Bite 4: In Amos 1 What in Amos’s World was Going On?

Zitzen Laben

Gesundheit.

Recently I heard this German term used to describe the life situation in which a particular book of the Bible was written. In a sense, Amos was succinctly providing his readers with the first zitzen laben as he put down the first two verses. What in Amos’s world was happening?

Let’s look at this little bit of text. I made bold what I see as Amos’s natural course in giving the first life situation.

The words of Amos, 
who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, 
which he saw concerning Israel 
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and 
in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, 
king of Israel, 
two years before the earthquake. 
And he said: 
“The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; 
the pastures of the shepherds mourn, 
and the top of Carmel withers.” 1

In this short section, I observe a number of ways Amos describes the state of affairs at the time of writing. Last time, I made lists about what is here, but after additional research, I’ve found some interesting details that will help me as I continue in my study. Let’s have a look at what Amos provides for zitzen laben.

Tekoa

Reading the text shows that Amos was born here, but was there anything significant about this place that would help us get into the shoes of the readers? The Lexham Bible Dictionary shed light.

What is known about this dinky town in the middle of nowhere?

1. One of David’s mighty men was from Tekoa: Ira son of Ikkesh, who commanded 24,000 men (2 Sam 23:26; 1 Chr 27:9).²
2. Joab secured a “wise woman” from Tekoa to serve as mediator between David and Absalom following Absalom’s murder of Amnon (compare Raheb, Bethlehem, 67).³
3. Nehemiah 3:5–27 records that after the exile, residents of Tekoa assisted with the reconstruction of the city wall of Jerusalem. The text further records that their highest-ranking workmen resisted the leadership of the Jerusalem construction supervisors.⁴

What kind of folk come from Tekoa? In all the places I’ve lived, the people in the rural farming communities are the ones who are most rugged, down-to-earth, hard-working, and stubborn. Not universally for all the people, but as a general rule. Since Amos comes from this area, it would be reasonable to think he’s similar or at least rubbed shoulders with this type of people.

The Kings

In North America, in the early 21st century, we are all about pinpointing dates. Everything is precise and linear. This is not the way of the Middle East. It is not the way of the Hebrew. Amos wouldn’t have written “Tammuz 27, 750 B.C.” For a few reasons…

However, everyone knew the kings. Which as an observer a couple of thousand years later, that’s interesting. In North America, unless you lived through the presidency, you likely don’t remember what the exact dates were of the individual presidents. At least I don’t. However, if you say to me that such and such happened during the Nixon years or Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House when this and that was going on, I do have a general sense of the timeline.

I have no idea if this idea holds true for other people groups, but I can see how the dates are less the point than the events taking place.

As archeology uncovers ancient ruins, having those kings want their names in stone is handy. In lectures on this topic, I’ve heard about archeologists who clarify scripture when they’ve uncovered a new layer in a tell or something. There have been instances when some stele is found that places an ethnarch ruling at a particular time. This is particularly interesting when the higher critics dismiss scripture because it doesn’t necessarily match up with how modern man has dated it all. Then the dating system of the ancient Near East is uncovered and, what do you know? The Bible was right.

So Amos gives us the timeframe because he tells us who is ruling at the time of writing.

King of Judah

First up is Uzziah.

A note as we continue to study, there are often multiple names for people and places. For example, an alternate name for Uzziah is Amaziah and an alternate name for Eloth is Elat. Don’t let that throw you. It’s more data to jot down to keep us aware of the life situation at the time of writing.

King of Israel

Next up is Jeroboam. Not the first one but the second one.

Watershed Events

There are events in the course of history where anyone of the age of consciousness remembers not only the event but it was so impactful, they remember what they were doing when they became aware of the occurrence of the event.

Folks with snow on the roof remember the assassination of JFK.

Remember that particular 9/11?

Now I’m not talking about events that are regional. Like for me, I remember running away from Hurricane Ike which blew through the first year my family lived in Texas. But my friends here in Colorado have no recollection of it.

The Earthquake

What I’m trying to get into my mind is the kind of event that causes a nation to stagger and then be crippled physically, financially, emotionally, politically for years to come. This is the kind of earthquake that shook the Promised Land during the reign of Uzziah.

How do I know it was a disaster of this magnitude? In God’s Word through the prophet Zechariah, he uses it as an analogy of what the Day of the LORD will be like. There is context all around it to explain, but the specific analogy is found in Zechariah 14:1-5.

