Major themes in the book of amos

More than almost any other book of scripture, the book of amos holds gods people. The global message of amos the message of amos lands on the global church today with as much force and necessity as it landed on the people of god 2,700 years ago. Hoseas marriage symbolizes israels relationship with god and serves to remind israel of gods forbearance and israel. Structure of and literary features in the book of amos 22. The minor prophets include twelve books called hosea, joel, amos, obadiah, jonah, micah, nahum, habakkuk, zephaniah, haggai, zechariah, and malachi. Amos attacks two major areas of sin commonly indicted by the prophets. The message of amos lands on the global church today with as much force and necessity as it. The theology of the book of amos in modern times, amos has come to be considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice. The theology of the book of amos old testament theology. Transcribed and edited by david sielaff, february 20. Amos many scholars believe that amos was the earliest of all of the biblical prophets to have his words put in writingminor, major or somewhere inbetween.

His major themes of social justice, gods omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. Amos prophecy was a judgement message to a few nations, but primarily against the 10 tribe kingdom of israel, warning of gods judgement against them for their false worship, immorality. The key idea in amos is that god is just and impartial and will judge not only the nations but also his own people for their life of ease and apathy amid human suffering. Gods relationship with his people includes judging them in righteousness when they sin and restoring them in grace. He speaks of hope for the children of israel when they will be restored to a kingdom under the house of david. The major themes romantic poets wrote about were love, romance, and nature. The prophet amos lived among a group of shepherds in tekoa, a small town. God raised up the prophet amos, as an act of his great mercy to a. Amos wrote at a time of relative peace and prosperity but also of neglect of gods laws. But the book of amos reminds us that those works, while unquestionably central to a believers life, ring hollow when we dont love and serve others in our own lives. That is restored under the rule of christ for he is the son of david, the messiah. The book of amos is written in typical prophetic style with warnings of judgments to come. Woe to those who are at ease in zion, say the lord in amos 6.

The book of amos was likely written between 760 and 753 b. Book of amos, the third of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in one book under the jewish canon titled the twelve. Amos reminds the global church of the commitment to justice that is embedded in the very character of god. The book of hosea consists of fourteen chapters, which was the record for a minor prophet until zechariah tied it a couple centuries later. Hoseas name means salvation and he pictures christ as the healer of he backslider. The main themes of the book of amos are social justice, god\s omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. Paul, for example, never clearly identifies the genre of amos except to say that amos delivered a devastating diatribe against the nations distorted concept of the wholesale panacea of the cult6 and that it was a message of doom.

Comprising only nine chapters of oracles, it was composed during the age of jeroboam ii, king of israel from 786 to 746 bce. Find out what true worship looks like in the book of amos. He spoke against an increased disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor. Amos, theology of bakers evangelical dictionary of. Amos was a contemporary of hosea, isaiah, and jonah. Israels root problem was its false religion having a form of godliness but denying its power 2 tim. Damascus to the north, the philistines of gaza to the southwest, the phoenicians of tyre to the west, edom remember obadiah. Covenantal concerns are central to the yahwehs accusations e. This book provides a detailed exploration of this theme and other important elements of the theology underlying the book of amos.

The prophetic books are anthologies of oracles the sequence of which is often determined by literary rather than chronological considerations. If you would like to read this first prophetic book of the bible, please click the link to the chapter you would like to read and all of the bible verses will be listed for your perusal. By examining the background and major themes of the book of amos, it is possible to accurately diagnose the strength of this theme presented in amos writings. Although the book of jonah is not about world missions, the theme of gods mission to the world is definitely present in. The lecture focuses on the eighthcentury northern prophet hosea, a linguistically difficult book set against the backdrop of the expansionist assyrian empire.

Although israel maintained the ritual formalities of the law, and even exceeded them amos 4. The book of amos is one of the least understood in the holy scriptures. Amos contains all of the literary types he described. This speaks of the near judgment of god upon the nations.

