Amos Bible Study: Chapter 4 Summary and Questions

    Amos addresses the ungodly women of Israel as the cows of Bashan. No woman wants to be referred to as a cow, but Amos, being a herder, probably knew all about the cattle raised in that area. That area is called the Golan Heights today. It was a prime grassland known for its wonderful cattle. They were sleek, fat. healthy and desirable for the market.  The women of Israel had become pleasure-seeking, pressuring their husbands to oppress and crush the impoverished. The way it is stated in the Scripture it would appear that they also oppressed the impoverished and were being looked on as guilty by God for the action taken against the poor by their husbands.  Their desire for more affluence escalated the injustice inflicted on the poor and needy. 

    The Lord swears by His Holiness and this is a serious oath. God's holiness will not allow sin to go unpunished. When a statement like this is made the punishment is definitive. God was warning them of what was to come. The Assyrians would come in and take them captive. They would be led through the broken walls of their conquered city with fishhooks in their lips attached to the one ahead of them with string. The Assyrians were cruel and showed no mercy. They would take their captives away and relocate them to Assyria. The area taken would then be repopulated. 

    In chapter one we discussed the actions of Jeroboam to maintain political control of the Northern Kingdom. He convinced the people that they could worship the golden calf as their ancestors had done, and he set up a place of worship in Bethel and Gilgal. He convinced them that traveling to Jerusalem was unnecessary and inconvenient. 2 Kings 17: 21-23 tells us that the people walked in all the sins of Jeroboam. They tried to maintain the worship of Jehovah while also worshiping other Gods. The worship was not done in obedience to the laws set down by God. Their worship was hypocrisy. It was for outward show and they loved their gathering and their feasts. They were done for their pleasure not in obedience to God. They put leaven in their sacrifices which was a sin and made their sacrifice an abomination to God. Their worship was done for outward show not with heartfelt love and worship, to their God Yahweh. 

    Their idolatry brought consequences and yet they refused to return to their God. They felt his corrective power and refused to return to him. There was a lack of food and the rain came here and there and they would have to go to whatever cities were receiving rain to have water. The events showed that they were the act of God, but they would not return to him. He started with a small amount of discipline which showed great restraint and love. The discipline became incrementally more severe to try to bring them back, but they refused to change their ways as rebellious children. 

    God states his intentions and they are told to "Prepare to meet your God." That is a statement that we should all take seriously because we do not know when the moment will come when we will meet our God and hopefully we have received Him as our Savior. He tells them who He is. He created the mountains and the winds, and He knows the thoughts of man and sees his intentions. There is no hiding from God. " The Lord God of hosts is His name." We have free will and have to make the choice of who we will serve. But be assured that you will stand before him and be called into account for your choices, so choose wisely.  

 Questions:

1. Who is Amos calling the cows of Bashan, and what is their sin?

2. What was Bashan known for?

3. What does the Scripture tell us is the danger of desiring wealth and pleasure? (Matt. 13:22; Luke 8:14: Proverbs 11:28)

4. How does the Word teach the poor are to be treated? (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; 1 John 3:17-18; Matthew 25:34-36)

5. What did the " Lord God swear by His holiness"? 

6. Describe the punishment God laid out in verses 2-3?

7. What was God's opinion of their worship?

8. Where were they worshipping?  

9. Where were they supposed to worship? Why was this important?

10. Why was it important to use unleavened bread for the sacrifice?

11. Verses 6-11 gives a list of the punishments for their transgressions. What were they?

12. What is God attempting to teach the people?

13. In verse 12 what is Israel told to prepare for?

14. How is God characterized in verse 13?

15. What is His name?

16. What lessons can we take away from this chapter?

 

 

     

Amos Bible Study: Chapter 3 Summary and Questions

 

