Justice and Righteousness in Theological and Contemporary Perspectives in Amos by Alex Prindle
God called Amos to prophesy not to his own southern kingdom, but actually to the northern kingdom of Israel, where he was often seen as an imposter. This was very difficult, the people of Israel were not pleased with someone coming into their land and directing them on what to do. Because of this attitude, the people mostly didn’t listen to Amos, and Amos was eventually fed up with the people’s disobedience, thus causing him not to discuss salvation nearly as much as the exilic period to come. This is different from Isaiah’s prophecy written only a little later, as Isaiah more strongly juxtaposed the possibility of reform with eminent takeover, while …show more content…
Amos does show that there are injustices in other parts of the world, but his goal was to focus the majority of his energy on Israel (McConville pg. 167). Amos’s prophecies of exile became increasingly more severe within every chapter of the book, as he found that many people of Israel wouldn’t listen to him during a time of prosperity. There are five main symbolic visions that Amos describes in his teachings each titled: the Locust Swarm, the Rain of Fire, the Plummet, the Summer Fruit, and the Destruction of the Sanctuary. Each describes God’s reaction to the people of Israel in which death and destruction is foretold (Bible.org/Amos). For example, the Summer Fruit symbolic vision is a metaphor for a prosperous Israel that will soon come to an end. “‘What do you see, Amos?’ and I answered, ‘A basket of end-of-summer fruit’, And the lord said to me, ‘The end has come for my people Israel; I will forgive them no longer.’ The temple singers will wail on that day- oracle of the Lord God. May shall be the corpses strewn everywhere—Silence” (8:1-8:3)! Summer fruit becomes rotten shortly after it becomes ripe, thus God is explaining that even though Israel is prosperous now, it won’t be soon as the Israelites would be punished into exile. The book ends with a short epilogue about the restoration of Israel after exile without mention of repentance …show more content…
Political party platforms are taking money from certain contributors to direct their message not towards what they actually believe would help the country to be successful, but rather toward what the money they are receiving is going towards. An example of this was the DNC’s efforts to make sure Bernie Sanders could not win the democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton. Because of the DNC’s power, they were not punished adequately for essentially thwarting a nomination unfairly. This corruption is what Amos prophecies against as this exploits the American people as a whole. Corporations, government, and the common man/woman are the three main groups of people with influence in America with corporations and government, having significantly more power than the common man, which shows that America isn’t succeeding at being a Democracy, as the ordinary person should have the most power in terms of directing leadership in America. This was the same within Amos’s society as debtors and paupers were continuously unjustly treated by the rich and
God called Amos to prophesy not to his own southern kingdom, but actually to the northern kingdom of Israel, where he was often seen as an imposter. This was very difficult, the people of Israel were not pleased with someone coming into their land and directing them on what to do. Because of this attitude, the people mostly didn’t listen to Amos, and Amos was eventually fed up with the people’s disobedience, thus causing him not to discuss salvation nearly as much as the exilic period to come. This is different from Isaiah’s prophecy written only a little later, as Isaiah more strongly juxtaposed the possibility of reform with eminent takeover, while …show more content…
Amos does show that there are injustices in other parts of the world, but his goal was to focus the majority of his energy on Israel (McConville pg. 167). Amos’s prophecies of exile became increasingly more severe within every chapter of the book, as he found that many people of Israel wouldn’t listen to him during a time of prosperity. There are five main symbolic visions that Amos describes in his teachings each titled: the Locust Swarm, the Rain of Fire, the Plummet, the Summer Fruit, and the Destruction of the Sanctuary. Each describes God’s reaction to the people of Israel in which death and destruction is foretold (Bible.org/Amos). For example, the Summer Fruit symbolic vision is a metaphor for a prosperous Israel that will soon come to an end. “‘What do you see, Amos?’ and I answered, ‘A basket of end-of-summer fruit’, And the lord said to me, ‘The end has come for my people Israel; I will forgive them no longer.’ The temple singers will wail on that day- oracle of the Lord God. May shall be the corpses strewn everywhere—Silence” (8:1-8:3)! Summer fruit becomes rotten shortly after it becomes ripe, thus God is explaining that even though Israel is prosperous now, it won’t be soon as the Israelites would be punished into exile. The book ends with a short epilogue about the restoration of Israel after exile without mention of repentance …show more content…
Political party platforms are taking money from certain contributors to direct their message not towards what they actually believe would help the country to be successful, but rather toward what the money they are receiving is going towards. An example of this was the DNC’s efforts to make sure Bernie Sanders could not win the democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton. Because of the DNC’s power, they were not punished adequately for essentially thwarting a nomination unfairly. This corruption is what Amos prophecies against as this exploits the American people as a whole. Corporations, government, and the common man/woman are the three main groups of people with influence in America with corporations and government, having significantly more power than the common man, which shows that America isn’t succeeding at being a Democracy, as the ordinary person should have the most power in terms of directing leadership in America. This was the same within Amos’s society as debtors and paupers were continuously unjustly treated by the rich and