The Book of Amos and the Connection to 5778 Part 2 The Dictionary Information

The Book of Amos and the Connection to 5778 Part 2 The Dictionary Information

AMOS

The man.—Amos, the earliest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us, and the initiator of one of the greatest movements in spiritual history, was a herdsman, or small sheep-farmer, in Tekoa, a small town lying on the uplands some six miles south of Bethlehem. He combined two occupations. The sheep he reared produced a particularly fine kind of wool, the sale of which doubtless took him from one market to another. But he was also a ‘pincher of sycomores.’ The fruit of this tree was hastened in its ripening process by being bruised or pinched: and as the sycomore does not grow at so great a height as Tekoa, this subsidiary occupation would bring Amos into touch with other political and religious circles. The simple life of the uplands, the isolation from the dissipation of a wealthier civilization, the aloofness from all priestly or prophetic guilds, had doubtless much to do with the directness of his vision and speech, and with the spiritual independence which found in him so noble an utterance. While he was thus a native of the kingdom of Judah, his prophetic activity awoke in the kingdom of Israel. Of this awakening he gives a most vivid picture in the account of his interview with Amaziah, the priest of Bethel (Amo_7:10-17). He had gone to Bethel to some great religious feast, which was also a business market. The direct call from God to testify against the unrighteousness of both kingdoms had probably come to him not long before; and amidst the throng at Bethel he proclaimed his vision of Jehovah standing with a plumb-line to measure the deflection of Israel, and prepared to punish the iniquity of the house of Jeroboam II. The northern kingdom had no pleasant memories of another prophet who had declared the judgment of God upon sin (2Ki_9:25 ff.); and Amaziah, the priest, thinking that Amos was one of a prophetic and official guild, contemptuously bade him begone to Judah, where he could prophesy for hire, (Amo_7:12). The answer came flashing back. Amos disclaimed all connexion with the hireling prophets whose ‘word’ was dictated by the immediate political and personal interest. He was something better and more honest—no prophet, neither a prophet’s son, but a herdsman and a dresser of sycomores, called by God to prophesy to Israel. Herein lies much of his distinctiveness. The earlier prophetic impulse which had been embodied in the prophetic guilds had become professional and insincere. Amos brought prophecy back again into the line of direct inspiration.

JA Note: As I read through this above information, I see a lot of myself in this character. I was also a dresser of God's kingdom in Babylon the Great (USA) for 23 years as a groundskeeper. I was not a herdsman at all but we did have rabbits, dogs, cats, and ducks and what ever else the girls (Kelli and Kati) wanted to raise. I was the herdsmen for our little flock of animals. I received much healing in my life from being a groundsman and animal caretaker. I have had both dreams and vision for my life and those around me since the age of 8 in 1967, I am autistic and just like most of you, I have had many bad times (trials and tribulations) and good times but my most favorite times was when I was able to relax and reflect (ponder) over my life and change my ways to be able to glorify my Savior in this life and to do HIS will for my life to the very end of my life when I get beheaded in a Fema Camp in 2019.

Date for Amos. The time in which he lived.—Amo_1:1 may not be part of the original prophecy, but there is no reason to doubt its essential accuracy. Amos was prophesying in those years in which Uzziah (no later than the 15th year of Uzziah of Judah)

and Jeroboam II (when Jeroboam II. (son of Joash) of Israel died (compare 1Ki_14:23 with 1Ki_15:1), in whose reign it is written he prophesied "two years before the earthquake"; compare Zec_14:5. Allusions to the earthquake appear in Amo_5:8; Amo_6:11; Amo_8:8; Amo_9:1; Amo_9:5). Mat_24:7; Mat_27:50-54) were reigning contemporaneously, B.C. 775–750 and no later than 808 BC.

