power and glory would be taken away and the lord would have these nations destroyed just as he had them bring destruction to Israel so would God punish Babylon and Assyria for their wickedness and Arrogance. It is for this reason that Amos sends these messages for the people of these nations to repent and ask for Forgiveness as well as to show Gods plan and his power. When Amos speaks of these nations' destruction, he uses a lot of imagery which I believe is very effective at describing the kind of punishment these nations will receive. It is this reason that I think it makes it a little disturbing in its own right. -Christian Zetterlund
ReplyDeleteA prophet is a teacher of the Lord's way. A person becomes a prophet by God's will. A priest is more of a representative of God while a prophet is directly from God. Prophecy would be more difficult because either God says you have it or you don't and if you do you're on a doom trodden path. Whereas with a priest you have more of a choice. I find Amos' imagery very vivid and potentially disturbing. One example of it being really effective is Amos 1: 5 I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Avenand the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says the LORD. It is effective because you could visualize someone breaking down gates.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Amos is calling Israel out mostly on their sin of falling away from the Lord's commandments and indulging instead in pagan culture and worship. The way that Amos is often speaking for the Lord is that he's pleading the Israelites to return to their status as God's people. In this, they will "hate evil. . .and love good" (Amos 5:15). Amos also warns strictly against the oppression of the marginalized in the beginning of chapter 4.
ReplyDeleteI really do think his use of imagery is effective throughout the book. Each picture is so different. In one verse, there's a description of the constant drinking of water without satisfaction. Then, in another verse, an image of men meeting wild bears, lions, and serpents, which is completely different from the first image. The imagery certainly features a wide variety of horrible things; it undoubtedly provokes the imagination.
Some sins that Israel were warned against was sacrificing to false Gods and following unrighteous customs of the foreign lands around them. These sins were completely against what their God was about and yet they did them because they were there. many times had Israel been warned and yet they still chose to be unrighteous.
ReplyDeleteBroc Kilber- I am responding to question 13. Most of this book is doom and gloom as it is a list of punishments that will be met out to a lot of nations that have sinned against the Lord. It speaks of the destruction of Israel and all the suffering that will occur to God's people. Then at the very end of the book the last 5 verses have a hopeful message. It speaks of Israel rising again and that it will never again be uprooted. These last 5 verses are the only pleasant and hopeful words in the book but they are powerful. They speak of the rising of Israel and the great fortune it will have.
ReplyDeleteGod is powerful enough to make clear to each individual that a prophet is from a divine source. Anyone can certainly know for sure who is a prophet and who that prophet was sent by it would take a yielding of the heart however, submission of the soul to achieve this. I do believe that prophets have doubts as well, about the acceptance of the Holy message and doubts in their mission. This would all be due to the backlash that one would receive when prophesying topics that people don’t particularly want to hear.
ReplyDeleteAmos uses mostly all imagery when depicting what may befall Israel. Personally, the most disturbing of these would be Amos 2:7 “They that trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way for the afflicted; a man and his father go into the same maiden. So that my holy name is profaned” This text is disturbing because we see the children of righteous Abraham acting in such a sinful way that they disregard the poor and it appears that men have adopted the act of sleeping with the widows of their fathers. Israel has become very sick and this text which paints that is disturbing to ponder.
1) What exactly is a prophet? How does one become a prophet? How is a prophet different from a priest? Why would prophecy be more difficult than priesthood?
ReplyDeleteThis question is relatively easy to answer. A prophet is someone chosen by God (regardless of station or gender) to deliver His message to others. You cannot become a prophet, you must specifically be chosen for it. A prophet is different from a priest in the sense that while a priest preaches the word of God and carries out whatever ceremonies are required, a prophets sole job is to carry out the newest word of God. Typically prophets prophesize, which somewhat looks into the future, something that priests cannot do (at least not so far). Prophecy is more difficult than priesthood because prophecies are warnings of things yet to come. They haven't happened yet, people refuse to believe bad things will happen if their lives are going fine, and there is no tangible proof or items to back up the prophet. Frankly speaking, people can take you at face value unlike that of priests, who often have something (regardless of authenticity) and are typically have a pre-established reputation amongst the people.
4) Amos is called to prophesy in Israel rather than his native Judah. Would this make his job easier or harder? Why?
Harder, for certain. To start with, he is far less likely to be known in Israel than he is in Judah. Therefore, he has no reputation to fall back on and no one knows him. Not only that, but if Judah and Israel are on bad terms, he could be viewed more as an enemy than that of someone who is attempting to warn you about how you made your God furious and you're going to be punished.
Not only that, but Amos was a shepherd before all this - whether we want to admit it or not, people will oftentimes take the word of those dressed nicely and kindly more willingly than they would that of a shepherd.
Do you find any of Amos' images particularly effective? Particularly disturbing?
The locusts were very effective because they are a direct callback to one of the previous plagues that the Lord inflicted on Egypt when he was bringing them Deliverance. Now that Israel has turned against him, he is punishing them in a way similar to that of how he punished the Egyptians, making the Israelies no better than them, and how far they've strayed from the word of God.
