The shepherd Amos confronts the leaders of Israel/Samaria.
Amos 4:1-3, Cows of Bashan
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!"
The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness:
"The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.
You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,"
declares the LORD.
Bashan was apparently known for its healthy fat cows. The rich women of Samaria are like fat cows, sitting on their sofas, calling for their husbands to bring them a drink! This vivid image is followed by another -- when Assyria invades, the women will be pulled into captivity, pulled with fishhooks through holes in the walls.
Amos 4:4-5, Oh, go sin!
"Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.
Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings--
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,"
declares the Sovereign LORD.
In a long sarcastic passage the people are told, "Go ahead. Sin like you have been doing." Go to Bethel and Gilgal and make offerings to your idols. Keep up your rituals; brag about your offerings. A century later Jeremiah will say something similar (Jeremiah 7:21-23.)
The altars at Bethel were first created by Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26-30) when the kingdoms broke up. Sacrifices also at Gilgal are mentioned in Hosea 9:15, 12:11.
Verse 4 ends with the NIV translating the timing of tithes as every three years. The Hebrew text says to bring the tithes every three yamim. This word literally means "days"; the root of yamim is yom, the same word used for the creative days in Genesis 1. The word yamin could, occasionally, apparently mean a cycle of days, thus the NIV translations. Indeed, the ancient tithes were to be given every three years (Deuteronomy 14:28-29.) Both McComiskey and Niehaus would translate yamin here as "days", assuming that the author is making a statement of excessive tithing is part of the sarcastic emphasis on religious ritual replacing genuine worship.
Amos 4:6-8, Not enough to drink
"I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
"I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
In the past, YHWH has tried to turn the people back to Him, by withholding the rain and so allowing famine. Despite staggering around looking for water, the people do not turn to God for help.
The Hebrew text of the first line is literally "I gave you cleanness of teeth." In the ANE, to have "clean teeth" was to have nothing to eat.
Amos 4:9-11, Blight, plagues, war
"Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
"I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
"I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
In His attempts to get the attentions of the people, YHWH has sent blight and mildew that destroyed crops, plagues and wars that killed. The people are compared to those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although snatched from the fire, the people stay with their idolatries.
This section echoes some of the warnings of Deuteronomy 28 regarding abandoning the Mosaic covenant.
Amos 4:12, Prepare to meet your God
"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel."
The chapter turns now with a final warning. Be prepared, says God, for the coming judgment.
Amos 4:13, Signature
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth--
the LORD God Almighty is his name.
The chapter rises to a doxology ending, praising YHWH Almighty as Creator.
Some Random Thoughts
Ritual religion is not any better than no religion. Indeed, it might be worse. The quote of Karl Marx, that "religion is the opium of the masses", is accurate here. Religious rituals can make people feel comfortable, assuage guilt and, in many cases, lead them away from God. I find it frustrating, in my current US culture, that many people are excited when a corrupt individual says, "I am a Christian," even when all their actions say otherwise. That show of religion, without the true heart of worship, is the point in this passage. Jesus makes similar points about false religious actions in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:1-6.
First published June 30, 2025; updated June 30, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment