1. Amos & Hosea
The Prophets of God

2. Amos and his harsh message
He is from Judah but was called to preach to Israel
Amos is angered by Israel’s disregard for God’s law
Israel has become like other nations: wealth is in the hands of a few, justice has been corrupted, and poor people are oppressed.

3. The Lion of God Is known as the prophet who roars like a lion
Because his message is harsh, blunt, and angry
Criticizes harshly the worshipers’ rich attire
Compares the rich women of Samaria to fat cattle
Because they eat lamb, drink wine, and anoint their skins with expensive perfumes at the expense of the poor
Condemns the unjust and their exploitative actions toward the poor and weak and tells them that God will punish them for that

4. Empty worship
Amos says that the Lord dislikes and abominates processions, sacrifices, and hymn singing that do not come from sincere hearts.

5. Visions Locusts eating the crops Fire ravages the land
The crooked wall
Israel is being destroyed by the people’s sins
Israel is helpless to survive the fate it has brought upon itself
God measured a crooked wall with a plumb line about to collapse
Amos pleads for Israel to God
God responds that Israel has chosen evil and he will leave it to its own destruction

6. Hosea: God as a betrayed Husband
Hosea is from the North and preaches in the North: Israel
His story begins with his unhappy marriage
He is married to Gomer
He loves her
Gomer deserted Hosea for other lovers
Hosea uses his own experience of betrayal to criticize the unfaithful Israel

7. Betrayal
When Hosea speaks of himself and Gomer, he is telling Israel a parable of its own betrayal of God
Hosea loves Gomer as God loves Israel
Gomer deserted Hosea for other lovers as Israel has deserted God for the Canaanite god Baal

8. 3 children= 3 messages
Hosea and Gomer have three children to whom Hosea is told to give strange names
The names are symbolic of how God regards the children of the Covenant with Israel
Jezreel (boy) meaning shameful butchery
Implying that God will punish and destroy Israel
Loruhamah (girl) meaning not pitied
God will no longer have pity or forgive Israel for their mistakes
Loammi (boy) meaning not my people
God rejects the Israelites as God’s chosen people.

9. The Punishment of Gomer
Hosea takes Gomer to court where he testifies to her unfaithfulness and ingratitude
He is angry and his plans for her are harsh
He gave her everything he had: grain, wine, oil, silver, and gold
Hosea will take those gifts away
She has given some of these away to her lovers
He will punish her and take away everything until she returns to him

10. Reconciliation
Like Hosea desires to be reunited so does God with the Israelites
God will punish them until they repent and come back to God
Punishment in the form of penance for their sins
God will not wipe out the Israelites even though they deserve it
Hosea is the first book to feature the relationship between God and Israel as a marriage and uses the language and images of marriage
To God, infidelity in Israel’s behavior means betrayal of justice, compassion, integrity, and true worship

11. The first Conquerors
Regardless of the warnings by the Prophets, the Israelites did not listen and were conquered by the Assyrian empire.
The Assyrian emperor forced the many of the Israelites into exile
The Assyrian became the new leaders in the Northern kingdom and within sometime, began to intermarry with the Israelites that were allowed to stay in Israel.
Some of the people of Israel sought refuge in the Judah, Southern Kingdom, hoping that their brothers/sisters in faith might welcome them and understand them.