SUMMARY
God gives AmosProphet to the northern kingdom who condemned Israel's oppression of the poor, calling for justice to "roll down like waters." More a series of visions to confirm the upcoming destruction 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.
ANALYSIS
God gave Amos a series of five visions meant to confirm the coming judgment on the Kingdom of Israel.
7:1-3 – Swarm of LocustsLocusts are a type of grasshopper (which, along with wild honey, comprised John the Baptist's diet). A swarm of locusts is the eighth plague before the Jews left Egypt in Exodus. The book of Joel takes place in the aftermath of a plague of locusts,... More – Just as the spring fruit began to sprout, locusts came and ate all of it. Amos cried out for forgiveness and appealed to God’s mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God's mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments. More because “JacobThe son of Isaac and Rebekah, renamed Israel, became the father of the twelve tribal families. More is so small.” God relented and said this punishment would not stand.
7:4-6 – The Great Fire – God sought to punish Israel with fire on farmland, but again Amos interceded, calling to mind Jacob’s smallness. God again relented.
7:7-9 – The Plumbline – God showed Amos a plumbline and said that no longer would the people be pardoned. Instead, all their tall towers and high places that they had used plumblines to construct would be smashed down. Amos did not seek to intercede any longer.
8:1-14 – The Basket of Summer Fruit – In the longest of the visions, God showed Amos, the harvester of sycamore fig trees (7:14) a basket of late summer (literally “cut”) fruits. God said that the end (literally “the cutting”) had come for the people who trample the needy and cause the end of the humble in the land.
9:1-10 – TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More Collapse – Amos saw (the language changes here, and God no longer “shows” Amos) God standing beside the altar. God commanded a servant (Amos or possibly an angel) to strike the temple pillars, in order that they would collapse on the heads of the people and crush them. God gives a lengthy description of the distances that God will pursue the Israelites to prevent them from escaping wrath.
