Choosing the Passage
Similar to when I chose passages in the study of Ephesians, I look for how the author organized his material. Did he change subject? What about who is speaking? Or is there some other type of shift?
Looking for such shifts, I opened a map in Logos to see who’s who in the zoo for the names of these places. I’ve heard the names before, but is there are common thread among them as I visualize on a map? Is there a thread and where does the thread end?
Let’s Look at a Map
I’ve always loved maps. Do you remember when there were those giant road maps the insurance office would provide to their customers? I would sit in the back seat of my parents’ car and pour over those pages imagining what it would be like to travel here and there.
This map shows me all the places Amos mentions and I noticed that the regions and cities were all ones that are on the edges. They border Israel and Judah. Up until Amos 2:4 when Amos talks about Judah. So since the prophecies up to that point are about neighbors of God’s people, that seems like a good place to make a break. A change in topic. Our first passage is Amos 1-2:3.
Sentence Diagramming
As I was making plans to study Amos, I was wondering how useful sentence diagramming would be. Oh, I see. That useful. Using my Logos sentence diagramming tool, I began to take the scripture line by line, organizing the text in order.
Remember back in our time together in Ephesians when I kept reminding both of us there isn’t a right or wrong as we proceed here? As long as we leave the text in its original order, we are simply lining phrases up to see what goes with what. And like when we studied Ephesians, I will include a sentence diagram at the end you may print if you’d rather. But don’t be intimidated. You’ll be so impressed with your effort!
We will take a few verses together to get us going and then you’ll go ahead and finish the passage on your own.
Thus Says Amos
The first two verses aren’t the “word of the Lord” but instead are Amos’s words. Amos 1:1 gives us some of the 5 W’s and an H. I organize them accordingly.
- Amos-who, what, where
- Words-which Amos saw
- Concerning Israel-when
For this first verse, there is only one phrase about Amos so I tabbed over but left it on the same line. Then there is a phrase about something he saw. What did he see? Words about Israel. So I lined up the descriptions of the words. Words and that he saw them. Since the next three phrases are about timing concerning Israel, I lined them up. See? We already did one verse. Not so bad, huh?
All right, you do the next verse.
Thus Says the LORD
Starting in Amos 1:3, I began to see more pattern. I diagrammed a phrase at a time still, but as I worked through the phrases, the pattern emerged. Let’s bring a couple of these sections here and look at them together.
Like I said, I didn’t tackle these at the same time, but as I worked through I began to see a pattern. There was a new person speaking so I put the identifying phrase on the left margin. Then what he said, I lined that up under the says. Since the phrase wasn’t a complete thought, I tabbed over when the decision appeared. God says that for the sin he wouldn’t change his mind. Why wouldn’t he? I lined up the because under the resolution.
The consequence follows and I organized it under the fact that there were these transgressions. Now I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about how these phrases line up, but I would encourage you once you establish the pattern in this first section, it will help us to observe and then interpret if we are consistent.
So then the next thus says the LORD comes around in Amos 1:6. I keep that on the left margin. Amos uses repetition for how many sins this next group has and God again says that he will not revoke the punishment. Do you see how we can continue the pattern? There is another because phrase which I lined up under the resolution to punish. And then the punishment that God prescribes I lined up under the previous lines of consequence.
This passage is relatively straightforward and so I will let you finish it out. Though I strongly encourage you to remain consistent once you establish your pattern for the various types of phrases. I believe it will help in our next step.
Reflection
Since the only objective I had in this Bite was to organize the text without observing or interpreting, I want to resist the urge to make any significant applications. However, I did work through several verses where God said he would not relent in his sentence of these neighbors because of violations of treaties or just basic human rights against his people.
Did bad things happen to God’s people? Yes. Did those same bad things continue forever without a consequence? Nope.
Can we see that bad things are happening to God’s people today? Yes. Based on history, will God overlook such evil forever? Not forever. It may seem like God is not attentive to injustice, but based on just these few verses, he is all about remembering and having his vengeance.
Eventually, judgment came about for those who opposed God. And eventually, final judgment will come about for those who don’t remember covenants of brotherhood, those who pursue brothers with swords, those who keep wrath forever, those who murder babies. There will be justice.
Wrap Up
Our Bible Study Bite for today? I’m surprised how helpful the sentence diagram is. Maybe you could see the organization without diagramming, but Amos was methodical in his proclamation. With the diagram, I can’t miss it.
In the next Bite, I will observe this passage. The organization of the diagram almost lays out the lists for me. Additionally, the repetition is highlighted. What does repetition usually indicate? The author is emphasizing a point.
Taking the time to do this one technique is going to help me in my next steps.
Thanks for studying with me today! If you’ve found anything helpful here, please like and subscribe. And if you know of other students of the Word, would you please share so we can all study and encourage each other with what we’re learning?
