Don't Know Much About the Bible - Kenneth C. Davis [98]
742-701; Judah under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
Micah
c. 750; Judah under Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah
Nahum
625-610; Judah under Josiah
Zephaniah
c. 621; Judah under Josiah
Habakkuk
615-598; Judah?
Jeremiah
627-587; Judah to the fall of Jerusalem
• Amos
But let justice roll down like
waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24)
Amos is attributed to a herdsman—Richard Elliot Friedman calls him a “cowboy” in Who Wrote the Bible?—from a Judean village who goes to Israel during the time of the northern King Jeroboam II (786-784 BCE), a prosperous time in Israel. But Amos sees these good times as a time of moral decay and ethical corruption in both Judah and Israel.
BIBLICAL VOICES
Because they sell the righteous
for silver,
and the needy for a pair of
sandals—
they who trample the head of the
poor into the dust of
the earth,
and push the afflicted out of
the way;
father and son go in to the
same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned. (Amos 2:6-8)
Preaching in a time of relative wealth and political stability, Amos attacked the oppression of the poor by the rich, empty piety, and immoral religious practices—the “father and son going in to the same girl” may have referred to the continuing popularity of temple prostitutes. According to Amos, God despises sacrifices, festivals, and songs if they are not accompanied by ethical behavior, and he stressed personal responsibility. If the people did not mend their corrupt ways, Amos said they would be destroyed. It wasn’t a popular message, and Amos was banished from Israel by Jeroboam because his words were so harsh. Obviously Amos’s message is not limited to its times.
In the book’s closing verses, Amos predicted eventual redemption, peace, and prosperity for the people of Israel, but these verses may have been added by a later editor.
Why are the Children of Israel the “Chosen People”?
One of the most significant lines in Amos is the prophet’s message to Israel from God: “You alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth—that is why I will call you to account for all your iniquities.”
This is the essence of the Jews’ designation as the “Chosen People.” From the time of Abraham, the Israelites believed that they had been selected by God. But selected for what? The best seat at the table? Good tickets for the opera?
The idea of being “special” isn’t unique to Judaism; almost every culture sees itself as somehow better than others—that is what is known as “ethnocentrism.” Both Christians and Muslims have adopted the idea that they are “chosen.” However, the concept of “chosenness,” which is tied closely to the historical resentment of Jewish people and finds its ultimate expression in virulent anti-Semitism, has nothing to do with a view that Jews are somehow “favored” by God. For Amos, God’s covenant with the people—being “chosen”—did not entitle them to special favors. In essence, their being “chosen” increased their responsibility to show exemplary obedience to God’s law. While the reason for choosing Abraham and his descendants is never made clear in the Torah, the Israelites were chosen for a unique function: to spread the word of God and make his nature and laws known to the world. As Rabbi Joseph Telushkin writes in Jewish Literacy, “Does Judaism believe that chosenness endows Jews with special rights in the way racist ideologies endow those born into the ‘right race’? Not at all.… Chosenness is so unconnected to any notion of race that Jews believe the Messiah himself will descend from Ruth, a non-Jewish woman who converted to Judaism.” (p. 506)
Amos underscores this point when he adds this note to the Jewish people: “‘To Me, O Israelites, you are just like the Ethiopians,’ declares the Lord.” (Amos 9:7)
• hosea
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hos. 6:6)
Hosea is attributed to a prophet who lived in the northern kingdom a little later than Amos. His story counts as one of the oddest among the prophets because