SUMMARY
Both God and prophet are incredulous that Israel continues to refuse to learn from increasingly harsh consequences of injustice and profane worship.
ANALYSIS
This chapter consists of three escalating sections in which the prophet describes vile actions, and the consequences thereof. The rhetorical effect is meant to induce in the reader/hearer the mounting disbelief felt by God and AmosProphet to the northern kingdom who condemned Israel's oppression of the poor, calling for justice to "roll down like waters." More that Israel does not turn from their sins.
In the first section (4:1-3), women who use their wealth to oppress the poor and needy are compared to beef cattle fattened for slaughter, who will meet their end on hooks, being parceled out piece by piece through different sorting chutes.
In the next section (4:4-5), the verb conjugations reflect that the prophet is now addressing all the people of the Northern KingdomThe Northern Kingdom consisted of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel and lasted for 200 years until it was destroyed by Assyria in 721 B.C.E. In the northern kingdom the kings were evil. Prophets like Elijah and Amos railed against them and their evildoing. More of Israel. Facetiously, the Israelites are told to keep sinning at the idolatrous cultic sites, offering up prohibited offerings at prohibited sites in prohibited manners, “as they love to do.” God challenges the citizens of the Northern Kingdom to distinguish between their desires and divine commandments. The people are unwilling or unable to see that though they love their counterfeit worship, it is angering God rather than pleasing God.
In the final section (6-13), God/Amos describes how escalating consequences for sin are ignored. God sent famine, drought, pests, plague, and pestilence, each without effect. Therefore, the God of CreationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More resolves to destroy Israel, and the Israelites are told to “prepare to meet your God” (4:12).