So not only is this earthquake used as a dating mechanism, but as an instructional for God’s people. Be prepared, because the Day of the LORD that is coming is going to be devastating for even his own people.

When Judgment Looms

Now the zitzen laben of the audience is they have experienced a natural disaster that caused widespread panic. Fleeing. Homes abandoned. Suffering of folks who couldn’t leave and those who had to leave them. Children crying in confusion. Women screaming in terror. Men who couldn’t protect their own.

The Word of the LORD came to Amos two years before this particular earthquake. I hear that as he performed the office of prophet earlier and then the earthquake occurred. How are the people feeling in the aftermath? What is the life situation like? Now that the Word is written two years after the earthquake, what would it be like to know God intends judgment? It’s possible the earthquake was only God’s hand in nature and not God’s hand in judgment since I don’t see specific mention of tremors in judgment. Only using such events as analogies.

But what would it be like to know your nation is on the brink of destruction specifically because of blatant disregard for God and his Word? There would be the flippant reaction of those who don’t fear God. Then there would be the repentance of those who heed the command to “seek the LORD and live” (Amos 5:6).

Reflection

This judgment business has got me thinking. We live here and now. When that Hurricane Ike splashed through Texas, I heard murmurs from the corners about “was that judgment on us?” And “I know that was judgment on us!”

Was it? I don’t know if it was or not. There are two things I do know. One, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. Two, there are no “innocent” victims in whatsoever God ordains. Person-to-person, yes, we can agree that there is a category of innocent victims between people. But no one can stand before God in any circumstance and shake their fist saying, “I don’t deserve this!” Unless that person is receiving blessing. Then someone could legitimately say, “I don’t deserve this.”

What Does Jesus Say?

But coming forward from Amos’s time to stand in the crowd as Jesus spoke, consider his query: Do you think that those on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? (Read of this crowd teaching in Luke 12:54-13:9.)

Or overhearing as Jesus passed by the blind man in John 9:1-7. What was that Jesus said? He said that it wasn’t the man had sinned. Must’ve been the parents then. What? It’s not the parents either? He was born blind so that God’s works could be put on display.

Are there hardships that surround on every side? Definitely. Can we know for certain if they are judgment or not? Unless we are visited by an OT prophet or one of the NT apostles, we just don’t know.

My Implication

For myself? I don’t think it matters if trial is judgment. What is my responsibility? To busy about Kingdom work. For me, that might be as simple as doing my pots as well as I can, making the world a more beautiful place. Or maybe making friends with people who are wildly different than I am, inserting Jesus who lives within me in the middle of their lives. Even cultivating my marriage in a way that creates a tiny analogy of what the relationship between Christ and the Church is to the broken world.

Wrap Up

Can you guess what I hope we learned today for a Bible Study Bite? It starts with zizten. Ends with laben.

We’ve talked before about putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, right? Back story makes a difference when you’re trying to understand someone. Their motives, emotions, actions. In philosophy, there is a better chance of understanding the philosopher if we can understand what questions are being wrestled with. The art of standing in another’s shoes, hearing back story, knowing someone’s base questions, these are all aspects of zizten laben or life situation.

A week ago, I was listening to a lecture series on the inerrancy of scripture. While discussing these affirmations and denials, the topic of human authorship came up. Here is the article:

ARTICLE VIII
We affirm that God in His Work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared.
We deny that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities. 5

Do you think God chose certain folks randomly? Or do you think each of the biblical writers had personalities and styles that God used for specific reasons? In this lecture, it was pointed out that when reading the gospels, Luke used proper Greek. Greek used by the educated. However, the author of Hebrews had even better Greek. When writing to the first audience, these styles would have not only told us about the author but also something about the recipients.

In concluding his thoughts on the article, the speaker tried to be clear. We are thousands of years removed from the time of the writing of the Bible. Any of it. We have different languages, cultures, regions, etc. Knowing the zitzen laben is a double problem. We bring the current filters of our culture to the text and lack the time and space perspectives of the first audience. The admonition was to make sure we cut through both in order to arrive at understanding.

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?

1. Amos 1:1–2 (ESV)
2. Meeks, C. (2016). Tekoa. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
3. Meeks, C. (2016). Tekoa. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. 
4. Meeks, C. (2016). Tekoa. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
5. https://www.moodybible.org/beliefs/the-chicago-statement-on-biblical-inerrancy/articles-of-affirmation-and-denial/