1 00:00:11,878 --> 00:00:25,125 Today we will be considering the prophets and the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, 2 00:00:25,125 --> 00:00:31,498 what we call the literary prophets, because not all of the prophets wrote material, and 3 00:00:31,498 --> 00:00:33,867 we don't have their oracles written down. 4 00:00:35,068 --> 00:00:39,406 We saw a couple of those yesterday with Elijah and Elisha. 5 00:00:40,106 --> 00:00:47,113 But the literary prophets cover about one-third of the Old Testament and about one-fourth 6 00:00:47,113 --> 00:00:48,481 of the entire Bible. 7 00:00:49,382 --> 00:00:52,452 So it's a significant corpus of material. 8 00:00:53,753 --> 00:01:00,493 Today and tomorrow, because we'll be covering some of those prophets tomorrow, we can't 9 00:01:00,493 --> 00:01:06,199 obviously go into great depth when you're talking about one-third of the Old Testament. 10 00:01:07,634 --> 00:01:14,240 I'm expecting and hoping that you will have the opportunity to go into greater depth in 11 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:21,414 subsequent courses that you'll have, exegetical courses, Old Testament courses, studying particular 12 00:01:21,414 --> 00:01:22,816 prophetic books. 13 00:01:23,716 --> 00:01:31,691 Today, we're just going to skim the surface of those, touch upon some high points, some 14 00:01:31,691 --> 00:01:40,033 of the most significant passages, and in a very pragmatic sense, the passages that appear 15 00:01:40,033 --> 00:01:45,071 in the exam so that you're familiar with what those passages are. 16 00:01:45,071 --> 00:01:45,939 Okay? 17 00:01:48,241 --> 00:01:59,719 For the quiz tomorrow, then, you should be familiar with the pre-exile prophets, this 18 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:04,023 particular piece that you were to read today. 19 00:02:04,724 --> 00:02:13,433 And one thing that you should be able to do is to identify where each prophet fits into 20 00:02:13,433 --> 00:02:16,569 the sock drawer, okay? 21 00:02:16,936 --> 00:02:23,776 Into which sock drawer, using that metaphor that Pastor Rossow has developed here. 22 00:02:24,210 --> 00:02:33,786 So on page 8-4 here, you've got kind of the chest of drawers here and the sock drawer. 23 00:02:34,354 --> 00:02:38,224 You may want to even label that accordingly. 24 00:02:38,224 --> 00:02:47,267 The vertical columns here, the left-hand column is for the 8th century prophets and 25 00:02:47,267 --> 00:02:50,570 the right-hand column is for the 7th century prophets. 26 00:02:52,272 --> 00:02:59,145 And then in terms of the horizontal levels there, the top one would be for the north, 27 00:02:59,712 --> 00:03:05,985 northern kingdom of Israel, middle for the south, southern kingdom of Judah, and bottom 28 00:03:05,985 --> 00:03:08,154 for foreign countries. 29 00:03:09,322 --> 00:03:17,964 So be able to slot the prophets where they fit accordingly. 30 00:03:20,767 --> 00:03:21,067 Okay? 31 00:03:24,938 --> 00:03:32,345 Well, we're going to begin looking at the pre-exile prophets here and in one sense you 32 00:03:32,345 --> 00:03:34,380 could say there are really two exiles. 33 00:03:35,348 --> 00:03:43,690 There's the exile of the northern kingdom, which takes place in 722, 721, but there's 34 00:03:43,690 --> 00:03:55,468 no real return, at least not in the way of a unified people coming back after that exile. 35 00:03:56,469 --> 00:04:04,010 The second exile will take place in 587 and that will be of the southern kingdom. 36 00:04:04,744 --> 00:04:15,555 So we begin now with the prophets before the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel, 722. 37 00:04:17,991 --> 00:04:26,432 And in your crossways guide, and I apologize, I forgot to check on the discrepancy that 38 00:04:26,432 --> 00:04:32,872 Kyle had noted there in terms of the years for Jeroboam. 39 00:04:33,539 --> 00:04:35,708 I'll try to do that for tomorrow. 40 00:04:36,242 --> 00:04:38,645 Actually, it wasn't a discrepancy. 41 00:04:38,645 --> 00:04:49,422 It said that the next king of the line of Judah became king in the 18th year reign of 42 00:04:49,422 --> 00:04:57,430 Jeroboam, meaning Rehoboam finished in 17 years died, that next year would be the 18th 43 00:04:57,430 --> 00:04:58,931 year of Jeroboam. 44 00:04:59,832 --> 00:05:00,466 Oh, okay. 45 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:05,271 So the issue was with Rehoboam, wasn't it? 46 00:05:05,271 --> 00:05:05,872 Yeah. 47 00:05:05,872 --> 00:05:14,314 And that he was to live 17 years, or write for 17 years. 48 00:05:15,415 --> 00:05:19,819 So, yeah, I'm sorry, I just neglected to check that out. 49 00:05:20,453 --> 00:05:23,256 So we'll see what issue may be there. 