Earthquake in Israel c. 760 BC; 11 October 759 BC

cof.quantumfuturegroup.org/events/2413

This date is of great importance, because few prophetic writings are so interpenetrated by the historical situation as those of Amos. For nearly 100 years prior to his time Israel had suffered severely from the attacks of Syria. She had lost the whole of her territory east of Jordan (2Ki_10:32 f.); she had been made like ‘dust in threshing’ (2Ki_13:7). But now Syria had more than enough to do to defend herself from the southward pressure of Assyria; and the result was that Israel once more began to be prosperous and to regain her lost territories. Under Jeroboam II. this prosperity reached its climax. The people revelled in it, giving no thought to any further danger. Even Assyria was not feared, because she was busy with the settlement of internal affairs, rebellion and pestilence. Amos, however, knew that the relaxation of pressure could be but temporary. He saw that the Assyrian would eventually push past Damascus down into Palestine, and bring in the day of account; and although he nowhere names Assyria as the agent of God’s anger, the references are unmistakable (Amo_5:27, Amo_6:7; Amo_6:14, Amo_7:17).

It is this careless prosperity with its accompanying unrighteousness and forgetfulness of God that is never out of the prophet’s thoughts. The book is short, but the picture of a time of moral anarchy is complete. The outward religious observances are kept up, and the temples are thronged with worshippers (Amo_5:5, Amo_9:1); tithes and voluntary offerings are duly paid (Amo_4:4-5, Amo_5:22). But religion has divorced itself from morality, the stated worship of God from reverence for the character of God (Amo_2:8). The rich have their winter houses and their summer houses (Amo_3:15), houses built of hewn stone (Amo_5:11), and panelled with ivory (Amo_3:15). They drink wine by the bowlful (Amo_6:6), and the fines unjustly extorted from the defenceless are spent in the purchase of wine for the so-called religious feast (Amo_2:8). Lazy, pampered women, ‘kine of Bashan,’ are foremost in this unholy oppression (Amo_4:1). There is no such thing as justice; the very semblance of it is the oppression of the weak by the strong. The righteous are sold for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes (Amo_2:6); the houses of the great are stored with the spoils of robbery (Amo_3:10); bribery and corruption, the besetting sins of the East, are rampant (Amo_5:12). Commerce shares in the prevailing evil; weights are falsified and food is adulterated (Amo_8:5-6). Immorality is open and shameless (Amo_2:7). Jereboam's worship of the golden calves, the forbidden representation of Jehovah, not Baal, were the object of worship in Jeroboam's reign, as being the great grandson of Jehu, who had purged out Baal worship, but retained the calves. Calf worship prevailed also at Dan, Gilgal, and Beersheba, in Judah (Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5; Amo_8:14), blended with Jehovah's worship (Amo_5:14; Amo_5:21-26); 2Ki_17:32-33, compare Eze_20:39.

Small wonder that the prophet declares as the word of the Lord, ‘I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies’ (Amo_5:21). While the observances of religion are maintained, the soul of religion has fled. Those who are responsible for the evil condition of things ‘are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph’ (Amo_6:6).

Contents of the book.—The book is framed upon a definite plan, which is clearer in the opening section than in those which follow. It is divisible into four parts.

(i) Amo_1:2 to Amo_2:16 treats of the judgment upon the nations for their sins. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah (2:4-6:14), and Israel are all passed under review. The assumption is that each people is subject to the dominion of Jehovah. Punishment will be visited upon each for the violation of some broad and universally recognized principle of humanity.

(ii) Chs. 3, 4, 5, three threatening discourses, each introduced by ‘Hear ye this word.’Israel's own state and consequent punishment; the same coasts "from the entering in of Hamath," which Jeroboam has just recovered from Syria, shall be "afflicted," and the people carried into "captivity beyond Damascus" (Amo_5:27).

