Post by Amos 338 on Jul 28, 2009 11:05:09 GMT -6
(This post was written by Elli Austin in February of 2009. It has been moved here from the old blog/forum)
My first semester at college was filled with lots of chemistry and calculus, almost more than I could handle, and definitely more than I would have liked. This semester, though, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a religious studies class, Prophets of the Bible, that I new I would have a great time in. We have several assignments that include reading prophetic texts, including those from Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and many more. I was especially touched by a passage we were assigned to read from Amos 3:3-8, which reads:
3Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?
4Does a lion roar in the forest,
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
if it has caught nothing?
5Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7Surely the Lord God does nothing,
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
Growing up in the church, I feel like I was never really exposed to the Old Testament, besides of course the stories of creation, Adam and Eve, Moses, and the like. Not that these are unimportant, as they've helped to shape my beliefs about God and millions of others' beliefs as well, but these stories make up only a fraction of the Old Testament. Getting the chance to read the Old Testament, especially for a class, has given me many new insights into not only the history of belief in God, but has also helped me to discover who I am and what makes faith significant in my life.
My initial reading of this passage from Amos generated this summary: Amos is preaching to people, telling them to go out and prophesy, because that's what God calls them to do. But upon learning more about Amos himself, another light was shed onto this passage. Amos was from Judah, and was called by God to prophesy in the north, Israel. For lack of a better metaphor, this story is a little West Side Story-esque: Amos, a jet, gets involved with Israel, the land of the sharks. Not only does he enter their territory, he also advises them on how to live. As you can probably imagine, the sharks were not too happy about this. This passage may be one of Amos' responses to a confrontation from an Isralite priest telling him to go make his money elsewhere. Amos says that as natural as it is for a human to fear when a lion roars, so is it natural for a human to prophecy when God has called him to do so.
So after learning the historical context behind this passage, my understanding of the passage has changed: Amos is not only preaching to the people in the north; he is also standing up for himself and for his faith.
What especially touches me about this passage is that this type of confrontation is still so prevalent today, only sometimes it's not so easy to stand up for our faith as there are several obstacles standing in our way: our government has told us to keep religion away from politics and schools; hundreds of thousands of people are persecuted each year for holding religious beliefs; anti-religion demonstrations are making the news several times a year- the list goes on and on. What touches me about Amos is that he can overcome this obstacles not by fighting back or by debating, but by posing a simple question: "Who can but prophesy?" Essentially: "Who can but praise God?"
No matter what obstacles come our way, there is always a way to get over them. Amos risked exile from Israel, but also death for helping God to do his work in that land. But for him, realizing the sheer love and power of our God was enough to help him overcome that obstacle. No matter what we have to face, may we realize God's awesome love is always backing us up, and may we, through all our actions, words and deeds, always prophecy. Amen
My first semester at college was filled with lots of chemistry and calculus, almost more than I could handle, and definitely more than I would have liked. This semester, though, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a religious studies class, Prophets of the Bible, that I new I would have a great time in. We have several assignments that include reading prophetic texts, including those from Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and many more. I was especially touched by a passage we were assigned to read from Amos 3:3-8, which reads:
3Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?
4Does a lion roar in the forest,
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
if it has caught nothing?
5Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7Surely the Lord God does nothing,
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
Growing up in the church, I feel like I was never really exposed to the Old Testament, besides of course the stories of creation, Adam and Eve, Moses, and the like. Not that these are unimportant, as they've helped to shape my beliefs about God and millions of others' beliefs as well, but these stories make up only a fraction of the Old Testament. Getting the chance to read the Old Testament, especially for a class, has given me many new insights into not only the history of belief in God, but has also helped me to discover who I am and what makes faith significant in my life.
My initial reading of this passage from Amos generated this summary: Amos is preaching to people, telling them to go out and prophesy, because that's what God calls them to do. But upon learning more about Amos himself, another light was shed onto this passage. Amos was from Judah, and was called by God to prophesy in the north, Israel. For lack of a better metaphor, this story is a little West Side Story-esque: Amos, a jet, gets involved with Israel, the land of the sharks. Not only does he enter their territory, he also advises them on how to live. As you can probably imagine, the sharks were not too happy about this. This passage may be one of Amos' responses to a confrontation from an Isralite priest telling him to go make his money elsewhere. Amos says that as natural as it is for a human to fear when a lion roars, so is it natural for a human to prophecy when God has called him to do so.
So after learning the historical context behind this passage, my understanding of the passage has changed: Amos is not only preaching to the people in the north; he is also standing up for himself and for his faith.
What especially touches me about this passage is that this type of confrontation is still so prevalent today, only sometimes it's not so easy to stand up for our faith as there are several obstacles standing in our way: our government has told us to keep religion away from politics and schools; hundreds of thousands of people are persecuted each year for holding religious beliefs; anti-religion demonstrations are making the news several times a year- the list goes on and on. What touches me about Amos is that he can overcome this obstacles not by fighting back or by debating, but by posing a simple question: "Who can but prophesy?" Essentially: "Who can but praise God?"
No matter what obstacles come our way, there is always a way to get over them. Amos risked exile from Israel, but also death for helping God to do his work in that land. But for him, realizing the sheer love and power of our God was enough to help him overcome that obstacle. No matter what we have to face, may we realize God's awesome love is always backing us up, and may we, through all our actions, words and deeds, always prophecy. Amen