50 00:05:24,590 --> 00:05:32,265 Okay, but now you have here laid out where the prophets fit according to the crossways 51 00:05:33,032 --> 00:05:33,666 material. 52 00:05:33,666 --> 00:05:41,774 I do not agree with everything that Harry Wendt has developed here in crossways, and 53 00:05:41,774 --> 00:05:47,380 in my conversation with him, he says, that's fine, you know, you teach it the way that 54 00:05:48,314 --> 00:05:49,015 you see it. 55 00:05:49,716 --> 00:05:56,889 For example, he will identify a number of these prophets down here as postexilic, whereas 56 00:05:56,889 --> 00:05:59,325 I would see them as pre-exilic. 57 00:05:59,325 --> 00:06:05,965 But generally, with the prophets up here, there's no problem. 58 00:06:07,433 --> 00:06:15,375 He has also identified, not in the red print, but in the white print, prophets that preceded 59 00:06:16,008 --> 00:06:17,577 the literary prophets. 60 00:06:17,810 --> 00:06:22,815 So today we're going to be looking at the literary prophets, those who actually wrote 61 00:06:22,815 --> 00:06:26,386 or scribes wrote down their oracles. 62 00:06:26,386 --> 00:06:29,389 But there were prophets before that. 63 00:06:29,589 --> 00:06:37,163 Again, you've got Elijah, Elisha, okay, and they are given the title in the Old Testament 64 00:06:37,163 --> 00:06:40,566 of Navi, of prophet, okay. 65 00:06:42,068 --> 00:06:47,974 And so even Samuel, as we saw, he was one of the first of the classical prophets. 66 00:06:48,708 --> 00:06:55,448 But even earlier than that, Moses is called a prophet, Miriam is given the title of prophetess, 67 00:06:55,615 --> 00:07:03,656 we do have some female prophetesses in the Old Testament, Holda is another one, down 68 00:07:03,656 --> 00:07:05,258 during the reign of Josiah. 69 00:07:05,925 --> 00:07:10,296 Isaiah is described as being married to a prophetess. 70 00:07:10,663 --> 00:07:17,103 So there are some examples, none of the literary prophets, though, are female. 71 00:07:18,337 --> 00:07:24,377 Okay, so we're going to be taking a look now at where these various literary prophets fit 72 00:07:24,377 --> 00:07:31,818 in the preparation to the exile of the northern kingdom and then the exile of the southern 73 00:07:31,818 --> 00:07:32,285 kingdom. 74 00:07:34,420 --> 00:07:39,559 Okay, well that's just a more close-up view, so really we're going to now be looking at 75 00:07:39,559 --> 00:07:41,260 the bottom half of all of this. 76 00:07:43,763 --> 00:07:52,939 Just to be acquainted now with how this fits into the library, the corpus of writings that 77 00:07:52,939 --> 00:08:00,680 we call the Old Testament and the whole scriptures, for us as Christians, we typically organize 78 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:09,255 it in this way with the history writing, poetry, okay, mostly Psalms and the wisdom literature, 79 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:15,561 and then the prophets, and we divide between the major prophets and the minor prophets, 80 00:08:15,561 --> 00:08:17,063 we distinguish those two. 81 00:08:17,063 --> 00:08:27,206 Now it's very important to recognize that the nomenclature here of major and minor has 82 00:08:27,206 --> 00:08:29,475 nothing to do with significance. 83 00:08:30,343 --> 00:08:32,478 It has to do with volume. 84 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:35,781 So it's not quality, it's quantity. 85 00:08:36,482 --> 00:08:42,922 And so they're considered major prophets here because they are much larger writings, 86 00:08:44,123 --> 00:08:44,690 larger books. 87 00:08:44,690 --> 00:08:52,665 Okay, and so there are essentially three major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. 88 00:08:53,299 --> 00:09:01,007 Lamentations is also included because it's also believed to have been written by Jeremiah, 89 00:09:02,041 --> 00:09:11,217 and the text itself attests to that, and so it's just connected there, kind of an epilogue 90 00:09:11,217 --> 00:09:11,717 to Jeremiah. 91 00:09:12,919 --> 00:09:13,152 Okay? 92 00:09:15,421 --> 00:09:24,297 If you compare this then to the Hebrew way of organization, you remember that they divided 93 00:09:24,297 --> 00:09:30,603 up into the Jews even today, divided into three major sections, the law, the Torah, 94 00:09:31,437 --> 00:09:39,312 the prophets, Navi'im, okay, and the writings, Ketubim, okay? 95 00:09:39,312 --> 00:09:47,219 And so they distinguish then between the former prophets and the latter prophets. 96 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:55,194 They do also make a distinction between what we would call as Christians the major prophets 97 00:09:55,194 --> 00:10:04,303 and the minor prophets, okay, in that the minor prophets are called the twelve. 