SUMMARY
God’s judgment swirls around the lands of the ancient Near East, circling JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More and Israel, before, at last, God’s judgment falls on the kingdoms in the center of a rhetorical net.
ANALYSIS
The opening of the book of AmosProphet to the northern kingdom who condemned Israel's oppression of the poor, calling for justice to "roll down like waters." More makes several clockwise circles around the Near East, announcing God’s penalties for the crimes committed by various nations. Starting in the northeast in the Kingdom of Aram, God announces punishment on Damascus for “three, no four,” offenses. Then to the southwest in the Philistine strongholds, God announces punishment on the Philistine Pentapolis (notably, Gath is missing because it had already been captured by Aram). God’s vision then sweeps toward Tyre, on the northwest coast, to announce justice for transgressions. By turns, judgment comes to the Kingdom of Edom to the southeast; the eastern Kingdom of Ammon, then slightly south to the Kingdom of Moab, before focusing on the Southern KingdomThe Southern Kingdom consisted of two tribes of Israel, Judah and Benjamin. Jerusalem was its capital, and the kingdom lasted from 931-586 B.C.E. As with the Northern Kingdom many of the kings were wicked, and prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel spoke their often judgmental... More of Judah. At this point, rhetorically, God has vanquished all the enemies and rivals of the Kingdom of Israel. If Amos stopped after 2:5, Israel would have felt vindicated and supported. However, this encirclement was not meant to free Israel, but rather to entrap it. The prophet has homed in on his target, and most of the rest of the book will be God excoriating the kingdom and people of Israel for injustice.
