Reading for November 8th

 Read Amos 2.9-16. In verses 9-12: A brief historical summary stresses Israel's stubbornness by contrasting it with God's acts of salvation on Israel's behalf. In verses 13-16: The judgement imposed for Israel's crimes will bring an end to Israel's strongest defenses: its fastest runners, its strongest warriors, its most skilled archers, and its best horsemen. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 7th

 Read Amos 2.6--8. In 2.6-16: Judgment on Israel. This judgment speech concludes the series of speeches directed against Israel's neighbors. By starting with judgments against Israel's neighbors, Amos may have intended to lure his Israelite audience into agreement with him, only to shock them with a concluding speech listing their own sins, even more numerous than those of their neighbors. In verses 6-8: Amos' indictment begins with Israel's mistreatment of its poor ( vv. 6b-7a ), in particular the sale of humans into slavery when they were unable to pay their debts (8.6). garments taken in pledge (Ex 22.26-27; Deut 24.12-13) and fines refer to objects and money taken unfairly from the poor by the rich. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 6th

 Read Amos 1.9-2.5. In verses 9-10: Tyre is a Phoenican city on the Mediterranean coast northwest of Israel. In verse 11-12: Edom is Israel's neighbor to the southeast and Teman and Bozrah are two of its major cities. Edom's brother may refer to either Israel or Judah (Ob 8-12). In verses 13-15: The Amonites, Israel's neighbors to the east, are accused, as is Damascus (1.3), of crimes against the Israelites in Gilead. In 2.1-3: Moab, located southeast of Israel, is accused of crimes against its southern neighbor Edom. In verse 4-5: Judah, like Israel to follow (2.6-16), is criticized not for crimes against its neighbors, but for crimes within its own society against God's law. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 5th

 Read Amos 1.3-8. I 1.3-2.5: Judgments on Israel's neighbors. In typical two-part judgment speeches containing indictments and sentences, Amos announces divine judgment on seven of Israel's closest neighbors. The indictments in each case involve acts of brutality against neighboring people. The repetition of the tree transgressions ... and for four in each indictments a poetic convention meaning simply "several." The image of fire in each sentence predicts the violent destruction of the cities indicted. The phrase says the Lord, which begins and  ends these speeches, identifies them as divine oracles and the prophet as a divine spokesperson. In verses 3-5: Damascus is the capital of the kingdom of Aram northeast of Israel, and Hazael and Ben-haddad are two of its kings. Gilead refers to Israelite territories east of the Jordan. The location of Kir, which Amos regarded as the original home of the Arameans (9.7), is uncertain. In verses 6-8: Gaza, Ashdod, Ash-kelon, and Ekron are major Philistine cities southwest of Israel on the Mediterranean coast. Edom, to which both Gaza and Tyre (1.9-10) deported people, is Israel's neighbor southeast of the Dead Sea. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 4th

 Read Amos 1.1-2. In 1,1-2: Introduction. Prophetic books customarily begin with data about their authors. In verse 1: Amos preached during the reigns King Uzziah of Judah (783-742 BCE) and King Jeroboam of Israel (786-746 BCE), and he owned sheep and orchards (7.14). Though from Tekoa, a town in Judah, Amos preached primarily to Judah's northern neighbor, Israel (2.6). In verse 2: Jerusalem and Zion are both names of the capital city of Judah. Carmel is a mountain range near the Mediterranean coast in Israel. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 3rd

 Read Joel 3.1-21. In 3.1-21: Judgment on the nations and the restoration of Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible, these verses are 4.1-21. This poem does not mention the locusts, but takes as it backdrop the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and the exile of its people (vv. 2, 5). It follows the traditional structure of hymns, such as Ex 15.1-18 and Zech 14.1-21, which celebrate the victory of God the warrior over Israel's enemies. The threat to divine rule (vv.1-8) brings God into battle (vv. 9-14) that shakes the cosmos (vv. 15-16). Victorious, God is enthroned on his holy mountain (v. 17), making the world fertile (v. 18) and saving his people (vv.19-21). In verse 2: Jehoshaphat is symbolic-- rather than actual, geographical-- place, meaning "the Lord has judged." In verse 4: Tyre and Sidon, cities on the Mediterranean coast north of Judah, and Philista to the south are accused of participating in Judah's destruction and deporting its people. In verse 8: The Sabeans may be inhabitants of southern Arabia. In verse 10: This verse reverses the image of peace in Isa 2.4 and Mic 4.3. In verse 19: Egypt sometimes ally and sometimes enemy, and Edom, elsewhere accused of participating in Jerusalem's destruction (Ob 8-14), are both counted here among the nations judged when Jerusalem is restored. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 2nd

 Read Joel 2.28-32. In 2.28-32 The outpouring of God's spirit. In the Hebrew Bible, these verses constitute a new chapter. 3.1-5. In verses 28-29: In the future, the prophetic gift will be spread among all people. In verses 30-32: The day of the Lord is pictured with traditional images of darkness as a day of judgment on Jerusalem, which only a few will survive. Whether these few are those who survived the locusts (which are not mentioned here) or the survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE is not stated. Comments or Questions..