98 00:10:04,770 --> 00:10:07,106 So there are twelve of these minor prophets. 99 00:10:07,106 --> 00:10:11,177 They don't call that the minor prophets, but they call them the twelve, 100 00:10:12,244 --> 00:10:14,213 just as we would have twelve here. 101 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:17,216 And I think earlier I left out Daniel. 102 00:10:17,383 --> 00:10:21,253 Daniel's also included in the major prophets for the Christian structure. 103 00:10:22,188 --> 00:10:29,362 Where you have some differences then is that lamentations, which for the Christians 104 00:10:29,362 --> 00:10:36,135 would be part of the major prophets, is then included in the writings in the Jewish organization, 105 00:10:38,537 --> 00:10:43,075 and Daniel as well is included in the writings. 106 00:10:43,976 --> 00:10:47,346 Somewhere in there would be Daniel. 107 00:10:48,481 --> 00:10:48,581 Okay? 108 00:10:49,281 --> 00:10:54,120 So those are some distinctions, but what's important for us to recognize here is 109 00:10:54,120 --> 00:11:00,059 the distinction between the major and the minor prophets has to do with the volume of their writing, 110 00:11:00,693 --> 00:11:03,229 quantity of what they wrote, not the quality. 111 00:11:07,333 --> 00:11:14,273 So, what is essentially the definition of a prophet according to the Old Testament scriptures? 112 00:11:15,908 --> 00:11:17,643 What's the role of the prophet? 113 00:11:18,477 --> 00:11:25,918 Essentially the primary role is to be a one who tells forth, speaks forth the word of the Lord. 114 00:11:26,786 --> 00:11:32,258 So the prophets were a kind of mouthpiece of Yahweh, okay? 115 00:11:33,225 --> 00:11:41,534 The Greek word from which we get prophet, profetes, literally means to speak forth, okay? 116 00:11:42,334 --> 00:11:50,476 And so the prophets were those who, as the Apostle Peter says, were moved by the Holy Spirit. 117 00:11:50,976 --> 00:11:52,678 They spoke of God. 118 00:11:52,812 --> 00:11:54,213 They spoke from God. 119 00:11:54,346 --> 00:11:55,381 God is the source. 120 00:11:55,881 --> 00:12:01,353 So they become the mouthpiece of God to communicate His word. 121 00:12:01,353 --> 00:12:07,860 And thus frequently the oracles of the prophets will begin with this formula, 122 00:12:08,627 --> 00:12:10,062 Thus says the Lord. 123 00:12:10,696 --> 00:12:15,401 And in this case I should have capitalized that because it's really thus says Yahweh. 124 00:12:16,702 --> 00:12:18,404 This is the word of the Lord. 125 00:12:18,604 --> 00:12:19,805 Thus says Yahweh. 126 00:12:19,805 --> 00:12:22,374 They're speaking on behalf of Yahweh. 127 00:12:23,476 --> 00:12:28,881 And so they are kind of Yahweh's emissary, Yahweh's representative. 128 00:12:28,881 --> 00:12:33,519 Oftentimes they are like Yahweh's prosecuting attorney. 129 00:12:33,819 --> 00:12:44,063 They're coming and acting as the attorney on behalf of Yahweh to speak His judgment based on the covenant, covenant law. 130 00:12:44,163 --> 00:12:55,574 So almost like a judicial context here, an attorney who comes to speak forth the judgment, okay? 131 00:12:57,443 --> 00:13:05,584 And oftentimes the primary audience of the prophet was to be the king. 132 00:13:06,385 --> 00:13:11,056 Either the king in the north or the king in the southern kingdom, okay? 133 00:13:11,524 --> 00:13:13,926 The king of Israel or the king of Judah. 134 00:13:14,426 --> 00:13:22,201 Because remember, according to the covenant relationship here with Israel, Yahweh was to be the king. 135 00:13:22,902 --> 00:13:28,140 And the human king was simply a vice regent, viceroy to Him. 136 00:13:28,941 --> 00:13:38,684 And so oftentimes when the human king would take on, assume and presume the authority that should only be God's, 137 00:13:38,717 --> 00:13:45,925 then the prophet was sent to speak to that king and to kind of set matters straight. 138 00:13:45,925 --> 00:13:53,999 So we saw this even earlier with Nathan and David, where Nathan came and spoke the word of the Lord to David. 139 00:13:53,999 --> 00:14:04,009 In several cases, both with the covenant of the dynasty, good news, and bringing judgment to him. 140 00:14:05,744 --> 00:14:09,348 Confronting him with his sin with Bathsheba. 141 00:14:10,149 --> 00:14:13,285 And so law and gospel, they would speak. 142 00:14:13,285 --> 00:14:14,587 Okay? 143 00:14:15,588 --> 00:14:23,429 Notice here then, for the literary prophets, that their message also includes both law and gospel. 144 00:14:24,797 --> 00:14:35,341 Oftentimes there's a popular misconception that the prophets only spoke condemnation and judgment and the curses of the covenant. 145 00:14:35,841 --> 00:14:42,615 They certainly do deliver that message, but it's not the exclusive message. 