(iii) 7–9:10, a series of five visions, interrupted in Amo_7:10-17 by the account of Amaziah’s attempt to intimidate Amos. The visions are (a) the devouring locusts (Amo_7:1-3) on grass; (b) the consuming fire (Amo_7:4-6) on the land and deep, both removed by his intercession; (c) the plumb-line (Amo_7:7-9) marking the buildings for destruction; (d) the basket of summer fruit (Amo_8:1-3) marking Israel's end by the year's end; (e) the smitten sanctuary, and destruction of the worshippers (Amo_9:1-10) the Lord standing upon the altar, and commanding the lintel to be smitten, symbolizing Israel's destruction as a kingdom, but individually not one righteous man shall perish. Amaziah's interruption at Bethel, and foretold doom.

Amo_9:11-15 is in striking contrast to the tone of the rest of the book. Instead of threatenings there are now promises. David's fallen tabernacle shall be raised. The line of David will be restored to its former splendour. the people re-established in prosperity in their own land, no more to be pulled out, and the conversion of the pagan shall follow the establishment of the theocracy finally; compare Amo_9:12 with Act_15:17. The waste cities shall be built up.

The settled agricultural life shall be resumed. Reference to agricultural life and the phenomena of nature abounds, in consonance with his own former occupation, an undesigned propriety and mark of truth: Amo_1:3; Amo_2:13; Amo_3:4-5; Amo_4:2; Amo_4:7; Amo_4:9; Amo_5:18-19; Amo_6:12; Amo_7:1; Amo_9:3; Amo_9:9; Amo_9:13-14.

1952 Isreal Greens up. Psa 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

After leading Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Ben-Gurion was elected Prime Minister of Israel when his Mapai (Labour) party won the largest number of Knesset seats in the first national election, held on 14 February 1949. He would remain in that post until 1963, except for a period of nearly two years between 1954 and 1955. As Prime Minister, he oversaw the establishment of the state's institutions. He presided over various national projects aimed at the rapid development of the country and its population: Operation Magic Carpet, the airlift of Jews from Arab countries, the construction of the National Water Carrier, rural development projects and the establishment of new towns and cities. In particular, he called for pioneering settlement in outlying areas, especially in the Negev. Ben-Gurion saw the struggle to make the Negev desert bloom as an area where the Jewish people could make a major contribution to humanity as a whole. He believed that the sparsely populated and barren Negev desert offered a great opportunity for the Jews to settle in Palestine with minimal obstruction of the Arab population,and set a personal example by settling in kibbutz Sde Boker at the centre of the Negev.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion

In the four year period from 1948-49 to 1952-53, the physical area under cultivation in Israel almost doubled, from 1,582,500 dunums to 3,339,000 dunums, growing at an average annual rate of 20.5 percent. Of the 370 new settlements established in Israel in the 1948-1953 period, no less than 350 were located on refugee property. By 1953, the most fertile tracts of the farmland abandoned by the refugees had been largely used up, and in the subsequent 23-year period from 1952-53 to 1975-76 the physical area under cultivation increased by only 12.9 percent to 3,768,000 dunums, at an average rate of only 0.6 percent per annum. In the first period the physical area cultivated increased by a total of 1,756,500 dunums.

www.palestine-studies.org/jps/fulltext/38553

The first six chapters of Amos are without figure; the last three symbolical, with the explanation subjoined. He assumes his readers' knowledge of the Pentateuch, and that the people's religious ritual (excepting the golden calves) accords with the Mosaic law, an incidental confirmation of the truth of the Pentateuch.

This Epilogue is generally acknowledged to be a late addition to the prophecy. It contains no moral feature, no repentance, no new righteousness. It tells only of a people satisfied with vineyards and gardens. ‘These are legitimate hopes; but they are hopes of a generation (1948 CE to 2019) of other conditions and of other deserts than the generation of Amos’ (G. A. Smith, Twelve Prophets, i. 195).

Theology of Amos.—In his religions outlook Amos had many successors, but he had no forerunner. His originality is complete.

