Amos A

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/amosa/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p><strong>O.T. background</strong></p><ul><li>Remember separation of Israel and Judah, two centuries earlier (1 Kings 12:25-33), under Jeroboam I<ul><li>Rival shrines – with idolatry</li><li>Rival priesthood – low standard of leadership</li><li>Rival holidays – to prevent northerners from choosing to blend the two religious systems</li><li>This evil king is immediately challenged by a prophet (1 Kings 13).</li></ul></li><li>It just so happens that in Amos' time (8th C. BC) the northern king is Jeroboam II.</li><li>Amos was written near the end of his reign.</li><li>Amaziah is false priest at Bethel in the time of Amos (d.767)</li><li>Recall  the promises and threats related to covenant faithfulness (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28)<ul><li>Blessings: physical, economic, military, and national blessings</li><li>Punishments: agricultural failure, anxiety, pain, fear, exile</li></ul></li><li>The earthquake: in the days of Uzziah, the king of Judah (742 BC). See also Zechariah 14:5.</li></ul><p><strong>Economic situation</strong></p><ul><li>760s-750s is a boom time<ul><li>Neighboring nations are too weak or distracted to constitute any significant threat to the prosperity of Israel.</li><li>International trade is strong</li><li>Borders restored to limits of 931 BC (end of time of Solomon)</li><li>Leisured upper class with a decadent lifestyle (2:8, 4:1, 6:1)</li><li>The poor are oppressed</li></ul></li><li>But the bubble is about to burst in a serious way!<ul><li>The oppressive upper class will be brought down.</li><li>The nation will be delivered over to its enemies (Assyrian exile, 722 BC).</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>The man</strong></p><ul><li>Earliest writing prophet and earliest minor prophet</li><li>Contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, Micah</li><li>A shepherd and dresser of fig trees (7:14-15)</li><li>From Tekoa, a town in southern Judah<ul><li>6-10 miles south of J