Amos
Key Learnings from Wednesday Bible Study
April 2024 - Present
Middle of the Week Bible Study
The book of Amos is a collection of prophetic messages delivered by the prophet Amos. Most of Amos’s messages are announcements of God’s anger with and impending judgment on faithlessness. Amos is critical of worship life, which has deteriorated to rote ritual observance disconnected from daily life. The prophet draws on both on history and moral/legal tradition to support his condemnations of our actions. Meets in the Cafe.
⁃ Justice and Righteousness flows only from God
• Social Justice isn’t actually Justice (Exodus 23:1-8; Leviticus 19:15)
⁃ Detach yourself from false gods. Stop making up false gods
• Sikkuth and Kiyyun - worship of celestial bodies
• Pleiadeians and Orionians: alien colonization of earth (LOL)
⁃ Complete abandonment of previous commitments
• Fat Cows & Hooks - You will be brought under control
• God desires faith not adherence to rituals (Amos 4:4-5) and certainly not rituals to false gods.
• Bad things happen but these other things are on purpose
⁃ Modern religions; A perversion of religious beliefs.
• Critical Theory - Oppressors vs Oppressed - saved by becoming “woke”
• Environmentalism - salvation by being “green”
• Science - following the “science” obedience
⁃ Nazirite: a vow of separation and self-imposed abstinence for the purpose of service unto the LORD
• Coercive violation of vows (Abstain from all graph products; Abstain from cutting hair; Avoid dead bodies)
• Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist (maybe Paul [Acts 21:23])
⁃ Rhetorical questions - Cause and effect - Order vs Chaos - the way of things
⁃ Prophesy - to proclaim the Word of God
⁃ Ashdod (Philistines) - A site of showdowns
⁃ Broken commitments - Enemies to gather where commitments were made
• Northern Kingdom - judgment is total destruction
• Bethel - Syncretism - preverting truth
⁃ A Shepherd is not a member of the religious “elites”; an outsider; guardian (Amos 1:1)
⁃ Worldly condemnation
• Moab - descendants of Lot and his other daughter - crimes against Edom
• Judah - Faithlessness
• Israel - Idolatry
⁃ Syncretism - the blending of religious beliefs into a new system
⁃ The Pagan Pantheons
• Damascus > El* - god of Syria
• Gaza (Philistines) > Dagon - god of the Philistines & Phoenicians
• Tyre (Phoenicians) > Dagon
• Edom (Edomites) > Baal/Ashtorth - gods of most everyone
• Ammonites > Milcom - god of the Ammonites
• Moabites > Chemosh - god of Moab
⁃ Prophet to the Northern Kingdom who was from the Southern Kingdom
⁃ 3 transgressions enough for judgment the 4th makes it beyond the pale.
⁃ Worldly condemnation
• Damascus - Vicious cruelty - All roads lead to …
• Gaza (Philistines) - The Sea People - Slavery
• Tyre (Phoenicia) - A Seafaring People - Slavery
• Edom (Edomites) - descendants of Esau - Raiders/Murders
• Ammonites - descendants of Lot and his daughter -Violence against women
⁃ Fire = purification, judgement, refinement, Cleansing