Essay on Theology: God and Covenant Relationship

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Through the Book of Amos, the prophetic voice is shown to reflect on the rapid divine. Israel was in a time of darkness and the people needed to be called back to the high moral and religious demands of Yahweh’s revelation. The society’s internal health was in rapid divine through the cheating in businesses, bribery of judges, sexual immorality and mistreatment of the poor and powerless. Amos, the prophetic voice, used a messenger formula to speak to the people of the threats of straying from the covenant. A prophet is the spokesperson for the God for their generation. They are filled with a deep understanding of wisdom, compelled by God to read the signs of the times, encourage the people to remain committed to the covenant and remind the people that blessings are to come if they do not stray from God. They declare the word of God. In order to do so, they use the messenger formula of “thus says the Lord.” There is a 3 Fold Prospective of the Prophet. They are called, admonished and do a remembrance. They are called by in a particular call from God for a significant role. Then the prophet is given the prophetic voice to speak out against the word of the people as a warning call. Lastly, the prophet always reminds the goodness of God. The people are reminded of the importance of upholding the covenant relationship. The Book of Amos is divided into 3 parts; Judgment of the Nations, Words and Woes for Israel and Symbolic Visions: Threats and Promises. Present in Amos 1-2, is the Judgment of the Nations. Using the messenger formula of “thus says the Lord,” the words of Amos are spoken. Each situation have parallel structure, emphasizing the severity of the world of the Lord. The passages each state “I will not revoke my word; […], I will send fire upon […].” This is manifesting that God will keep his word and will punish those who stray from the covenant relationship. Next, in the section of Words and Woes for Israel, the prophetic voice speaks to different groups of Israel to emphasizes the wrong they have committed. Through the eyes of Amos, he sees the society who internal health is in rapid divine. Sins such as cheating in businesses, bribery of judges, sexual immorality and mistreatment of the poor and powerless are presented within Amos 3-6. The First Word speaks to the men of Israel (Amos 3:1-2), the Second Word speaks to the women of Israel (4:1-13) and the Third Word speaks to Israel as a whole. In Amos 5:18, the question of “Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness not light.” The people are yearning for God to come back to them. They are seeking the help that God presents to his followers. However, in this passage, through the words of Amos, God uses imagery to describe what is going to happen to the people for straying from the covenant. “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me” (Amos 5:21). God does not want anything from the people such as their normal rituals. He will not accept it. The Lord continues to put down the people for what they give to all their other leaders. But the one thing that he would accept it a holocaust. Sacrifices must be made so that the relationship between the people and God can be restored. Lastly, the symbolic visions are introduced in Amos 7-9. There are visions of the locusts, the fires, the plummets, the fruit basket and the altar. Each vision showed the wrath and power of God’s will to destroy the land of the people to punish them for breaking the covenant code. Specifically, Amos speaks for God by saying, “though they climb to the heavens, I will bring them down; Though they
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