Hey folks! This weeks Heartbroken questions are taken from the book of Amos. Feel free to pass more along, and I will feel free to find answers for them!
Amos
Amos 1:1 talks about this book happening “two years before the earthquake.” Do we know anything else about this?
We think we do, but we can’t be sure. It seems that Zechariah mentions it in Zechariah 14:5.
And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, refers Amos 1:1 to the event that occurs in 2 Chronicles 26:16–23. Though that passage doesn’t mention an earthquake, Josephus says that one accompanied the great rebellion of Uzziah.
Starting in 1:3, Amos uses the same phrase over and over again, “for three transgressions,… yet for four…”. What is that?
That is poetry, it just doesn’t rhyme. The idea is “totality, all encompassing.” One author has said with three scoops, the cup is full to the brim, and that fourth one overflows it. Amos is trying to show the people that they deserve judgment.
Amos 2:5 “So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.” I thought Jerusalem didn’t fall? Wrong time frame?
Yes and no. This verse was fulfilled in 586 b.c. when King Nebuchadnezzar broke down the walls of Jerusalem and carried almost the entire population away into exile. But Jerusalem was again populated, so it wasn’t destroyed as much as overthrown. Later, in 70 ad, Jerusalem fell, and experienced more of the fulfillment of this prophecy.
What are the hooks and fishhooks that Amos talks about in chapter 4?
Pretty much exactly what our mind would go to. Imagine large fish hooks being used to catch fish. Those would be used against the people of Israel, literally leading them out of their city, their luxury, stepping over the walls that had been broken through, taking them into exile. It is a gruesome and violent picture, but one that was almost literally fulfilled years later.
Why would the people be warned not to mention God’s name? (6:10)
Perhaps they were so afraid of God’s holiness and judgment that they would be afraid to mention in inappropriately and end up being judge again. There was a healthy fear of God.
What is the plumb line in Amos 7?
“A plumb line was a cord with a lead weight used by builders to make sure that walls were constructed straight up and down. A plumb line was also used to test existing walls to see whether they had settled and tilted, needing to be torn down.” (BKC, Am 7:7-8) God was using the plumb line as an illustration of how far they had “tilted.” When they were originally following after God, they were perfectly level. Now, they just don’t line up with who He is and what He expects. This again points to the reason and justification of their judgment.
I am wondering what it means in Amos 7:8 and 8:2 when God says, “. . . My people Israel; I will never again pass by them.”
God is laying out His edict of judgment, and when He reveals it to Amos, He says, “I will never again pass by them (ESV),” “I will spare them no longer (NIV),” “I will no longer ignore all their sins or “I will not delay their punishment again (NLT).” The phrase means He is done waiting for them to return, and He is now going to judge them.
Related posts: