Bible Blitz Msgr Ed Thompson And Deacon Norm Kazyk With Technical Assistance Ray Hosler

Amos B.C. Shepherd, Fig farmer, Prophet (1:1)

Lived in Tekva, 10 miles south of Jerusalem Called by God to deliver a message to northern Israel, to the wealthy who were getting rich at the expense of the poor. Their ritual sacrifices were hypocritical.

The message preached to the rich of Bethel, a cultic town. Earliest of the prophets – before Isaiah – short career. Martin Luther King’s “dream” inspired by Amos.

Divisions 1.Judgement of the nations (8) (1- 2) 2.Words (4) and woes (3) for Israel (3-6) 3.Symbolic visions, threats and promises (7-9) 4.Epilogue: Messianic perspective (9:9-15)

Power Points 1.Return to me – 3 rd word (5:4-9) 2.Amos and Amaziah (7:10-17) 3.Against greed (8:4-7) 4.Rebuilding of the temple (9:9-15)

Obadiah Author? Obadiah? Shortest prophecy, only 21 verses Bitter cry for vengeance against the Edomites of South Judah Theme: God eventually settles his accounts 5 th Century B.C.

Divisions Edom shall perish (2-9) The cause – violence (10-14) Judgment upon the nations (15-16) Judah shall be restored

Jonah Written in the post-exilic period of Judah: probably the fifth century B.C. Stress is on the need for repentance and the merciful, forgiving nature of God.

Jonah is a symbol of a narrow attitude of many of the chosen people of the time who limited the mercy of God to their nation: a narrow nationalism. It is in the genre of fiction and its intent is didactic.

Some questions to be asked: Why did Jonah disobey God? How did God respond? How did Jonah respond to both his calling and his success?

Irony: In flight from God’s service, he unwittingly serves God: Sailors, pagans repent.

Micah A contemporary of Isaiah (ministered before and after Samaria’s fall in 721 B.C.) He was a peasant suspicious of city life.

He attacked the rich, usurers, families divided by rivalry, prophets, judges, and tyrants who are the antithesis of the divine ideal: “to deal justly, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with God.” (Ch 5:8)

Major divisions Ch 1-3Threat and condemnation Ch 4-5Promises to Zion Ch 6Denunciation and threat Ch 7:8-20Hope for the future

A Contrast Mi 4:3They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. (also see Isaiah 2:4)

Rest of Contrast Joel 4:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak man say, “I am a warrior!”