His view of Jehovah.—Hitherto Jehovah had been thought of as a Deity whose power over His own people was absolute, but who ceased to have influence when removed from certain geographical surroundings (1Ki_20:23). The existence of other gods had not been questioned even by the most pious of the Israelites; they denied only that these other gods had any claim over the life of the people of Jehovah. But Amos will not hear of the existence of other gods. Jehovah is the God of the whole earth. His supreme claim is righteousness, and where that is not conceded He will punish. He rules over Syria and Caphtor, Moab and Ammon, just as truly as over Israel or Judah (1, 2, Amo_6:14, Amo_9:7). Nature too is under His rule. Every natural calamity and scourge are traced to the direct exercise of His will. Amos therefore lays down a great philosophy of history. God is all-righteous. All events and all peoples are in His hands. Political and natural catastrophes have religious significance (Amo_6:14).

The relationship of Jehovah to Israel.—Amos, in common with his countrymen, considered the relation of Jehovah to Israel to be a special one. But while they had regarded it as an indissoluble relationship of privilege, a bond that could not be broken provided the stated sacrifices were maintained, Amos declared not only that it could be broken, but that the very existence of such a bond would lay Israel under heavier moral responsibilities than if she had been one of the Gentile nations (Amo_3:2). As her opportunities had been greater, so too would her punishment for wasting them be proportionately severe. Jehovah’s first demands were morality and justice and kindliness, and any sacrificial system that removed the emphasis from these things and placed it on the observance of ritual was an abomination (Amo_5:21-25).

The inevitable judgment.—It is his certainty of the moral character of God that makes Amos so sure of the coming catastrophe. For the first time in Hebrew literature he uses the expression ‘the day of the Lord’—a phrase that may already have been current in a more genial and privileged sense to indicate the day that will utterly destroy the nations (Amo_2:14-16, Amo_3:12-15, Amo_4:2-3; Amo_4:13). With this broad view of history, a view from which the idea of special privilege is excluded, he sees in the northern power the instrument of Jehovah’s anger (Amo_5:27, Amo_6:14); a power that even in its self-aggrandisement is working out Jehovah’s purpose. The Day of the Lord is a fifteen day period covering from the Day of Trumpet New Moon Rapture party in the month of Aviv/Tishrei to Day of Atonement with the Marriage of the Groom and Bride and Armageddon. Then 5 days of grace and then the Millennium begins on the Full Moon which is called the Feast of Tabernacles/Messianic Kingdom. During the ten day interval, a lot of events occur including the combining of the Trumpet and Bowl Judgments of Revelation. There is the rapture and then 3 hours of water standing still on the surface of the globe. Then the earthquake of 4.0-15.0 depnding upon where you live and 3 days of darkness. On the 3rd day or 4th day is when the Trumpet judgments of Revelation occurs until the 10th day.

Style.—It was the custom for many a century to accept the verdict of Jerome, that the prophet was rustic and unskilled in speech. That, however, is anything but the case. The arrangement of the book is clear; the Hebrew is pure; and the knowledge of the outside world is remarkable. The survey of the nations with which the prophecy opens is full of precise detail. Amos knows, too, that the Aramaeans migrated from Kir, and the Philistines from Caphtor (Amo_9:7); he has heard of the swellings of the Nile (Amo_8:8, Amo_9:5), and regards the fact with a curious dread. He has been a close observer of the social conditions in Israel. Much of his imagery is drawn from nature:—earthquakes and the eclipse of the sun, the cedars and the oaks, the roaring of the lion, the snaring of birds, the bite of the viper; once only does he draw a comparison from shepherd life (Amo_3:12).

Religious significance.—Amos’ true significance in religious history is that with him prophecy breaks away on its true line, individual, direct, responsible to none save God. The word of the Lord had come to Amos and he could not but speak (Amo_3:8). Such a cause produced an inevitable effect. In that direct vision of Jehovah, Amos learned the truths which he was the first to proclaim to the world:—that Jehovah was the God of the whole earth; that the nations were in His keeping; that justice and righteousness were His great demands; that privilege, if it meant opportunity, meant likewise responsibility and liability to the doom of those who have seen and have not believed.

