naming the evils

Our reading for this coming Sunday (October 2nd) is from Amos 1 and 2.

These are not easy passages, and your eyes might glaze over from all of the destruction and curses that are flowing from Amos' mouth.

Look at the way God's voice in Amos 1:2. God's message of judgment comes between two roars of a lion (Amos 1:2 and Amos 3:8). Judgment is proclaimed on 8 nations.

Compare the various judgments in Amos 1 and Amos 2. Notice which nation is most harshly judged.

I looked to the BCBC commentary on Hosea and Amos to help me understand exactly what the sins were for each nation. I've listed the sins beside each nation below.

The first nations mentioned are ones that share no recognized blood ties with Judah and Israel:
* Arameans (Damascus/Syria): greed, demanding revenue, extracting taxes
* Philistines (Gaza): selling an entire community into slavery (genocide)
* Phoenicians (Tyre): ruthless slave trade, failure to keep faith

The next ones are distant relatives:
* Edomites (Edom): vengeance, violence by the sword against his brother
* Ammonites (Ammon): invading other lands, killing, selling women into slavery
* Moabites (Moab): attitude of insult toward others

The final ones hit close to home:
* Judah: deliberately rejected God's laws, refused to keep God's decrees, pursued false gods
* Israel: debt-slavery, extortion (selling their neighbours to erase minor debts), oppressing the poor, sexual abuse, injustice and hypocrisy

These judgments follow a pattern. They begin with: Thus says the Lord. Then they state: For 3 transgressions of ... and for four I will not revoke the punishment. They state the charge of sinfulness "because they..." followed by the punishment "I will send..." They end with "says the Lord."

In the BCBC commentary, Guenther writes, "Israel's wealthy are preoccupied with accumulating goods; people and community are of little consequence. The conventional wisdom seems to be "Suppress compassion if you want to succeed." No one argues with success. No one except Amos." (p. 260)

* Imagine hearing these indictments against us today. Do any of them ring true?


* Which nations could you imagine being held accountable for sins today? Imagine a prophet today talking about nations that are far away from Canada, then ones who are closer, and then finally lacing into our nation, saving the largest list for Canada. How would this feel, especially if it were a foreigner and a common man like Amos delivering the message? This passage makes me think of another one: to whom much is given, much is also expected. (Luke 12:48)


* Can you name evils in our society today? What would they look like? Some might be subtle - like ways of thinking. Others might be more obvious - like our lifestyles or our government's policies.

* What evils would make God's voice roar today? Does it make our voices roar too?

introducing... Amos!

Since scrolls seemed to factor pretty largely in both Sunday school and the sermon on Sunday, I thought we could look at where Amos fits in the scrolls. Amos is found in the minor prophets scroll, near the beginning of the scroll.

Historically, it is thought that Amos is the oldest/first among the prophetic writings. So, in a way, he's breaking new ground.

But as far as the order goes, Amos is the 3rd of the minor prophet books. Here they are, in the order found in our Bible: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

If you have an introduction to Amos in your Bible, take a look at that. Let us know what strikes you as interesting.

It's estimated that Amos was written around 760 B.C.E. Times were good for both Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Judah (the Southern Kingdom). They had both grown prosperous and had powerful militaries.

Amos' name means "to lift a burden" or "carry." Amos was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore trees. He was from Tekoa, which was located near Bethlehem in Judah. He carried his message from Judah to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

For our first reading, let's look at a little introduction to Amos in Amos 7:10-17. 


Amos left one comfortable vocation in Judah (herdsman) to follow an uncomfortable vocation in Israel (prophet). Amos, as we'll soon find out, did not deliver a popular message. It was hard and staggering. How would he have sensed that this was his calling? Have you ever struck out in a similar way - following God's calling to do something uncomfortable?

In The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann writes about the alternative vision that the community of faith must hold. The church’s vocation is to critique the dominant culture around us and to energize our communities by providing an alternative vision. 

We'll talk more about prophetic voice on Sunday, and here are some more questions to ponder. Feel free to respond in the comments below, or save your response for Sunday.

sound your voice

* What prophetic voices have been silenced through the ages, or are silenced right now?

* What would be a difficult message to deliver to SJMC today?

* Who do you see as a prophet in our time?

* Prophets like Amos were keenly aware of current events and spoke out on issues of the day. How political are you?

* How is SJMC critiquing the dominant culture or injustices in our world?

* How is SJMC energizing our community by providing an alternative vision?

unleashing Amos

Welcome!

Perhaps you find the title of this blog a little curious. I do too. Unleashing scripture??? Is it like a wild animal or something?

Well, yes.

The Bible can be wild. Unpredictable. Uncomfortable.

And the book of Amos - which we'll be studying for the next 8 weeks - is no exception. Amos is a wild one. He's a prophet who says some pretty harsh things. Things that might make us squirm in our seats.

This coming Sunday (18th) we'll be part of a larger class led by Derek Suderman that will look at "The Beginning of Scripture." I thought that this would be a good introduction as he'll be giving some suggestions, hints, and things to keep in mind as we study the Bible together.