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Amos & Hosea
The Prophets of God
Amos and his harsh message
• He is from Judah but was called to preach to Israel
• Amos is angered by Israel’s disregard for God’s law
• Israel has become like other nations: wealth is in the hands of a few, justice has been corrupted, and poor people are oppressed.
The Lion of God • Is known as the prophet who roars like a lion– Because his message is harsh, blunt, and
angry – Criticizes harshly the worshipers’ rich attire• Compares the rich women of Samaria to
fat cattle – Because they eat lamb, drink wine, and
anoint their skins with expensive perfumes at the expense of the poor
– Condemns the unjust and their exploitative actions toward the poor and weak and tells them that God will punish them for that
Empty worship
• Amos says that the Lord dislikes and abominates processions, sacrifices, and hymn singing that do not come from sincere hearts.
Visions Locusts eating the crops• Israel is
helpless to survive the fate it has brought upon itself
Fire ravages the land
• Israel is being destroyed by the people’s sins
The crooked wall • God
measured a crooked wall with a plumb line about to collapse
• Amos pleads for Israel to God • God responds that Israel has chosen evil and he will leave
it to its own destruction
Hosea: God as a betrayed Husband
• Hosea is from the North and preaches in the North: Israel
• His story begins with his unhappy marriage
• He is married to Gomer– He loves her
• Gomer deserted Hosea for other lovers • Hosea uses his own experience of
betrayal to criticize the unfaithful Israel
Betrayal • When Hosea speaks of
himself and Gomer, he is telling Israel a parable of its own betrayal of God
• Hosea loves Gomer as God loves Israel
• Gomer deserted Hosea for other lovers as Israel has deserted God for the Canaanite god Baal
3 children= 3 messages• Hosea and Gomer have three children to whom Hosea is told to
give strange names• The names are symbolic of how God regards the children of the
Covenant with Israel• Jezreel (boy) meaning shameful butchery
– Implying that God will punish and destroy Israel• Loruhamah (girl) meaning not pitied
– God will no longer have pity or forgive Israel for their mistakes• Loammi (boy) meaning not my people
– God rejects the Israelites as God’s chosen people.
The Punishment of Gomer• Hosea takes Gomer to court where he
testifies to her unfaithfulness and ingratitude
• He is angry and his plans for her are harsh
• He gave her everything he had: grain, wine, oil, silver, and gold – Hosea will take those gifts away– She has given some of these away
to her lovers• He will punish her and take away
everything until she returns to him
Reconciliation • Like Hosea desires to be reunited so does God with the Israelites• God will punish them until they repent and come back to God
– Punishment in the form of penance for their sins– God will not wipe out the Israelites even though they deserve it
• Hosea is the first book to feature the relationship between God and Israel as a marriage and uses the language and images of marriage
• To God, infidelity in Israel’s behavior means betrayal of justice, compassion, integrity, and true worship
The first Conquerors• Regardless of the warnings by the Prophets, the Israelites did not
listen and were conquered by the Assyrian empire. • The Assyrian emperor forced the many of the Israelites into exile• The Assyrian became the new leaders in the Northern kingdom
and within sometime, began to intermarry with the Israelites that were allowed to stay in Israel.
• Some of the people of Israel sought refuge in the Judah, Southern Kingdom, hoping that their brothers/sisters in faith might welcome them and understand them.