Bite 8: Observing Amos 2:4-3:2

Philosophy

I realize you are probably not as interested in philosophy as I am. But as a fellow student of the Word, I would bet that’s because when you think “philosophy” you think of philosophers of the 19th and 20th century who have had a deep and abiding love of hopelessness. That’s what I thought before I started digging in.

That negative view of the world and man is the corrupt form philosophy has taken. If you go back to the ancient philosophers, they were smarter than our modern selection because many recognized that there had to Be Someone First in order for there to Be Anything at all. Aristole’s Unmoved Mover. The Uncaused Cause.

According to R.C. Sproul’s lecture series “Consequences of Ideas” that I’ve heard 10 times if I’ve heard it once, Thales was the Father of Philosophy. When the comet that scientists like Thales anticipated actually showed up on time, that was when philosophy began.

Among other questions I’m sure he asked, he asked “Why?”

Ask Questions

I suspect philosophy is where the 5 W’s and an H came from. At least how the “why” and the “how” ended up in the top 6 questions to ask when investigating.

So as I study Amos, I’m joining the generations of inquiry: “Why?”

The remainder of the book explains God with regard to these transgressions of Judah and Israel that we encounter here in our passage. Without starting to answer “Why doesn’t God revoke punishment?” I may not arrive at an accurate representation of our God. But before I can start to answer the question, I will observe this passage and see what charges are brought against Judah and Israel.

Observation

If you recall back to previous times we’ve met, we’ve talked about the structure of study that I follow. It isn’t the only way to study, but I’ve found it serves me well so I want to revisit it with you because I believe it will serve you well.

The structure is thus:

1. Observation-including sentence diagramming, making lists, context, and asking questions.
2. Interpretation-including word studies as needed, attention to historical detail, comparing various translations and their notes, identifying literary techniques, and so forth.
3. Application-which is distilling the information into statements that declare how I will respond to what I’ve learned. Typically involves “I will _____.”

It’s good for me to review this list periodically because it helps me to stay the trail in my own study. Why am I doing what I’m doing? Am I in order or am I jumping ahead without information? This is the critical issue and why I use this structure. How can I responsibly say I will change such-and-such but not actually know what the text is saying? What the author intended. And what the audience would have heard. Because if I don’t understand those aspects, I am at minimum doing injustice to the text. At the other extreme, I could be entirely missing the point, getting wrong information, and then have the beginning of a heretical movement.

No, I’m not actually kidding about that. This is serious.

On to the more of my observations.

Context

Part of the process of keeping myself grounded in the entire theme of the book is to remember what came before:

…and what comes after:

I’m not looking for anything profound here, just keeping the context in mind. A simple statement for both suffices.

Now that I have my “study eyeballs” pointing both behind and before, I will proceed to list making.

Making Lists

I recall that in the previous passage, God’s laser beam of judgment was directed outward from either the Northern or the Southern Kingdom. Now God swivels and directs attention on his own people.

Judah

Actually, God reverses the order I have there. He addresses Judah first, and of note, separate initially from Israel. What indictment does he bring in Amos 2:4-5?

Israel

Next he addresses Israel. With what offenses does he charge the Northern Kingdom in Amos 2:6-8?

You may notice that I choose not to write down the words of the translators but instead I paraphrase and put the content into my own words. My intention in doing so is to try to have another way that I interact with the text. I may not remember word-for-word, but if I can hang on to the gist of the text, then I will have personal memories that will help me find the text again in the future. This may not be the way for you, but it is one way to do it so I share with you.

Both Judah and Israel

Then God lumps the two groups together when he calls them the “whole family that I brought up.” What does he say about the entirety of his people in Amos 3:1-2?

I remember someone telling me once when one of my adult children treated my husband and me with much disrespect that I shouldn’t take it personally. Ha! God takes it personally. Am I somehow superior to God? Again I say “Ha!”

Other Observations

Our time together is largely about “what is a way to study?” This scrambled mess is a snapshot of my observation worksheet. AKA sentence diagram. This middle section of the passage isn’t made up of further indictments but instead is why the indictments are offensive to the Good God.

Here I ask questions, I think about other places in scripture I’ve heard the theme spoken, notice literary devices, identify repetition, and so forth. The questions in particular are important because they will lead me in my research and study. Remembering that I’m here studying because I don’t know everything seems right. Identifying what I don’t know and then moving toward knowledge and truth is my objective. If I have no questions, why am I studying?

My new friend Heidi with whom I’m meeting with here at Bible Study Bites blessed me a few weeks back by sharing her observation worksheet with me in a message on Facebook. Tears, I’m telling you, I had tears I was so pleased that someone else loves God so much and wants to know him better too.

Reflection

Still in the process of gathering and understanding truth, I can’t make too definitive of statements about “I will ____.” But I can make some hypotheses and hold them loosely as I proceed.

For example, I probably shouldn’t be dogmatic about God taking transgressions personally which I mentioned earlier. Since I haven’t finished studying this passage.

Except that I do know from previous study that Jesus came in the form of a man, lived a perfect sinless life as the second Adam. That the second Adam died the death I should have died, and that man rose again signifying that the Father accepted his payment on my behalf in full. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together, in agreement, take my transgression seriously. Personally. Enough personally that it took the perfect man to reconcile me to God. I know this already.

What I suppose I can state with dogmatic certainty is that God takes sin seriously. God, who is the same in the OT and the NT, punishes transgression. Ironically, folks who think that God in the OT is the angry old man and the God of the NT is soft and squishy and loves everyone actually was more violent about sin in the NT than the OT. If you question such an assertion, and I recommend you do question it, I challenge you to read the chapters about the crucifixion in the classic book The Case for Christ by the formal journalist and skeptic Lee Stroebel. Not soft. Certainly not squishy.

Wrap Up

Again I say to you, ask questions of the text. Our Bible Study Bite is to question. Take your questions captive; I’m not suggesting we have silly “I wonder if” queries like when the Israelites had their shoes last in the desert, were they made of leather or something else?

Honest. That’s the kind of question I’ve heard in Sunday school classes. No, actually, I’m not making a straw man argument. Can what material sandals were made of be answered? Does it have anything to do with who God is or who I am? Then this line of questioning is pointless.

My Questions

But questions of historical significance. Spiritual significance. What does God record for us? Because that is what he wants us to ask him about. From our passage, just to review, some of my questions include:

• Why doesn’t God revoke punishment?
• What is in mind in Amos 2:6 when the righteous are sold?
• Why are there variations between the ESV and the NET in Amos 2:7b? Is sexual sin in view or not?
• What is the significance garments in pledge and wine of the fined in Amos 2:8?
• Which other prophets beside Amos were told to shut up and stop prophesying? Why? What significance does this have in the Church universal today? Do we tell truth-speakers to be quiet?
• Who can stand against the LORD, as I think about Amos 2:13-16?

Do you have questions popping to mind from your own study? These are the threads of truth we can carefully follow back and learn about our God.

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?