146 00:14:43,282 --> 00:14:50,823 They also deliver the message of the gospel, of God's grace, his mercy, his compassion to his people. 147 00:14:51,257 --> 00:15:03,335 And also the promise of God to keep his covenant ultimately in the deliverance of the Messiah, Savior. 148 00:15:04,436 --> 00:15:04,570 Okay? 149 00:15:05,237 --> 00:15:08,607 So it includes both of these, law and gospel. 150 00:15:08,607 --> 00:15:19,818 One of the byproducts of this primary role of being a forth teller, telling forth God's word, is to foretell the future. 151 00:15:21,020 --> 00:15:35,134 So in bringing the word of law and judgment, they would foretell the coming disaster upon the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, whatever the audience may be here. 152 00:15:35,134 --> 00:15:44,610 And so they would say, foretell judgment that God would bring Syria, God would bring the Babylonians, God would bring the Egyptians. 153 00:15:45,077 --> 00:15:46,612 They're foretelling this. 154 00:15:46,912 --> 00:15:47,913 This will happen. 155 00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:53,953 The temple will be destroyed, Jerusalem will be destroyed, people will be let off as captives. 156 00:15:53,953 --> 00:16:00,159 So there is that foretelling of the law of judgment, but also foretelling of the gospel. 157 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:12,204 Foretelling of God's restoration of his people, of the return of the remnant, of God's deliverance from the exile. 158 00:16:13,005 --> 00:16:22,915 And ultimately God's deliverance from the bondage of sin, God's provision of the Messiah, of the coming Savior. 159 00:16:23,949 --> 00:16:37,096 And so these then are actually predictive prophecies that would take place in the future, sometimes far into the future, many centuries into the future. 160 00:16:38,163 --> 00:16:42,601 But the primary role here is that of speaking forth God's word. 161 00:16:42,835 --> 00:16:49,475 Sometimes that word was addressing the future, and in that sense it would be predictive and it would be foretelling. 162 00:16:49,475 --> 00:16:55,714 But again, oftentimes we think of prophets simply as those who foretell the future. 163 00:16:55,748 --> 00:16:59,284 That's not the primary role according to the Scriptures. 164 00:17:01,820 --> 00:17:11,630 One other thing that is important for us to recognize regarding the prophets here in the Old Testament is that they're not just kind of radicals. 165 00:17:12,564 --> 00:17:22,941 They're not just these kind of counter-cultural revolutionaries who are just kind of into being anti-establishment. 166 00:17:23,542 --> 00:17:39,258 But in fact they are somewhat conservative because they are always grounded in their message in the past and in the covenant that God established with his people. 167 00:17:39,258 --> 00:17:50,969 So they're actually pointing the people back to the past, to the covenant God had established, what God had done with them, what the covenant stipulations were, 168 00:17:51,503 --> 00:17:56,442 and pointing back to the covenant which the people had now broken. 169 00:17:57,142 --> 00:18:08,087 So you'll hear a lot of covenant talk and even the word covenant and how the covenant had been broken in the language and the oracles of these prophets. 170 00:18:11,156 --> 00:18:21,834 So the prophets do foretell the coming judgment, both upon the south and the north, the northern kingdom. 171 00:18:22,901 --> 00:18:27,906 The capital is Samaria, the southern kingdom capital is Jerusalem. 172 00:18:29,041 --> 00:18:35,948 And they foretell the judgment that would come at the hand of the Assyrians. 173 00:18:37,916 --> 00:18:48,060 And the Assyrians would be God's instrument of judgment primarily upon the northern kingdom but sometimes also upon the southern kingdom. 174 00:18:48,193 --> 00:18:56,602 It would not be the ultimate hand of judgment upon the southern kingdom, but it would be upon the northern kingdom. 175 00:18:56,602 --> 00:19:11,717 And God now, because he's the Lord of all nations, can use pagan terrorist nations like Assyria to do his bidding 176 00:19:12,651 --> 00:19:22,194 and to carry out his holy war even upon the people who had been in covenant with him but now had broken the covenant. 177 00:19:22,194 --> 00:19:32,404 And remember that was part of the curses of the covenant, that a foreign nation would come and oppress and remove the Israelites from the land. 178 00:19:33,305 --> 00:19:49,555 They'll also then speak of the Babylonians later on who will come and oppress the southern kingdom and be God's instrument of judgment upon the southern kingdom. 179 00:19:49,555 --> 00:20:00,399 And even some use of Egypt, God will use even Egypt to be his instrument of judgment. 