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The Book Of Amos By The Minor Prophet Amos

Decent Essays

The book of Amos, written by the minor prophet Amos, is found towards the end of the Old Testament of the Bible. The book of Amos is God’s message to His people to repent and reform, as He is angered by the Israelite’s unfaithfulness, perversion and distortion of religion. This period in Israel’s history highlights the nation’s ignorance, unfaithfulness and disregard of God’s authority; the nation had already blatantly ignored the forewarnings of other minor prophets beforehand. The first four chapters are a warning of judgment, which the Israelites knew was coming. The passage of Amos 5 is the climax of the text, and is the epitome of God’s intervention expressed as a passionate warning and emotive lamentation. Amos establishes that God …show more content…

Amos utilises the imagery of Israel ‘as though a man fled from a lion’ to portray the character of God as a mighty and ferocious power in the symbolism of a lion. Furthermore, the lion simile embellishes God’s authority in the text and demands a strong presence in the dynamics of the text. Similarly, in verse 6, Amos expresses that God shall ‘break out like a fire’, again using a symbol of the ferocity of nature to express God’s fury. Amos uses strong emotive language in verse 21, as God speaks to Israel saying that He ‘hates’, ‘despises’ and ‘rejects’ their supposedly religious actions; Amos is highlighting to the audience the rich emotion and the extent of anger that God is projecting unto Israel, as God rarely expresses what He loathes unless administering judgment. The repeated themes of despair, destruction and darkness in the text foreshadow the downfall Israel would surely meet as a result of their actions. The author’s use of prophetic woe emphasise the purpose of the text – a warning of judgement and an emotive lamentation for the people of Israel.

Amos 5 centres majorly on God’s disdain for the Israelites shallow religious ceremonies and practices. During the era of Amos 5, the worship of God (or Yahweh) encompassed many strict religious practices and ceremonies, including prayer, festivals and sacrifices. Amos describes God’s hatred for these practices, as the Israelites have deterred from true

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