Man, in his pride and selfishness, was a wicked beast. Ungrateful in the hour of his deliverance.”
–Ralph Peters (Valley of the Shadow)
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?'”
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?'”
–Obadiah 3 (NKJV)
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“Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay…”
–Oliver Goldsmith
We cannot understand the message of a prophet without understanding the cultural and societal times. Warren Wiersbe made the observation that Amos would probably feel right at home in our world today. Society was changing rapidly; overall they were at peace and both Israel and Judah were prosperous. Ah, but that was the surface, for underlying the glitter was a stench of decay.
“Amos prophesizes during a period of national optimism in Israel. Business is booming and boundaries are bulging. But below the surface, greed and injustice are festering. Hypocritical religious motions have replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God’s disciplining hand. Famine, drought, plagues, death, destruction–nothing can force the people to their knees.” (Vine’s Expository Reference Bible)
Here we see Israel, a nation of expanding markets which produced a growing wealthy class. This class was living a life of luxury and self-indulgence. Ease and extravagance
contrasted with the misery and suffering of the population, many who could not afford the bare necessities of life. It was a time when the merchant class made the money and took possession of the land; the rich gained their wealth by injustice and oppression. The poor workers in the fields suffered at the hands of the cruel landowners and heartless creditors. The nation was filled with dishonest judges; the government was corrupt.
Not only was there a pseudo-prosperity, there was a quasi-spiritual condition. Jeroboam II followed the idolatrous religion that was conceived by his namesake Jeroboam I. Bethel and Dan were instituted as dual cities of worship. We see syncretism as its height with the diluted worship of Yahweh. There was a huge ornamental altar constructed upon which a golden calf stood to be worshiped. Not only was there a type of dual worship, but there was also the worship of Yahweh using the vile methods of Baal.
The people were outwardly religious. Lloyd Ogilvie states, “Religious devotion was hardly lacking in this age. The question was the quality of that devotion… The covenant obligations were blurred or understood as completely fulfilled by the rituals.” Rituals aimed to ensure the foundations for life. The people offered songs, offerings, elaborate ceremonies, and regular religious observances were all visible in abundance. This worship with all its ritual was full of insincerity and superstition. It didn’t matter which God you worshiped, in fact it was better if a person worshiped both Baal and Yahweh, that way they were assured of blessing and security.
Upon this scene comes the man, the prophet–Amos. Who, as Gary Cohen puts it, “was about to stop the party.”
———————————-
“Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay…”
–Oliver Goldsmith
We cannot understand the message of a prophet without understanding the cultural and societal times. Warren Wiersbe made the observation that Amos would probably feel right at home in our world today. Society was changing rapidly; overall they were at peace and both Israel and Judah were prosperous. Ah, but that was the surface, for underlying the glitter was a stench of decay.
“Amos prophesizes during a period of national optimism in Israel. Business is booming and boundaries are bulging. But below the surface, greed and injustice are festering. Hypocritical religious motions have replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God’s disciplining hand. Famine, drought, plagues, death, destruction–nothing can force the people to their knees.” (Vine’s Expository Reference Bible)
Here we see Israel, a nation of expanding markets which produced a growing wealthy class. This class was living a life of luxury and self-indulgence. Ease and extravagance
contrasted with the misery and suffering of the population, many who could not afford the bare necessities of life. It was a time when the merchant class made the money and took possession of the land; the rich gained their wealth by injustice and oppression. The poor workers in the fields suffered at the hands of the cruel landowners and heartless creditors. The nation was filled with dishonest judges; the government was corrupt.
Not only was there a pseudo-prosperity, there was a quasi-spiritual condition. Jeroboam II followed the idolatrous religion that was conceived by his namesake Jeroboam I. Bethel and Dan were instituted as dual cities of worship. We see syncretism as its height with the diluted worship of Yahweh. There was a huge ornamental altar constructed upon which a golden calf stood to be worshiped. Not only was there a type of dual worship, but there was also the worship of Yahweh using the vile methods of Baal.
The people were outwardly religious. Lloyd Ogilvie states, “Religious devotion was hardly lacking in this age. The question was the quality of that devotion… The covenant obligations were blurred or understood as completely fulfilled by the rituals.” Rituals aimed to ensure the foundations for life. The people offered songs, offerings, elaborate ceremonies, and regular religious observances were all visible in abundance. This worship with all its ritual was full of insincerity and superstition. It didn’t matter which God you worshiped, in fact it was better if a person worshiped both Baal and Yahweh, that way they were assured of blessing and security.
Upon this scene comes the man, the prophet–Amos. Who, as Gary Cohen puts it, “was about to stop the party.”