            God speaks to all the tribes who were brought up out of Egypt in chapter 3. Their relationship with God had begun with Abraham. It was Jacob’s sons that would make up the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel by God. They are God’s chosen people, called by His name. There are five covenants that were made between God and man. The Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Priestly, and the Davidic covenant. There is also the covenant that was given in the New Testament. When a person receives Christ as his or her savior he is then in covenant with God.  A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more parties and is taken very seriously even today. It has responsibilities and promises on both sides. They were in covenant with God, and they had broken that covenant. He is going to punish them for all their iniquities. The people of Israel were chosen for special blessings, and God had cared for them and blessed them. He had revealed himself to them in a special way. He was their Father and had lovingly tended to their every need. He had given them a land flowing with milk and honey, they had been provided for richly, but as children that rebel against their parents they had turned their backs on Him and worshipped other gods, and had walked in their own ways disregarding Him, and now there is no turning back. He has given them many chances, but they chose to go forward in their disobedience. The die is cast. God is a just and equitable judge, and he will move forward with the punishment.

            Verses 3-8 asked rhetorical questions. The effect is dramatic. Amos gives us cause and effect. God sent his prophets to the people and the people disregarded what they said. They turned a deaf ear to the word of God. Amos’s prophesy was given during a prosperous time. They were comfortable and Amos’s words were hard to hear. “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be misfortune in the city, and the Lord has not done it?” The sound of the trumpet meant war and brought fear. The punishment of God would come upon the people, but not before the prophets had warned them to turn from their evil ways. Not before they were given a chance to repent and reverse the punishment and gain blessing. “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy”(Amos 3:8)?  They needed to ask themselves these questions and discuss the answers among themselves. This would bring them to the same conclusion that God had come too.  Matthew Henry says it clearly, “The distinguishing favors of God to us, if they do not serve to restrain us from sin, shall not serve to exempt us from punishment; nay, the nearer any are to God in profession, and the kinder notice he has taken of them, the more surely, the more quickly, and the more severe will he reckon with them.”[1] 1 Peter 4:17 tells us, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” They had dishonored God among the nations. It was their own sin that was bringing this judgment upon them and it would continue until it had finished its work. God was faithful in his care of Israel. They were his chosen people, and their relationship with Him was personal and committed on God’s side of the covenant, but they did mouth service to Him, but their hearts were far off. Their godliness was just a form and they worshipped other gods and trampled the poor and righteous.

            In verses, 9-10 God calls Philistia, which was where Ashdod was located, and Egypt to witness His judgment of Israel. It is a sad state when the ungodly are more righteous than God’s people. They had not been given a revelation of God, but Israel who had a personal relationship with Him had repeatedly violated that relationship. “Let them see how black the charge is, and how well proved. Let them observe the behavior of the inhabitants of Samaria; let them look from the adjacent hills, and they may see how rude and boisterous they are and hear how loud the cry of their sin is, as was that of Sodom.” [2] God calls the nations to judge between Him and His people. Their sin was so blatant and open that the other nations could see the equity of God’s judgment.

            Verses 11-13 begin the sentencing of Israel. The godless nations have been called to witness this and to see that God is justified in his judgment of His people. The Assyrians literally sapped the strength of Israel and completed the destruction in 722 BC. Samaria was a beautiful place where the Ivory palaces of Ahab and Jezebel were built. They could look over the land and enjoy the beauty. Today it is laid waste, and people visit the ruins. The destruction of a sheep by a lion was the way Israel would be destroyed. There would be nothing left but small pieces to prove their existence. A shepherd that cared for a flock had to prove the lion had destroyed it with a bone or ear or some small part. The destruction of the Northern Kingdom would be complete. God calls them to hear and to testify against the house of Jacob. By using the house of Jacob he includes all 12 tribes. Jacob whose name had been changed to Israel bore the sons that would be the 12 tribes of Israel.