180 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:10,909 So this is kind of the basic overview of the function of the prophets during these Old Testament centuries, 181 00:20:11,343 --> 00:20:15,414 particularly the 8th, 7th, and into the 6th century. 182 00:20:16,515 --> 00:20:17,449 Okay? 183 00:20:17,983 --> 00:20:28,293 Well, before we begin looking at specific prophets, any observations or comments about any of these? 184 00:20:32,497 --> 00:20:33,432 Okay. 185 00:20:33,432 --> 00:20:47,913 What we're going to do here, roughly, is to follow the order that Pastor Rossow has provided to us here in your handout, which is a logical order. 186 00:20:48,547 --> 00:20:56,188 We begin with the north, the prophets to the northern kingdom in the 8th century. 187 00:20:56,188 --> 00:21:03,362 And God's prophets to the northern kingdom will only be in the 8th century, not the 7th century. 188 00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:05,397 Why is that the case? 189 00:21:06,298 --> 00:21:09,835 Because the northern kingdom isn't around in the 7th century. 190 00:21:11,169 --> 00:21:20,979 722, it's destroyed, so the prophets to the northern kingdom will only be in the 8th century. 191 00:21:20,979 --> 00:21:30,656 So we'll start with those, and then we'll go to the prophets to the southern kingdom, 8th century first, then 7th century, 192 00:21:31,023 --> 00:21:40,499 and then we'll go to the prophets that were sent to foreign nations, and that can include both 8th and 7th centuries. 193 00:21:40,966 --> 00:21:47,639 So that's the order we'll be following, essentially, what Pastor Rossow has laid out here. 194 00:21:47,639 --> 00:21:55,847 So we begin with Amos, Amos, 8th century prophet to the northern kingdom. 195 00:21:57,082 --> 00:22:04,156 The years of his ministry are approximately 770 to 750 B.C. 196 00:22:04,623 --> 00:22:14,399 And for all of these years, these are approximations, and typically what I've done is brought the broadest range of years. 197 00:22:14,399 --> 00:22:27,045 Quite likely, the actual time of ministry was narrower than that, but the broadest possible parameters here are what you're provided with. 198 00:22:27,679 --> 00:22:38,890 For the exam, you don't have to know these precise years, so don't feel like you have to memorize them, but it's just to help you get a context of the time. 199 00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:51,737 So, in terms of our timetable here from the crossways visual, Amos falls about at this time in the northern kingdom, 200 00:22:52,537 --> 00:23:00,579 around the reign of Jeroboam II, which was a time of great prosperity for the northern kingdom, 201 00:23:00,579 --> 00:23:06,785 probably the prime time for the northern kingdom, 202 00:23:06,785 --> 00:23:17,696 if you could call its golden age when there was the most prosperity and power and influence, that was at this time when Amos speaks. 203 00:23:19,931 --> 00:23:30,475 So, Amos actually does not originate from the northern kingdom, though, the kingdom of Israel. 204 00:23:31,076 --> 00:23:39,751 He actually originates here in Tekoa, which is a small town about five miles south of Jerusalem, 205 00:23:40,218 --> 00:23:52,364 so well into the southern kingdom of Judah, and we're told that he was a shepherd there and a dresser of fig trees. 206 00:23:52,798 --> 00:24:03,775 So, he's basically an agriculturalist, animal husbandry, he's a farmer and a rancher, if you will, 207 00:24:03,775 --> 00:24:08,680 country guy, country bumpkin, some would say. 208 00:24:09,314 --> 00:24:17,522 However, as you read his literature here, his writing, it is not simplistic and he's no simpleton. 209 00:24:18,023 --> 00:24:29,367 It is beautiful, eloquent writing, marvelous writing, and literary characteristics are very, very high. 210 00:24:31,169 --> 00:24:38,710 Amos becomes kind of the model here and the standard for the literary prophets that follow. 211 00:24:39,744 --> 00:24:47,385 He's really the first one and he's the standard that they seek to emulate his style here. 212 00:24:48,954 --> 00:24:51,890 So, he speaks very, very eloquently. 213 00:24:54,159 --> 00:25:02,634 Again, he then goes to the northern kingdom and begins preaching here at the shrine of Bethel. 214 00:25:04,302 --> 00:25:11,209 The capital where the king will be is here in Samaria, and again, this is during the reign of Jeroboam II, 215 00:25:11,676 --> 00:25:19,351 a very prosperous time for the northern kingdom, and at a time when everything looks like it's going well, 216 00:25:19,351 --> 00:25:27,292 everything looks like the future is bright and sunny, Amos comes and announces judgment. 217 00:25:28,293 --> 00:25:31,429 And he does so at this site, Bethel. 