Amos Summary
“There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; they sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and God-speed, to the right, as it goes by them.”
The ‘Justice’ Problem
You Sell the innocent for silver
You sell the poor for a pair of shoes
You trample on the poor
You deny justice to the oppressed
You Lie down at every altar on items taken on a pledge
You drink wine taken as fines (Corruption)
You make the Nazarites drink wine
You tell the prophets to shut up
Your land is full of unrest and oppression
You do not know how to do right
Your storehouses are full of plunder and loot
You're greedy living lives of Material excess
You Feast and Drink whilst you crush the needy
You Brag and boast about outward religion
Your Shows of devotion are hollow
You’ve turned justice into bitterness
You cast righteousness to the ground
You hate those who uphold justice
You detest the one who tells the truth
You tax the poor for their everyday needs and live in luxury
You take and offer bribes
You deprive the poor of justice
You make a loud show of religion yet you lift up the idol of other gods as your king
You're apathetic and complacent
Your arrogant saying "disaster will not overtake us"
You feel safe secure about yourself
You seek fame and the adoration of people
You laze and lounge about
You fight and bicker among yourselves
You’ve turned justice into poison
You’ve turned righteousness into bitterness
You rejoice in the destruction of others
You claimed to have succeeded by your strength alone
You trample the needy
You do away with the poor
You long to get religion out of the way to make money
You cheat people
You use dishonest scales
You buy the poor with silver
You buy the needy with shoes
You sell the sweepings in with the wheat
You bring a reign of terror
You do not return to the Lord
You have become like Egypt
You have become like Sodom and Gomorrah
it was all gift- yet you act like it is yours
You're entitled and from your entitled position you oppress those around you
You live lives of luxury in stone mansions, with summer and winter houses built on extortion
The Judgment on Injustice
With hooks, I will take you away to exile
Your cities will be destroyed
I will pass through you, Prepare to meet your God
I will sift you like wheat and the sinners among you will die
My eye will be on them for harm not good
You will not escape no matter where you hide
I will not forget your actions
The sun will go down at noon I will turn light to darkness
I will turn your festivals and songs into mourning
You will mourne like you have lost your only Son
There will be a famine for my words, you will search but you will not find them
I will roar like a lion at you
There will be death and dead bodies everywhere then Silence
Your wives will become prostitutes
Your children will be killed in war
The time is ripe for judgment
I will measure you to see if you are true to plum
The party is over
Your feasting will end
All will weep
An enemy will devour you
The strong and the warriors will not save themselves
The bravest of you will flee naked
The shepherd’s pasture will dry up
A snake will bite you as you rest
You will thirst you will hunger and all your vineyards will be damaged
You will not live in the mansions you have built
You will not drink the grapes from your vinyards
The Call to Return
Seek me
Seek The Lord
Maintain justice in the courts
Hate evil
love good
let justice roll on like a river & righteousness like a never-failing stream
Return to the Lord Return to his ways
the Glimmer of Hope
Seek me and live
Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on you
Love good and I will be with you
I will Return you from exile"
Like a shepherd, I will pull you from the lion’s mouth
A remnant of you will remain
I will rebuild you
I will plant you never to be uprooted again
You will rebuild your cities and live in them
New wine will flow from the hills
You will build gardens & vineyards and eat their fruit