            Verses 14-15 begin with a reference to Bethel. Jeroboam had built idols in both Bethel and Dan to keep the people from traveling to Jerusalem and possibly losing their political allegiance to the house of Rehoboam who was heir to the throne through Solomon, his father, and David his grandfather. This was discussed in chapter 1. Horns represent strength and to cut them off would be to destroy the strength of their false worship. “Some make the horns of the altar to signify all those things which they flee to for refuge, and trust in, and which they make their sanctuary: they shall all be cut off, so they have nothing to take hold of.”[3] Verse 15 discusses the destruction of all of the houses that represent power and wealth which were obtained off the backs of the poor and the righteous. They gained their wealth through dishonesty and misuse of the justice system. There was no honor left and judgment was coming.

 I want to once again stress the influence a government has over its people. We need to be vigilant especially today. As a nation, we need to be conscious of the relationship that we have with God. “In God we trust” is written on our money, but maybe it should be written in our hearts. It is concerning that we as a country are piling up sin upon sin.

 

Questions: Chapter 3

1.      Who is God speaking to in chapter 3?

2.      What does verse 1-2 tell us about the relationship between God and Israel? What had God done for Israel?

3.      What are the issues with this relationship?

4.      Verses 3-6 are a list of rhetorical questions. What is God’s purpose in asking these questions? What lesson can be learned?

5.      Why would they blow a trumpet in the city? What would be the people’s response to it in verse 6?

6.       How would the prophet’s message be similar to the trumpet being blown in the city?

7.      What are the duties of a prophet according to the Scriptures? What other prophets can you think of and what works did they do?

8.      What is the assurance in verses 7-8?

9.      What were the differences between Ashdod and Egypt and Israel?

10.  What is the message that is to be proclaimed, and why in Ashdod and Egypt? What is their significance?

11.  In verse 10 what reason is given for Samaria’s punishment?

12.  The Lord speaks in verse 11 and what is to be the punishment brought against them?

13.  In verse 12 the Lord speaks again. What conclusion can be drawn from this illustration?

14.  What is to be testified against the house of Jacob (Israel)?

15.  What is the significance of the horns of the altar at Bethel?

16.  Why are the houses of verse 15 mentioned?

 

           

           

 

 

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[1] Ibid., 970.

[2] Ibid., 972.

[3] Ibid., 973

Amos Bible Study: Chapter Two Plus Questions

 

Amos: Chapter 2 Summary

            Ammon and Moab were descendants of Lot. These two nations were given their land by God as was Edom who was the descendants of Esau. When the children of Israel left Egypt they were not allowed to take the lands of these people. It says in Deuteronomy  2:5: “Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one foot step, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.” Deuteronomy 2: 9 and 19 states that they are not to contend, harass or meddle with Moab and Ammon “because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession”. These nations once occupied Jordon and the area beyond. They drove out the people of that area and possessed it (Deut. 2: 10-12).

Moab will face God’s judgment. The first line of the chapter states, “Thus says the Lord:” Once again it is “For three transgressions of Moab and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,”. The king of Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. In ancient times this was considered a despicable act. It was profane to dishonor a person in this way. Matthew Henry said, “ It is barbarous to abuse human bodies, for we ourselves are in the body; it is senseless to abuse dead bodies, nay, it is impious, for we believe and look for their resurrection;, and to abuse, the dead bodies of kings (whose persons and names ought to be in a particular manner respected and had in veneration) is an affront to majesty; it is an argument of a base spirit for those to trample upon a dead lion who, were he alive, would tremble before him.”[1] The people often suffer for the sins of their government. The people are impacted at every level by their government. In the ninth century, the leaders could be heirs to the throne or they conquered the people.

 We as Americans should prayerfully vote for our leaders and once in office continue to hold them up in prayer that we might live peacefully. Our government effects our lives at every level. We have felt this on a very personal level with the Covid-19 issues.  

The destruction of Moab is spoken of in Isaiah 15 and 16 and in Jeremiah 48. The palaces of Kerioth would be devoured because the temples to their God Chemosh were located there. The judgment on Moab is death. God would cut off the judge and slay their princes. The king dealt cruelly with others. He sacrificed his son to appease his gods (2 Kings 3:26-27), and the end would be brought through war. 

