Ms. Kenny Religion 9 March 2014

Writing Prophets

 Amos: a shepherd from Judah who goes north to preach against the sinful kingdom of Israel in about 750 B.C. (during the reign of Jeroboam II)  Amos: harsh, blunt, and angry who is said to roar like a lion

 Shepherd, so dressed in rustic garments compared to the northerners rich attire  Goes to Bethel first to talk to the people, then Samaria  Condemns their unjust exploitative actions toward the poor and weak, tells that God will punish them for this  In Samaria, he compares the rich women to fat cattle who are waited on hand and foot – and that someday they will be dragged away like dead animals

 God’s Law was set up to take care of everyone – rich and poor, and had been abandoned  By abandoning God’s Law, it has led to the oppression of the poor

 MLK Jr. referred to the prophet Amos in a famous sermon, when he explained that the Lord hates and abominates celebrating religious rituals with an insincere heart  When we worship, we must process, sacrifice, and sing with hearts that love God “like waters, / and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24  In other words, God condemns empty worship.

 Amos watches Israel burn during dry season  Foresees Israel’s eventual downfall from so much sin  Refers to Israel as “Jacob” and pleads for Israel to God  God eventually lets Israel fall to its own destruction  Eventually gets told to go back to Judah  Tells off the high priest before going home

 By the end of Israel ( B.C.) – just before they get conquered by the Assyrians – things are very bad  Hosea – a prophet from the north  Hosea is involved in a very unhappy marriage with Gomer, a wife he loves  Gomer has left Hosea for other lovers, just like Israel has deserted God for the Canaanite god Baal

 Hosea relates his own experience of betrayal to find the words he needs  The first 3 chapters of Hosea deliver this message, relayed as a parable  The remaining 11 chapters are fragments of oracles condemning Israel’s sin

a : a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak b : a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c : an answer or decision given by an oracle OR a : a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions b : an authoritative or wise expression or answer

 Hosea is told to give his 3 kids strange names that literally mean:  “shameful butchery”  “not pitied”  And “not my people”  By the time Hosea says the third name, the people of Israel understand that Hosea is describing them breaking the Covenant.  This is a highly threatening idea.  They had always assumed that God’s Covenant would be there and stave off punishment. (Hosea 1:1-9)

 Hosea is the first book of the Bible to feature the relationship between God and Israel as a marriage and to use the language and images of marriage in describing it (metaphor)  To God, “infidelity” in Israel’s behavior means betrayal of justice, compassion, integrity, true worship

 Gomer could be sentenced to death for her infidelity. Instead, Hosea wants to punish her for a little while, then take her back tenderly.  In other words, God is saying that he will not wipe out the people of Israel, even though they deserve it.  Instead, they will be put through a time of exile and abandonment.  This will eventually bring Israel back into its loving relationship with the Lord.

 Assyria – the fiercest, most brutal power in the Ancient Near East  It is impossible for Israel to be secure against them, even if they banded together with other hostile neighbors  Assyrians take down the capital Samaria in about 721 B.C.

So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left…

 Some people of Israel flee south to Judah, because of their common identity as Chosen People of God  Many of their stories are integrated/edited into Scripture from this time

 Samaritans – intensely disliked by Jews during biblical times  Samaritans – descendants of the Israelites who remained in the north after Samaria’s collapse; common people, not leaders, who intermarried with Assyrians and foreign colonists  Samaritans – centuries later, are like distant, lost cousins of people of Judah  Religion was seen as polluted by paganism, so the post-exiled Jews didn’t like them