218 00:25:32,531 --> 00:25:35,066 Why do you think he chooses Bethel? 219 00:25:37,068 --> 00:25:40,038 Good, good. There's a shrine there. 220 00:25:40,038 --> 00:25:49,814 Do you remember at the division of the kingdoms, Jeroboam I set up two shrines with golden calves, 221 00:25:50,615 --> 00:25:56,187 one here in the south right at the border, and then one way north in Dan. 222 00:25:56,788 --> 00:26:05,230 And so his people then could go and worship and this way they wouldn't have to cross over and worship in the southern territory. 223 00:26:05,230 --> 00:26:18,677 So he goes now and speaks at this site where there is this shrine, the golden calf, and announces God's judgment to them. 224 00:26:21,212 --> 00:26:32,057 This is a time of great prosperity, of great wealth, and Amos will speak to those who are wealthy. 225 00:26:32,057 --> 00:26:36,861 He addresses them as the cows of Bashan. 226 00:26:38,597 --> 00:26:46,605 Bashan would be territory up here, very lush territory up kind of the Golan Heights, 227 00:26:47,572 --> 00:26:50,875 but many, many cattle and so forth, fat cattle. 228 00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:55,680 And so in the Israelite territory, you have this image of the cows of Bashan. 229 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:04,089 He calls the women, the rich women and the inhabitants there cows of Bashan 230 00:27:04,089 --> 00:27:08,994 because they're fat and they're luxuriating and so forth. 231 00:27:09,761 --> 00:27:14,933 So there's great, great wealth, but there is also great poverty. 232 00:27:15,934 --> 00:27:22,273 There is an extreme economic gap between the rich and the poor. 233 00:27:22,273 --> 00:27:27,312 And the rich really don't give a hoot about the poor. 234 00:27:28,546 --> 00:27:35,253 They're failing to attend to the covenant responsibility that they have, 235 00:27:35,553 --> 00:27:41,526 not only to Yahweh but to their sisters and brothers in the covenant community here, 236 00:27:42,093 --> 00:27:47,799 laid down in the law of Moses to care for those who are poor and oppressed. 237 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,870 And archaeology has confirmed this as well. 238 00:27:52,270 --> 00:27:59,110 From the period of Jeroboam II here, you have these, for the time, large mansions, 239 00:28:00,512 --> 00:28:07,285 two-story mansions, and not far you'll have evidence of these hovels, 240 00:28:08,186 --> 00:28:14,259 these shacks where people were living in significant poverty. 241 00:28:14,693 --> 00:28:19,898 Oftentimes these were just lean-tos next to the wall of the city. 242 00:28:19,898 --> 00:28:29,274 And so you see the contrast there in terms of the economic disparity and social inequality. 243 00:28:31,609 --> 00:28:37,949 So Amos begins, and if you will please turn your Bibles to Amos. 244 00:28:55,667 --> 00:29:03,074 Amos begins by attacking one by one Israel's neighbors. 245 00:29:04,209 --> 00:29:07,145 And he follows this formula. 246 00:29:07,946 --> 00:29:12,183 It begins right away in chapter 1, and he follows this formula. 247 00:29:12,584 --> 00:29:18,156 And again, this is a formula you ought to be able to recognize as coming from the prophet Amos. 248 00:29:18,156 --> 00:29:22,560 It says, for three transgressions of Damascus, 249 00:29:23,428 --> 00:29:28,199 and then later of Moab and all of these different neighboring countries, 250 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:34,272 Phoenicia, so forth, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, 251 00:29:35,206 --> 00:29:41,045 because they, and then he will identify the crime, the sin of that country, 252 00:29:41,946 --> 00:29:45,784 because they did that, I will send fire to destroy them, 253 00:29:45,784 --> 00:29:49,053 or I will send some kind of judgment upon them. 254 00:29:49,521 --> 00:29:53,825 So this is the kind of formula that we see here. 255 00:29:54,926 --> 00:30:01,833 And Amos goes one by one, speaking judgment of all the nations that surround 256 00:30:03,368 --> 00:30:05,570 the northern kingdom of Israel here. 257 00:30:06,404 --> 00:30:10,708 So first of all, he attacks the northern enemy, 258 00:30:10,708 --> 00:30:16,815 which would be the biggest thorn in Israel's side, 259 00:30:16,815 --> 00:30:22,153 as you read the narrative from particularly 2 Kings, 260 00:30:22,887 --> 00:30:28,993 where there's regularly conflict with the Syrians, with the Arameans. 261 00:30:29,561 --> 00:30:32,297 So he says judgment will be fall Syria, 262 00:30:33,731 --> 00:30:44,876 Phylistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, Moab, 263 00:30:46,444 --> 00:30:48,847 and so you've got six nations sighted, 264 00:30:48,847 --> 00:30:53,618 and you can almost picture the people here who are listening to him, 265 00:30:54,352 --> 00:31:00,491 and they're saying, yeah, preach it brother, applauding, 266 00:31:01,326 --> 00:31:07,398 whooping it up, give it to our enemies, tell it to them, preacher. 