Amos

Like a locust attacking a Judean hillside, I'm in a blogging frenzy today...

Full disclosure. I dearly love Amos. I've spent a lot of time in Amos and have taught it to multiple groups of students in week long settings. It's a text that has very much shaped how I view the world and justice in particular. So here are some thing that struck me this time as I sat with my Tekoan buddy Amos:

1. This dude ain't a professional prophet! Amos, a shepherd and fig farmer, being called to a prophetic ministry would be like a staff worker being called to run a nuclear power plant. Or perhaps it would be like a community organizer being called to the presidency...oh, wait. The point is that Amos would have had no prophetic training, whatever that would look like. He's a rookie at his first commission.

2. Amos gets a rough assignment. Like all the other prophets, he's called to preach primarily judgment, and surely that would be rough enough. Only in Amos' case, he also has to cross-cultures! He's a southerner sent to preach to the northern Kingdom of Israel. I can't imagine how tough of a road this would be for him! Jonah, who I'll get to tomorrow, couldn't bring himself to do it...

3. I'm fascinated by how the text is put together. Unlike Isaiah and Jeremiah where the enemies get called out last, in Amos the oracles start by calling out the foreign nations. You can picture the Israelites almost cheering as each judgment oracle calls out one of their enemies. Then, in chapter 2, Amos calls out Judah, and it must have been a mix of "yeah, those nasty southerners" and "whoa, those are our cousins." Then, apocalypse! The oracle turns to Israel in 2:6 and it's on from there. Amazing, building tension!

4. Does evil befall a city unless the Lord has done it?!? This is a pretty crazy section in 3:3-6. One night at one week of camp, me and student almost went blows over it. It's this string of rhetorical questions, each one answered "no," that ends, in the NIV, with "when disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it." Such a tough thing to get your mind around! Surely my God doesn't do evil! He doesn't cause or bring destruction! Oh yes He does! If it accomplishes His purposes, He will do a lot of things, as the Old Testament will attest. Just ask Hosea...

5. The most chilling text in Amos has to be 4:12. I mean, really, they should already know Him, right?!? Tragic. I remember a teacher once comparing the modern church to the nation of Israel. Imagine those words being spoken to your pastor!

6. The book of Amos gives us our clearest glimpse yet of the injustice rampant in the nation. It's really the new normal in Israel by this point. Look at 8:5, where Amos calls out corrupt grain measuring and price gouging. Or 4:1 where some pampered women (the "cows of Bashan) are oppressing their servants. Or 5:21 where, again, false or hollow religion is condemned by the Lord in the strongest possible terms. Justice is a fad in our culture today to some degree; let's remember where it started and who created the plumb line!