Injustice permeates our world, yet as christians we often turn a blind eye to the suffering of others for more important work like praying, preaching, and teaching. The major themes in the book of amos judgment, injustice, lament, the sin of gods people, repentance are not easy subjects. The key idea in amos is that god is just and impartial and will judge not only the nations but also. Thankfully, we do not have to pick one purpose for jonah, but can focus instead on prominent themes that run throughout the book. Although he may have been just a sheepherder from tekoa, he was a well educated one and a skilled writer, and his book has quite an elaborate structure. The purpose of the book of amos was to announce gods holy judgment on the kingdom of israel the northern kingdom, call them to repentance, and to turn from their selfrighteous sins and idolatry. The coming downfall and the utter collapse of the northern kingdom are two major themes in the book of amos. A level notes on the book of amos by mberengwa norman issuu. Although hosea is believed to have arrived a little later on the prophetic scene, hosea did marry a prostitute, which, scholars believe, is a lot spicier than anything that amos ever did.

The palmwine drinkard is a novel by nigerian writer amos tutuola. At the heart of this message is the covenant between yahweh and his people. He heals us with his love, as hosea says i led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. Amos was a humble sheep raiser and nipper of figsamos 1. What common theme is present in all the major and minor prophets. Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah, was active c. Israel, the northern country consisting of ten tribes, and judah, the remaining two tribes in the south. Book of amos overview insight for living ministries. Amos mission is directed to his neighbor to the north, israel. The book of amos, the third of the twelve minor prophets, has been one of the most significant and influential books of the bible from the time it was written 8th century bce down to the 20th century.

Like all biblical prophets, amos spoke the oracles of yahweh, israels god, to people in a particular context. This lecture studies the literary features and major themes of classical israelite prophecy as evidenced in particular in the. Other major ideas proposed in the book of amos include. The basis for these predictions is not the rise in power of the assyrian empire, with its threat of invasion from the north, but rather the immorality expressed in the political, economic, and religious life of amos contemporaries.

The major themes in the book of amos include denunciation of. You all know that the number seven is significant in the bible, and it was to the jew. Book of amos summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of amos for bible study or sunday school lessons. Amos fortune, free man study guide contains a biography of elizabeth yates, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and. Reading them today we may well be tempted to downplay the force of the message and dilute the challenge it brings. A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. The covenant lawsuit, woe oracles, laments, promise oracles, visions, and parallelism.

The main purpose of a summary is as a simplification highlighting the major points from the original and much longer version of the subject. Romantic poets relied on vivid imagery to develop send its message. The book of amos is a prophetic book of the hebrew bible, one of the twelve minor prophets. Amos, a judaean prophet from the village of tekoa, was active in the northern kingdom of israel during the reign of jeroboam ii c.

The major themes in the book of amos include denunciation. The book of amos is an intriguing scripture from a unique individual, amos, a shepherd and fig tree farmer dwelling in southern judah who is called by god to go to bethel and announce warnings of judgment to the northern kingdom of israel. During the time of the minor prophets, the nation of israel had divided into two separate countries, each with its own government. Amos is a shepherd and a fruit picker from the judean village of tekoa when god calls him, even though he lacks an education or a priestly background.

As with each of the minor prophets, the title comes from the name of the prophet to whom god gave his message 1. He is not to be confused with amoz stout, strong, the father of isaiah isaiah 1. Amos may have delivered the prophecies of this book at different places in the northern kingdom, such as samaria and bethel. Almost onethird of the chapters of the book of isaiah contain prophecies about jesus christ, addressing both his first and second comings. This book provides a detailed exploration of this theme and other important elements of. In order to comprehend the theology of the book that bears his name, one must have a basic understanding of that context. The exile of israel is an important feature in biblical history. It also includes chapters on the text itself, providing a critical assessment of how the book came to be, the original message of amos and his circle, which parts of the book may have been added by later scribes, and.