267 00:31:09,234 --> 00:31:15,573 So they're caught up in this, and it's a kind of a sense of self-righteousness. 268 00:31:16,674 --> 00:31:20,712 Yeah, all those guys out there, all those bad guys, 269 00:31:21,312 --> 00:31:25,783 let them have it God, let them have what's coming to them. 270 00:31:26,684 --> 00:31:28,720 And then the seventh is Judah. 271 00:31:30,488 --> 00:31:31,656 The southern kingdom. 272 00:31:32,690 --> 00:31:38,463 So he's saying judgment will come upon Judah, your southern brothers here. 273 00:31:39,797 --> 00:31:43,568 But that's not much of a problem for the northern kingdom. 274 00:31:44,168 --> 00:31:48,806 I mean, they've been at war with the Judahites. 275 00:31:49,607 --> 00:31:54,812 So, yeah, okay, let's get rid of them too. 276 00:31:56,314 --> 00:32:01,853 Now, most likely they were assuming this is it. 277 00:32:02,587 --> 00:32:06,291 So this is a judgment against all of our neighbors, 278 00:32:06,624 --> 00:32:13,131 because you notice he identifies seven nations that will receive judgment. 279 00:32:13,965 --> 00:32:18,469 And typically, oracles would, seven is the number of completion 280 00:32:18,469 --> 00:32:21,372 in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, 281 00:32:21,372 --> 00:32:24,375 the book of Revelation has lots of sevens, okay, 282 00:32:24,676 --> 00:32:25,843 the number of completion. 283 00:32:26,010 --> 00:32:28,913 And so the assumption here, most likely of the hearers, 284 00:32:29,147 --> 00:32:37,422 is this is it, he's done, he's told all them what judgment will befall them. 285 00:32:38,456 --> 00:32:45,029 But then he finishes with one more, Israel. 286 00:32:46,030 --> 00:32:49,367 For you as well, judgment will come. 287 00:32:49,367 --> 00:32:53,972 And the worst judgment will befall you. 288 00:32:54,872 --> 00:32:58,209 So all of a sudden the applause is silenced. 289 00:32:59,043 --> 00:33:03,915 And there's this deathly silence as people have heard this. 290 00:33:05,450 --> 00:33:05,583 Okay? 291 00:33:09,354 --> 00:33:13,825 So he says in chapter 2, verse 6, 292 00:33:13,925 --> 00:33:17,295 Thus says the Lord for three transgressions of Israel, 293 00:33:17,295 --> 00:33:20,465 and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, 294 00:33:20,965 --> 00:33:23,234 because they sell the righteous for silver, 295 00:33:23,234 --> 00:33:25,603 and the needy for a pair of sandals. 296 00:33:26,204 --> 00:33:29,574 Those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, 297 00:33:29,907 --> 00:33:31,976 and turn aside the way of the afflicted, 298 00:33:32,610 --> 00:33:34,979 a man and his father go to the same girl, 299 00:33:34,979 --> 00:33:37,548 so that my holy name is profaned. 300 00:33:38,383 --> 00:33:38,449 Okay? 301 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:42,920 And then they just, they lay themselves down beside every altar, 302 00:33:43,454 --> 00:33:44,889 on garments taken in pledge, 303 00:33:44,956 --> 00:33:46,991 and in the house of their God they drink, 304 00:33:47,291 --> 00:33:49,761 the wine of those who have been fine. 305 00:33:50,928 --> 00:33:51,429 Okay? 306 00:33:51,729 --> 00:33:55,166 So then he identifies the judgment, 307 00:33:56,267 --> 00:34:02,840 and in chapter 3, he reinforces this, 308 00:34:03,408 --> 00:34:06,210 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, 309 00:34:06,444 --> 00:34:07,412 O people of Israel, 310 00:34:07,812 --> 00:34:09,881 against the whole family that I brought up 311 00:34:09,881 --> 00:34:11,149 out of the land of Egypt. 312 00:34:11,682 --> 00:34:15,253 You only have I known of all the families of the earth. 313 00:34:15,253 --> 00:34:19,724 Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 314 00:34:20,625 --> 00:34:21,793 He's kind of saying, 315 00:34:22,026 --> 00:34:23,494 Yeah, there's all these other nations, 316 00:34:23,494 --> 00:34:26,731 but you, you are the ones who I chose. 317 00:34:27,465 --> 00:34:29,033 You had great privilege, 318 00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:32,303 but with that great privilege comes great responsibility, 319 00:34:33,004 --> 00:34:35,306 and since you have failed in the covenant responsibilities, 320 00:34:36,307 --> 00:34:39,911 the judgment upon you will be greatest of all as well. 321 00:34:40,545 --> 00:34:42,513 So, great judgment here. 322 00:34:44,015 --> 00:34:44,749 Okay? 323 00:34:45,783 --> 00:34:51,155 So, and the judgment, again, the context here 324 00:34:51,155 --> 00:34:53,224 is the oppression of the poor, 325 00:34:54,525 --> 00:34:58,529 a message that is still very, very timely 326 00:34:58,529 --> 00:35:01,365 and rings highly relevant for us today 327 00:35:01,365 --> 00:35:04,168 as we look at the condition of the world, 328 00:35:04,869 --> 00:35:08,072 and we as Americans are these rich people. 