Amos was one of the only two prophets who prophesied over the northern kingdom of Israel. Unlike Hosea his contemporary, Amos was from southern kingdom of Judah. He was called to go north to declare the message of God to Israel (Amos 1:7; 7:14) sometime between 760 and 750 BCE (Bandstra, p. 288). The message concerns social justice in Israel, where a lot of injustices and corruptions are found in the midst of its society.
What does Amos say is wrong with Israelite society?
The northern kingdom of Israel was having a good time of peace and prosperity in about the middle of the eighth century under the strong and capable kingship of Jeroboam II. However, Amos points out that an awful scene in Israelite society is the economic problem: the gap between the rich and the poor is getting much wider–the rich are becoming richer, the poor poorer. He also denounces that rich people live luxurious and comfortable lives and do not pay attention to the poor and the needy at all (5:10; 6:1,4-6). It is even worse that some of them abuse the poor for their financial gain; inhumanely they trade them as cheap commodity and treat them as animals (2:6-7; 5:11; 8:4,6). They violate the moral codes and defile the house of their God (2:7-8). They oppress and humiliate men of God by force (2:12). Money is more important than justice as bribery and corruption are a common practice to gain and grant favor in the ruling of unjust judges (5:12). (Stanley, 429)
In addition, the heart of the problem is a deeper spiritual illness. According to Amos, the wealthy do not really respect the covenant relationship between the Lord and Israel. They just diminish it to merely the proper observance of public rituals (Stanley, 429) and opportunities for their own financial gain by practicing deceit with false balances in selling grain and wheat to pilgrims on the occasions of the Lord’s festivals and Sabbaths (8:5-6). They do not really care about the Lord, their spiritual life or their relationship with him. Amos rebukes them for just being faithful in enjoying the feasts and happy songs instead of mourning and lamentation for their spiritual predicament (8:10). With the message of the Lord, he warns them of their current ungodly status as a famine in which they are hungry not for bread, and a thirst, in which they are thirsty not for water, “but of hearing the words of the Lord” (8:11).
What will happen to the people of Israel if they don’t change their ways?
Like the rich in every generation, Israel’s elites do not want to listen to this kind of message, which challenges their way of making money and having lives of luxury and ease. It also warns them if they don’t change their ways, they will be facing destruction. Amos prophesies over their future with the Lord’s words. The God of hosts will finally send foreign forces to invade their land and wipe out their armies, and their strong and mighty men will have to flee for their lives without anything in their possession (2:14-16). There will be mourning and wailing in the squares, in the streets and in the vineyards of the land (5:16-17). The enemy will pull down their custom luxury houses, where they shall not live (5:11), destroy their temples, slaughter the people (9:1), and bring their luxurious and comfortable lifestyle to an end (6:7). There will be no avenue for them to escape neither the world beneath nor heaven above, neither mountain nor sea (9:2-3). They will try to flee, but they will be caught and brought back to justice before the Lord–a kind of “You can run but you can’t hide” game. The survivors of this coming onslaught will be deported in disgrace and shame into exile in foreign land and will no longer enjoy the revelry of the loungers and will be killed with the sword (6:7; 9:4). The consequences for their transgressions will be too much to bear if they don’t repent. (Stanley, 430).
Is there anything that they can do to avoid this fate?
Amidst all these prophetic warnings, however, there is still hope for Israel when Amos is able to urge his audience to seek good instead of evil so that they may live and to affirm the possibility that the Lord will be gracious to Joseph’s remnant (5:14-15). If they turn away from their self-indulgent lifestyle and go back to the Lord with repentance by creating and developing a just and fair society to all, changing their treatment towards the poor and needy, they will live and be able to avoid destruction and all the consequences. The answer lies within their hearts and actions whether or not they wish to change for the better–“hate evil and love good”–and respect the God of Israel and his covenant with them; they will see the Lord's mercy upon them and their doom will be avoided (Stanley, 430).
- Bibliography:
Stanley, Christopher D. The Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Approach. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009.
Hi Daniel, Thanks for a very good overview of Amos's prophecy and what was happening in Israelite society. Your phrase "They violate the moral codes and defile the house of their God (2:7-8)" got me wondering, so I did some digging on what the moral codes were for treating people who were in poverty. (Naturally, I went to Wikipedia) and read about the Deuteronomic Code. Deut 24 actually has a lot of civil codes that govern the ways that the poor, vulnerable (servants, widows, orphans) are to be treated. My commentary provides some helpful contextual analysis on 24:14-15 and 19-22, which are just a few of the many verses that govern the treatment of the poor. Laborers were supposed to be paid every evening so as to guarantee that they could buy provisions for their families upon returning home: an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, as (I think?) Henry Ford said. Another set of verses prescribed leaving a share of the day's harvest aside so that workers could glean and take with them at least a small portion of all that they had toiled over.
ReplyDeleteMy commentary writes that laws like these were directly mandated by God, "who is the protector of the poor" for many purposes, among them social bonding. "The community was ultimately seen as a single entity that could prosper as a whole, but in which even the least fortunate were to participate" (Clements, pp. 470-471, The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, Vol II, 1998 Abingdon Press). That the Israelites of Amos' time had stopped honoring these moral codes must have demonstrated some serious spiritual sickness - likely recognized in the disconnect within society between social strata.
Hey Daniel, great post! I felt like you pulled apart the passage really well to analyze and better understand the text. I find it interesting that you interpreted the passage that Israel can be saved from the destruction of YHWH. I go back and forth, based on the statement in Amos 8:7 saying that YHWH will not forget the deeds Israel has done. I’m not sure if this is a “forgive and forget” situation with YHWH or a “get your act together, but you will still be punished” situation. Regardless, great post!
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