Judah and Israel would stand in judgment, but their offenses were different from the nations Amos had just spoken judgment against. They were in covenant with God and were to be held to a higher standard. At Sinai God had revealed himself to them and created a special covenant relationship. Judah was accused of despising God's law and not keeping his commandments. “The other nations were reckoned with for injuries done to men, but Judah is reckoned with for indignities done to God.”[2] They worshipped other gods and denied the truth of God. They walked in lies and led others astray. Their fathers walked in lies and they followed after them. “But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem” (Amos 2:5). Jerusalem God’s holy city had been defiled with the lies created by idolatry. God would not spare Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 9:26 Judah and Israel are listed with the uncircumcised nations that will be judged. Circumcision is only beneficial if it is circumcision of the heart. It had become an outward meaningless symbol as they despised God’s laws.

Amos was prophesying in Bethel which was in Israel and verse 6 begins the prophecy against Israel. They were in covenant with God, and they had broken the covenant.  Israel was accused of perverting justice. The courts took advantage of the righteous. They broke God's law which allowed for indentured service to work off debts and it was to be regulated and dispersed justly and only for a limited time. Lev. 25:39-43 points out that they are not to be treated as slaves and will be released when the debt is paid. They were selling their brethren into slavery for a pittance. The righteous had become the victims of a corrupt system. The poor could expect no justice as the rich and powerful were greedy for gain and oppressed them at every turn.

Where justice is lost other sins creep in. Loathsome immoralities were done. “A man and his father go into the same girl to defile My Holy name” (Amos 2:7b). They made God’s name to be profaned among the heathen. They pretended to honor God with their ill-gotten gain. They worshipped idols and laid down on clothes taken in pledge that was to be returned by evening (Duet. 24;12,13). God will not be mocked, and they sealed the judgment that would come. They were blinded by their lust and pride. There was no justification for their sin. They would have to give an account for the violation of their covenant with God. A promise in the covenant was, “And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the LORD your God” (Deut. 28:2). If you would like to read the blessings they are in Duet. 28:1-14. If you continue to read to the end of that chapter you will also read the results of breaking the covenant.

God reminds Israel of what he had done for them. He had brought them out of slavery and given them “a land flowing with milk and honey”. They had ungrateful hearts forgetting where their blessings came from. God gave them prophets and Nazarites and they sought to silence them. “If God loads us daily with his benefits, and we, notwithstanding that, load him with our sins, how can we expect any other than that he should load us with his judgments? And it is here threatened in the last three verses that, when God comes forth to contend with this provoking people, they shall not be able to stand before him, to flee from him, nor to make their part good with him, for when God judges he will overcome.”[3]

 

Questions: Chapter 2

1.      What nations are prophesied against in chapter 2?

2.      Who did Moab and Ammon descend from?

3.      What was the offense of the King of Moab?

4.      What is the importance of Kerioth?

5.      Where else are they prophesied against?

6.      How is their punishment described?

7.      What was the transgression of Judah?

8.      Why were Judah and Israel’s judgment different from that of the other nations Amos prophesied against?

9.      How was Judah’s punishment described?

10.  What were Israel’s four transgressions?

11.  Find biblical passages that speak about the treatment of the poor, passages that speaks of a man and his father having the same woman, and passages that explain the regulations for garments taken as a pledge?

12.  What had God done for Israel?

13.  How does God describe the Amorites that he had destroyed before Israel?

14.  What else had God done for them?

15.  What did God raise up the sons of the people to be and do?

16.  What did the people do to the prophets and Nazarites that God raised up?

17.  What is a Nazarite?

18.  How does God respond to the sins of the people?

19.  What will happen to the men in battle?

20.  Do you see any similarities between their society and our society today?

 

 

 

 

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[1] Ibid., 966.

