Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...
Alleluia Ping

Please FReepmail me to get on/off the Alleluia Ping List.


3 posted on 07/14/2018 9:49:03 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]


To: All

From: Amos 7:12-15

Dispute with Amaziah


[12] And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah,
and eat bread there, and prophesy there; [13] but never again prophesy at Be-
thel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.â€

[14] Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but
I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, [15] and the Lord took me
from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people
Israel.’

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

7:1-9:10. This section is the third part of the book. It consists of five visions,
with a doxology that comes near the end (9:5-6). Mixed in are some interesting
details about Amos and his teaching — the account of his call (7:14-15), a dra-
matic description of the “day of the Lord†(8:9-14), etc. The passage ends with
an announcement of punishment (9:7-10) that serves to underscore the opti-
mism of the final oracle, which is about future restoration.

Most of this passage is taken up with the “five visions of Amos†; these are writ-
ten to a fairly fixed pattern, in a mixture of prose and verse. The visions mean
that Amos’ ministry includes that of “seer†as well as prophet. The message of
the visions is clear: the Lord cannot be appeased by external, schismatic rites
that fail to touch men’s hearts or move them to conversion.

7:7-17. The vision of the plumb line (vv. 7-9) exposes the rottenness within the
people. They are not level, not right; when they are checked, they are found to
be askew (v. 7). From now on, the Lord is not going to overlook their infidelities;
what is out of line will be destroyed (v. 9). That may be why the prophet no lon-
ger intercedes; he simply notes something that will happen inexorably.

The vision is followed by an account of Amos’ altercation with Amaziah, the
priest of the sanctuary of Bethel (vv. 10-17). Amaziah, a supporter of King Jero-
boam, sees in Amos a prophet who is only going to cause trouble in the king-
dom: he has no interest in trying to understand Amos’ message — which in fact
exposes injustices and deceit to which Amaziah is party.

Amaziah calls Amos a “seer†(a translation of one of the Hebrew terms used to
designate a prophet). But Amos does not regard himself as a prophet in the nor-
mal sense, a “son of a prophet†(v. 14), that is, a member of a group or fraternity
of prophets, of which there were many in Israel, at least from the time of King
Saul onwards (cf. 1 Sam 10:10-13; 19:20-24), nor is he an “official†prophet, a
member of the staff of the royal household. Amos’ reply is clear: he is a herds-
man and a dresser of sycamores. But the Lord sent him to “prophesy†to Israel
(v. 15). Amos, then, was an ordinary man (not a prophet, not a priest) who was
commissioned by the Lord, out of the blue, to proclaim a message. A call from
God is something so imperative that no one should refuse it (cf. 3:8), but at the
same time it gives meaning and strength to the person’s life: it confers on him a
sense of authority even over institutions such as temple and king. He therefore
has the last word (v. 17): “God’s calling gives us a mission: it invites us to share
in the unique task of the Church, to bear witness to Christ before our fellow men
and so draw all things toward God. Our calling discloses to us the meaning of
our existence. It means being convinced, through faith, of the reason for our life
on earth. Our life — present, past and future — acquires a new dimension, a
depth we did not perceive before. All happenings and events now fall within their
true perspective: we understand where God is leading us, and we feel ourselves
borne along by this task entrusted to us†(St Josemarla Escrivá, “Christ is Pas-
sing By”, 45).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.


4 posted on 07/14/2018 10:14:18 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson