A shepherd, not a prophet… where is Tekoa?
Allegory: shepherd = pastor?
Amos 1:3
Against Damascus
Reason for wrath: she “threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth.” —wrath due to lack of mercy?
Amos 1:6
Against Gaza — representing all the Philistines, see v. 8
Reason for wrath: “took captive whole communities…to Edom.”
Amos 1:13
Against Ammon — he ripped open pregnant women.
All the sins condemned so far are atrocities of war…. and the judgments are the horrors of war.
Amos 2:4
Against Judah.
This hardly fits the context. Judah is not accused of war crimes, but of rejecting the law of God and of committing idolatry. This is as bad as merciless killing in war…!!
Amos 2:6
Against Israel.
The indictment is neither for war crimes nor religious offenses, but injustice against the poor. What goes before is a kind of prologue to this, to show the enormity of this kind of crime — guilt by association.
Amos 3:7
A problem for modern philosophical theology: revelation (specific, current) as the content of religious experience. Who are his servants the prophets?
Amos 3:8
The word of God, alive and powerful, cannot be heard without being spoken in its turn by the hearer. Cf. Romans 10:12, Isaiah 55:10-11
Amos 4:4
Sarcasm about the religiosity of the Israelites. Is it really just a matter of setting one cult (Jerusalem) over against its rival cults (Bethel, Gilgal)?
Amos 4:11
Neither judgment (I overthrew you) nor mercy (You were… snatched from the fire) brought repentance.
Amos 4:12
“Prepare to meet your God”: In context, a dire warning of doom. Where is the God of hope and promise in this?