[2] Ibid., 967.

[3] Ibid., 969.

Amos Bible Study : Chapter one Plus Questions

The Book of

Amos

          “In the Bible, Amos the prophet saw the Day of Judgment fast approaching for Israel. He warned the people to prepare to meet God. Truth is, the word preparedness should be a key word for everyone. It is strange that we prepare for everything except meeting God. We prepare for marriage. We prepare for a career. We prepare for education. But we do not prepare to meet God. Even though most Americans see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, by and large, we are making few preparations to meet God. This is a time for repentance and faith. It is a time for soul-searching, to see if our anchor holds.” — Billy Graham

            Amos was the first Hebrew prophet to write his prophecy so it would remain for generations to come. Later prophets would use his techniques in their writings. Amos was not a professional prophet or trained to be a prophet but was given a message by God and told to proclaim it to Israel in Bethel. It is as relevant for today as it was when Amos wrote it. He wrote oracles against the surrounding countries and then reprimanded Israel. His prophecy brings to bear God’s concern for justice for the poor and the weak. Amos was decidedly monotheistic. There was one God, and He was God overall. After God’s passionate dismissal of Israel’s empty worship (Amos 5:21-24), we read the much-quoted words, “But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). God required their absolute worship, and they persisted, through time, in the worship of gods made by the hand of man. God would send them into exile to places where these false gods were worshipped.

Summary of Chapter 1

             Amos’s book begins with an introduction to Amos, a Judean, and a sheepherder who lived in Tekoa about ten miles south of Jerusalem. It was about five or six miles southeast of Bethlehem which, would become important as the birthplace of the Messiah. Amos 7:14 tells us that Amos was a sheepherder and the tender of sycamore fruit. The fruit had to be pierced to ripen properly. This could be done while watching the grazing sheep. Tekoa and the surrounding area was a wilderness suitable for raising sheep. It was of little importance. Tekoa was probably not more than a “wide place in the road”. God so often chooses “the foolish things of the world to confound the wise” (1 Cor. 1:27).

 Amaziah, a priest in Bethel, told the king in 7:1, “that the land is not able to bear all his words.”  He presents Amos as a man who was trying to turn the people against the king. His prophecy concerned Israel in the time when Uzziah was king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the son of Joash, was king of Israel (Amos 1:1). It was a prosperous time.

Amos states it was two years before the earthquake. Zech. 14:5 mentions an earthquake the people fled from in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, which may have been a reference to the same earthquake mentioned by Amos. This cannot be said with assurance.

            One might ask why a prophet out of Judah? Israel had prophets that they refused to listen to and did with them as they liked. “God had raised them up prophets among themselves (ch 2:11) but they regarded them not; therefore God sends them one from Tekoa, in the land of Judah, that, coming from another country, he might be the more valued, and perhaps he was…”[1]Judah was the location of Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Jeroboam was concerned that if the people went to Jerusalem to worship their God they would return to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, the son of David.

            Jeroboam had two golden calves made with one in Bethel in the south and one in Dan on the northern border. He did not want to lose political control.  His appeal to the people was that traveling to Jerusalem to worship was unnecessary and inconvenient. They could worship the golden calves, which were the gods of their ancestors. He caused the people to stumble and caused confusion and apostasy which would bring about the destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B. C. (1 Kings 12: 22-33).[2] 2 Kings 17: 21-23 says, “For he tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam, son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made the people commit a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; and they did not depart from them until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as he had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.”

            Even today, as Christians, we need to be careful because the government has power and influence on the hearts and minds of the people. We need to be aware and conscience of the will of God. We must walk in his way, and not allow outward influences to pull us away from the one God and Savior.