4) Amos is called to prophesy in Israel rather than his native Judah. Would this make his job easier or harder? Why?
ReplyDeleteI would say that this would make his job easier. I think it's easier to point out wrong doings in settings that you are not deeply entrenched in or have ties to. If Amos was prophesying in his home town, people are going to bear grudges against him and ostracize him. I think Amos is being done a service by being made to prophecy in a different region.
Do you find any of Amos' images particularly effective? Particularly disturbing?
Yes I do. The images about selling the poor into slavery for a pair of shoes really struck me as particularly horrible. People stuck in a state of abject poverty are taken advantage of by predatory lenders. This is a good reminder to us in the modern day not to put morality over money.
Dylan Schimke
ReplyDelete4. Amos is called to prophesy in Israel rather than his native Judah. Would this make his job easier or harder? Why?
Amos' job to prophesy in Israel would be easier because people that he was around all of his life would not take him seriously or believe him. Going somewhere else gives him better credibility because the people of Israel will listen to him better than his home nation. It would be harder to leave your home, but it would be easier to complete your job.
6. What is the significance of the formula, “For three transgressions, and for four.., I will not turn away the punishment thereof”?
I think the significance is similar to Nathan talking to David after the Bathsheba situation. The saying gets people going and they get fired up when they hear the horrible things about the surrounding nations, and that is way Amos does this. He gets them fired up, like what Nathan did to David, in order to flip things around and tell them that they are doing just as bad of things. This tactic can really make someone look at themselves and question what they are doing, which in turn would leave to change for the better.
Andrew Brennan
ReplyDeleteAmos calls out the Israelites for exploiting the poor and lower-class. It wasn't the amount of money the rich had that was the problem, but it was rather the bribery and personal gain they were indulging in. Amos describes the acts well in chapter 2, This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name."
There is multiple sinful acts that the people are taking part of, but this seems to be the focus of Amos' ministry. The imagery that he uses to describe the judgment these people will receive is clear and destructive . The use of fire and lack of music being played sounds like a severe judgment and should get his point across (unfortunately it doesn't.
9. Amos says that God will send a rain of fire down that will devour the fields and all of their produce. This would be a very effective message to the people, especially considering they were living in a time of great agricultural production. No farmer wants to see their crops go up in smoke, as it means certain economic hardship. That was something my dad who is a farmer is always worried about, not God sending the fire, but that careless actions will result in his crops or hay field bursting into flames and being reduced to ash.
ReplyDelete11. Does Amos seem to enjoy giving his message? Does he find any of it particularly troublesome?
ReplyDeleteI think the feeling of delivering bad news is universal and has been since the beginning of time--no one likes it! Amos certainly had an abundance of unfortunate news to tell Israel and the surrounding areas. I do not blame him one bit for not enjoying giving his message, and he's also not the only one--not by a long shot. Think of Jonah, for example. God has definitely given some tough tasks to some people throughout the Bible. The fact that judgement and condemnation from God was inevitable seemed to be very difficult for Amos to handle. Once again, I don't blame him! I hate telling one parent that their kid is misbehaving, so I can't imagine telling an entire nation that God is upset with them!
-Lauren Bland
15. What about Isaiah 2? What is particularly burdensome in this chapter?
ReplyDeleteI find the message particularly heavy that, when the Lord comes, people will hide in rocks and dust out of fear and awe of Him. It says that on that day, humans will retreat into caves, holes in the ground, and among the rocks. Even the final verse of chapter 2 rebukes mankind, saying, "Stop regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils—for of what account is he?" This strongly reminds us of how insignificant humans truly are.
- Sophia Lee
4: Amos is called to prophesy in Israel rather than his native Judah. Would this make his job easier or harder? Why?
ReplyDeleteIt would likely have made Amos' job harder in Israel rather than Judah. Amos was from Judah, a distinctive political entity from the kingdom of Israel. This meant he was prophesying a promised land. This could have made his message seem like he was an outsider. The people of Israel might have been more inclined to dismiss his message. They felt that he was criticizing them or against them. The differences could have helped Amos deliver his message to the Israelites. His message was that this would be difficult for the community. Finally, the internal conflict could have made it more difficult.
-Brady Metzinger
Delete1. What exactly is a prophet? How does one become a prophet? How is a prophet different from a priest? Why would prophecy be more difficult than priesthood?
ReplyDeleteA prophet is someone who directly receives the word of God. Prophecy does not necessarily mean the telling of the future, but the telling of a message from God. One is called directly by God to be one of His prophets, much like what happened to Jeremiah when he was a child. Unlike a priest, one cannot choose whether or not one wants to be a prophet. Like Jonah, a prophet can run from their responsibility, but inevitably they will come to realize that the message they have been asked to share is important and needs to be spread to the people of God. Priests interpret what is written in the scrolls, past events, and words that God has already proclaimed. Prophets are the spokesmen of new messages from God. I think it would be way more difficult to be a prophet than a priest. A prophet has to overcome both the message that they share but also the questions from God's people about the validity of their message, which cannot be easy.