The fact that they longed for the day of the lord tells us that to these jews the day of the lord was a time of special blessing from god. God will make visible his rule of righteousness by calling for an accounting by the nations. The day of the lord not only refers to the 7 year tribulation period, but any event in which god actively intervenes in order to bring an end to the present world order. Day of the lord, god, christ, the bible study tools. There are two scriptures that at first seems to conflict with the idea of the day of the lord being one single 24 hour day, so we will consider those shortly, but before we do, we have to talk about a thousand year break or intermission in the day of the lord before the events of the day of the lord can be fully completed. Put most simply, the day of the lord is the future day when god puts all things right again. Commentaries describe the area as somewhat rugged, rocky, and with sparse grazing fields. Amos, like many of the other prophets of god, prophesied of the day of the lord. The book is largely a blistering declaration of gods impending judgment on israel and the world. A basic introduction to the day of the lord in the old. The book of amos, however, is a clear statement that god is not like this at all. A significant portion of biblical prophecy, including much of the book of revelation, refers to this period of endtime events. Therefore, the message of this book can have the impact of a sudden fist in the face. Evil, though, still persists, and someday, jesus promised to return for the final day of the lord.
With metaphor the prophets excel in describing the calamitous aspect of day of the lord. Amos is saying there are many israel who long, you love the day of the lord because its benefited israel in the past. There is no mention of the day of the lord in any early prophetic literature. Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah, was active c.
S o get ready for the day of the lord, or it will be a day of darkness instead of reward. The day of y ah weh in the book of amos 2 1 the day of yahweh is one of the most familiar themes of biblical prophecy. Amos lived in the kingdom of judah but preached in the northern kingdom of. The book of amos amos was a sheepbreeder of tekoa in judah, who delivered his oracles in the northern kingdom during the prosperous reign of jeroboam ii 786746 b. The day of the lord woe to you who long for the day of the lord. The book of amos was written during the era of divided kingdoms of israel but in an age which is much prosperous than the previous times especially the northern kingdom of isreal with ruler jeroboam ii reached at such a level of growth and prosperity as was not seen after david and solomon. If you really think that you are in a privileged position, especially with god, this. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified. Amos explained that he was not a prophet by profession, but speaking by the lords appointment 7. The book of amos is a prophetic book of the hebrew bible largely dating to the 8th century bce and considered to be scripture by modern day jews and christians. Eventually the day of the lord god came to mean the termination of the world. Since the day of the lord involves both judgment and blessing, we would expect to see a development of the scope of blessing in a manner similar to the scope of judgment.
Amos called by the lord to prophesy to the northern. They thought that god would then judge the nations, and make israel rule over the world. Woe unto you that desire the day of the lord either the day of christs coming in the flesh, as cocceius interprets it. Even though the book of amos is a message of impending doom, it isnt without notes of hope and restoration. The book of amos is the third of the twelve minor prophets in the tanakhold testament and the second in the greek septuagint tradition. Indeed, references to blessing expand from davids kingdom amos 9.
Amos urges the people to seek the lord that they may live am 5. The israelites were hoping for the day of the lord, a moment when god would intercede in world history. The day of the lord means destruction of the godless. In the book of zephaniah, it is the day of yahwehs judgment against all who have offended him, especially among the people of judah, and in the book of joel, it represents a hope for restoration, when. O rphans, widows and poor ignored, is the action yahweh most abhors. He prophesied in israel at the great cult center of bethel, from which he was finally expelled by the priest in charge of this royal sanctuary 7.
Below, i suggest two initial reasons for studying the books of joel, amos, and obadiah. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Fourth, amoss use of poetry reveals the intensity of gods relationship with the world. In the book of amos, we find two uses amos performed. A book about true judgement of god, who hates all religious facade m any who think theyre on the narrow way, should be afraid of that impending day. Editors and copyists added comments to the prophets original oracles that they deemed appropriate in light of events that occurred after his death. The fact that they longed for the day of the lord tells us that to these jews the day of the. Shepherds in that region had to make extensive trips to feed their flocks. Amos was a shepherd in a region called tekoa, about six miles south of bethlehem.
This is the day of the lord that the book of revelation talks about, one where jesus will return and destroy evil completely, freeing our world from corruption and bringing about the good and perfect world that god had planned for us from the start. The book of amos was likely written between 760 and 753 b. The book of amos, which is the earliest of the prophetic writings to be preserved in book form, consists of nine chapters. In fact, amos uses a phrase for eschatological endtime judgmentthe day of the lord amos 5.
The work chronicles the visions that the ancient author of this book believed he received from god in order to warn israel of its impending doom and destruction unless it restores its religious duties to god instead of engaging in the. For the day of the lord is near in the valley of decision joel 3. Amos proclaims the word of the lord to amaziah that in view of his rejection of the lords prophecies great calamity will come upon him and his household as israel is led into captivity 7. He says, woe to you who long for the day of the lord. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like. The day of the lord is an important theological concept central to the christian doctrine of a final judgment. Amos is a shepherd and a fruit picker from the judean village of tekoa when god calls him, even though he lacks an education or a priestly background. Necessarily, the study of these places in the old testament will be profitable, both in itself and for the light it throws on new testament eschatology. Near is the great day of the lord, near and coming very quickly.
Not all of the material found in these chapters came from amos himself. Thank you that your promises to both israel and the church are fulfilled in christ through whose sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, all things have been made new. Will not the day of the lord be darkness, not light pitchdark, without a ray of. This is because the old testament passages referring to the day of the lord often speak of both a near and a far fulfillment, as does much of old testament prophecy. Variously formulated as the day of the lord amos 5. From the way amos introduces the subject, it is plain that the jews in israel thought the day of the lord was something desirable, and they looked forward to it. For example, later in this same prophecy amos will look beyond the immediately impending judgment of israel that he has been predicting her destruction at the hand of assyria in 721 b. In chapters 48, amos warns that israel will be destroyed, and gives examples of this judgment.
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