            “And he said: “The LORD roars out of Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; The pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the top of Carmel withers” (Amos 1:2). When the Lord roars the nations experience the intensity of His castigation. Every living thing will react. Carmel which was lush and flourished year-round would dry up. Thus, begins the oracles against the nations. “God gives warning before he strikes.”[3]

            Each oracle will begin with these words, “For three transgressions and for four:” This is a stylistic device used to denote God’s exasperation with their actions. They may not worship Him as God, but they will face His judgement as God. There is one God, and he is God overall. Whether one chooses to acknowledge this fact is beside the point, because each individual and nation will stand before him in judgement. He is long-suffering and gives chance upon chance. It is his compassion and his pity that stays the judgement. One does not want to hear him say, “Your iniquity is full.” This stylistic device is used to let them know that their iniquity is full and now the judgment.

Chapter One Oracles

            “Thus says the Lord: Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit -behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out of the house of Judah from among them” (Jeremiah 12:14). Although Jeremiah was written later than Amos the consequences of touching God’s people continues to remain unchanged. God does not change. “For I am the Lord; I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6 KJV).

            The first judgment is against Damascus which was north of Israel. They are accused of innumerable transgressions, in other words, “their iniquity is full.” God brings the indictment and then the sentence. Persecution is the primary offense. If there is one thing we know about God, he takes the way his people are treated very personally. We can go to the Old and New Testament to find this. In Matthew, we are told, “And the king will answer and say unto them, “Assuredly, I say to you,  inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:44 NKJV). Verse 3 God tells them there is no reprieve. He has turned away judgment before, but now there will be no more turning. The sentence is immutable. Damascus had cruelly treated the inhabitance of Gilead. In 2 Kings 8:12, Elisha weeps when God shows him the evil that Hazael will do to Gilead. He will burn their cities, kill their young men in battle, dash their children, and rip their women with child to try to make certain there will be no future generations.  Fifty years after the prophecy in Amos, the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took the people into captivity (2 Kings 16:9).

            Gaza was a city of the Philistines, and they had come against God’s people and sought to wipe their name from the earth. Violence was their tool, and their conscience did not bother them as they attempted to enlarge their borders at the expense of the lives of God’s people. “Ashdod (or Azotus), Ashkelon, and Ekron, shall be cut off, and God will make a thorough work with them in their ruin as they would have made with God’s people when they carried away the whole captivity; for even the remnant of them shall perish.”[4]

Tyre delivered the captivity up to Edom. Hiram and Solomon had a treaty and were as brothers. They broke the covenant and would receive punishment for it.

It was the pronouncement upon Edom that was bitter. It brings back into focus the issues between Jacob and Esau. “Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever” (Amos 1: 11). “Cursed be such cruel wrath, and anger so fierce, so outrageous, which makes men like the devil, who continually seek to devour, and unlike God, who keeps not his anger forever. Edom’s malice was unnatural, for thus he pursued his brother whom he should have protected….”[5] Israel’s conduct towards Edom was brotherly (Duet.23:7) , but the bitterness was so engrained in Edom that their cruelty was insatiable. “The fire of our anger against our brethren kindles the fire of God against us.”[6]

Ammons violence against God’s people was equal to that of the violence of Damascus against them. Their kings and princes were taken into captivity.

Questions: Chapter 1

1. Who was Amos, and in what years did he prophesy?

2. By whose authority did he prophecy?

3. What kings were in power over Judah and Israel?

4. What was significant about each king’s reign?

5. What is known about the earthquake?

6.Using an exhaustive concordance discuss Amos’s use of the word roar in verse 2.

7. Why do you think God roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem?

8. What does the stylistic device “For three…and for four transgressions” indicate?

9. Look for some history on:

    Damascus:

    Gaza:

    Tyre:

    Edom:

    Ammon:

10. What were their offenses?

           

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[1] Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Vol 4, Isaiah to Malachi. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1991. 963.

[2] Bible History. Copyright 2020: https://www.bible-history.com/destruction_of_Israel/.

[3] Ibid., 963.

[4] Ibid., 965.

[5] Ibid., 965.

[6] Ibid., 965.