{"id":5845,"date":"2012-08-22T01:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=5845"},"modified":"2012-08-21T22:24:11","modified_gmt":"2012-08-22T05:24:11","slug":"bob-amos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2012\/08\/22\/bob-amos\/","title":{"rendered":"BOB – Amos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n

AMOS IN\u00a010\u00a0WORDS\u00a0OR\u00a0LESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Real religion isn’t just ritual, but treating people with justice.”<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Amos takes its name from the prophet respon\u00adsi\u00adble for its content (Amos 1:1).<\/p>\n

Per the MSB:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Amos\u2019 name means \u201cburden\u201d or \u201cburden-bearer.\u201d He is not to be confused with Amoz (\u201cstout, strong\u201d), the father of Isaiah (Is. 1:1).<\/em><\/p>\n

AUTHOR\u00a0&\u00a0AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

While he’s not as illuminated as someone like Daniel or Jeremiah, we know a lot more about Amos than we do someone like Joel.<\/p>\n

Amos was from Tekoa, a small village 10 mi. S of Jerusalem. He was the only prophet to give his occupation before declaring his divine commission. He was not of priestly or noble descent, but worked as a \u201csheepbreeder\u201d (1:1; cf.\u00a02 Kin. 3:4) and a \u201ctender of sycamore fruit\u201d (7:14) and was a contemporary of Jonah (2 Kin. 14:25), Hosea (Hos. 1:1), and Isaiah (Is. 1:1). The date of writing is mid-eighth century B.C., during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (ca. 790\u2013739 B.C.) and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (ca. 793\u2013753 B.C.), two years before a memorable earthquake (Amos 1:1; cf.\u00a0Zech. 14:5, ca. 760 B.C.).<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s worth noting Amos’ humble social status and blue-collar pedigree at this point, given the major themes and illustrations of the book. As far as prophets go, Amos is about as rough-and-tumble as they come.<\/p>\n

The original audience of Amos was the northern kingdom of Israel (which is quite odd, given that Amos was from Judah).<\/p>\n

DATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not to contrast Joel and Amos unnecessarily, but the controversy and confusion is dating Joel is nowhere to be found in Amos, which can be dated more or less exactly.<\/p>\n

Per Constable:<\/p>\n

Amos ministered during the reigns of King Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.) and King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah (792-740 B.C.), specifically two years before \u201cthe earthquake\u201d (Amos 1:1). Zechariah also referred to a notable earthquake during the reign of Uzziah (Zech. 14:5). Josephus wrote that an earthquake occurred when Uzziah entered the temple and was struck with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16-20).[Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews<\/span>, 9:10:4.] However this may be simply Jewish tradition. Archaeological excavations at Hazor and Samaria point to evidence of a violent earthquake in Israel about 760 B.C.[Y. Yadin, et al., Hazor II: An Account of the Second Season of Excavations<\/span>, 1956, pp. 24, 26, 36-37; and Philip J. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah\u2014An Archaeological Commentary<\/span>, p. 21.] So perhaps Amos ministered about 760 B.C. This date may account for the omission of the name of King Jotham who ruled as coregent with Uzziah from 750-740 B.C. Thus Amos was a contemporary of the other eighth-century prophets: Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah.<\/em><\/p>\n

BACKGROUND\u00a0&\u00a0SETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Charles Dickens wrote in an entirely different context: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Despite the time that Israel was experiencing great political and economic success, they were simultaneously in great spiritual and ethical distress.\u00a0H.L. Ellison summarizes it brilliantly in The Prophets of Israel<\/span>: \u201cIn other words the prosperity of Israel was merely a thin veneer over a mass of poverty and misery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per the MSB:<\/p>\n

Politically, it was a time of prosperity under the long and secure reign of Jeroboam II who, following the example of his father Joash (2 Kin. 13:25), significantly \u201crestored the territory of Israel\u201d (2 Kin. 14:25). It was also a time of peace with both Judah (cf. 5:5) and her more distant neighbors; the ever-present menace of Assyria was subdued earlier that century because of Nineveh\u2019s repentance at the preaching of Jonah (Jon. 3:10). Spiritually, however, it was a time of rampant corruption and moral decay (Amos 4:1; 5:10\u201313; 2 Kin. 14:24).<\/em><\/p>\n

HISTORICAL\u00a0&\u00a0THEOLOGICAL\u00a0THEMES<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two major themes that run through the book of Amos:<\/p>\n