329 00:35:09,207 --> 00:35:12,110 Typically, those of us who are, you know, 330 00:35:12,510 --> 00:35:16,981 here at the seminary or in church work 331 00:35:17,548 --> 00:35:20,351 see ourselves as middle class at best, 332 00:35:20,952 --> 00:35:24,388 maybe lower middle class, you know, your poor students, 333 00:35:24,956 --> 00:35:28,860 and speaking in terms of the context of our country, 334 00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:31,629 that's true, but if you, 335 00:35:31,996 --> 00:35:33,965 how many of you have traveled overseas 336 00:35:34,565 --> 00:35:35,566 to third world countries? 337 00:35:38,302 --> 00:35:40,438 You see the vast difference. 338 00:35:40,438 --> 00:35:45,510 You see that even we who are middle class, 339 00:35:45,710 --> 00:35:48,713 lower middle class, are the wealthy 340 00:35:49,547 --> 00:35:50,882 compared to the world. 341 00:35:51,015 --> 00:35:56,554 We're in the upper 5% of the economic strata 342 00:35:56,554 --> 00:35:59,190 when you compare us to the world, 343 00:36:00,091 --> 00:36:03,694 and just the other night with the parade of nations 344 00:36:04,495 --> 00:36:06,831 for the Olympics, you know, 345 00:36:06,831 --> 00:36:10,268 they were speaking about some of these nations 346 00:36:10,868 --> 00:36:15,573 and talking about how the average annual income 347 00:36:15,573 --> 00:36:21,312 is 130 bucks, average annual income, 348 00:36:22,146 --> 00:36:24,682 and that's just very typical. 349 00:36:25,516 --> 00:36:29,253 So we can listen to this word as well 350 00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:31,756 and what is our responsibilities 351 00:36:32,857 --> 00:36:36,594 in the face of a lot of poverty in the world today 352 00:36:36,827 --> 00:36:40,131 and in the future too as rich Americans. 353 00:36:44,068 --> 00:36:48,372 Okay, the judgment then that will befall 354 00:36:49,874 --> 00:36:56,881 is that the people of Israel will be led away 355 00:36:56,881 --> 00:37:00,785 into captivity, into Assyria here, 356 00:37:01,085 --> 00:37:03,054 so you've got this line in the hook, 357 00:37:03,054 --> 00:37:07,525 and they'll be led away on hooks, 358 00:37:08,626 --> 00:37:10,461 like hooks around the nose, 359 00:37:11,362 --> 00:37:16,734 and we read this in chapter 4, beginning with verse 1. 360 00:37:18,836 --> 00:37:21,706 Hear this, you cows of Bashan, 361 00:37:22,073 --> 00:37:23,741 who are on the mountain of Samaria, 362 00:37:24,208 --> 00:37:26,844 who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, 363 00:37:27,245 --> 00:37:30,114 who say to your husbands, bring that we may drink. 364 00:37:30,948 --> 00:37:34,118 The Lord God has sworn by His holiness 365 00:37:34,118 --> 00:37:36,587 that behold the days are coming upon you 366 00:37:36,587 --> 00:37:39,123 when they shall take you away with hooks, 367 00:37:39,790 --> 00:37:42,627 even the last of you with fishhooks, 368 00:37:42,693 --> 00:37:44,695 and you shall go out through the breeches, 369 00:37:44,695 --> 00:37:49,267 that is the broken down breech of the city wall, 370 00:37:50,134 --> 00:37:54,138 the sense here is that your defenses now have been breeched 371 00:37:54,805 --> 00:37:58,209 and the enemy force has come in 372 00:37:58,209 --> 00:38:00,244 and they'll take you out through that breech 373 00:38:00,845 --> 00:38:02,780 with hooks around your nose, 374 00:38:03,314 --> 00:38:04,582 each one straight ahead, 375 00:38:05,116 --> 00:38:08,019 and you shall be cast out into Harman. 376 00:38:10,655 --> 00:38:13,090 Okay, continues then in verse 4, 377 00:38:13,224 --> 00:38:15,126 come to Bethel and transgress, 378 00:38:15,526 --> 00:38:18,296 to Gilgal and multiply transgressions. 379 00:38:18,429 --> 00:38:20,398 Bring your sacrifices every morning, 380 00:38:20,564 --> 00:38:22,099 your tithes every three days. 381 00:38:22,566 --> 00:38:24,669 Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving 382 00:38:25,236 --> 00:38:26,404 of that which is leavened 383 00:38:26,404 --> 00:38:28,406 and proclaim very well offerings. 384 00:38:29,407 --> 00:38:32,009 Publish them, for so you love to do, 385 00:38:32,176 --> 00:38:34,712 O people of Israel, declares the Lord God. 386 00:38:35,179 --> 00:38:38,082 So there's also a message of condemnation 387 00:38:38,082 --> 00:38:42,453 to the false worship that's going on here at Bethel 388 00:38:43,487 --> 00:38:47,425 and in all of Israel, okay?