R. Bruce Taylor.

Amoses time frame on prophecy lasted for 25 years

The Meaning of Numbers: The Number 25

The number twenty-five in the Bible symbolizes 'grace upon grace.' It is composed of 20 (meaning redemption) and five (grace) or grace multiplied (5 x 5).

And the Word became flesh . . . full of GRACE and truth . . .

And of His fullness we have all received, and GRACE FOR GRACE. For the law was given through Moses, but GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 16 - 17).

Levites were to begin serving at age 25 in assisting with sacrifices, which were a physical type of forgiveness and redemption for the people.

Appearances of the number twenty-five

Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in the Dead Sea region of Israel. Among all the scrolls found over the years, 25 copies of Deuteronomy have been identified.

King Jehoshaphat, considered a good king of Judah, ruled for twenty-five years (1Kings 22:42). King Amaziah, also a ruler over Judah, began his reign at the age of 25 (2Kings 14:2) as did wicked King Jehoiakim (2Kings 18:2). Jehoiakim was the next to last ruler over the Kingdom of Judah before Nebuchadnezzar's initial conquest of Jerusalem in 597 B.C.

The number twenty-five plays a prominent role in Ezekiel's vision of the temple, which he saw in the 25th year of captivity (Ezekiel 40:1). There are at least five measurements within the prophetic temple that are 25 cubits long (Ezekiel 40:13, 21, 25, 29 - 30).

Of the top five New Testament books that contain the most material from the Old Testament, the book of Acts has material from 25 books.

Of the top five shortest books in the entire Bible, the books of Philemon and Jude only have 25 verses.

Twenty-five is also seen near God's throne in heaven. The apostle John saw, in vision, 24 elders sitting around God's throne for a total of 25 thrones (Revelation 4:1 - 4).

The number 25 and the alphabet

There are several verses in God's word (KJV translation) that contain all the letters in the English alphabet except for one. For example, Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter 'J.'

"And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily."

Verses that contain all the letters of the alphabet except 'Q' include Joshua 7:24,1Kings 1:9, 1Chronicles 12:40, 2Chronicles 36:10, Ezekiel 28:13, Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1. Verses that contain 25 letters except 'Z' are 2Kings 16:15 and 1Chronicles 4:10. Lastly, Galatians 1:14 contains the entire alphabet except for 'K.'

http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/25.html

2019-25 years = 1994.

1994

Implementation of Palestinian self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area.
Full diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed.

Month 2.22. 4th day. May 4 – Israel and the PLO sign the Gaza–Jericho Agreement. Saturn Moon in Aquarius? Covenants in water bearer. Mars in Pisces. Mercury and Sun in Aries. Venus in Tarus. Jupiter in Libra. Uranus in Sagittarius. Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn.

Month 4.5 4th day June 15 Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

Month 5.6 Sabbath to 5.12 July 16–22– Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impact the planet Jupiter. Tisha B. Av. On 5.9 Tisha B'Av For the Sin of Believing the False Report of the 10 Spies; Numbers 13:25-14:12; Zechariah 7:3-5, 8:19, Ta'anit 26 B on day 3.

Month 8.20. 4th day. October 26 – Israel and Jordan sign the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, witnessed by US President Bill Clinton.

Oct 26 Moon in Gemini. Mars in Cancer. Mercury Sun in Virgo. Venus and Jupiter in Libra. Jupiter in the Holy Altar of Libra. Uranus in Sagittarius. Saturn in Aquarius. Moon at Last Quarter on Oct 27.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994; embassies.gov.il/pretoria/AboutIsrael/history/Pages/History-Israel-Timeline.aspx; torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y1994M5