Amos 5

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This is another post in my series, Reader’s Guide to Amos. It works(or at least, I’d like it to) as something between a commentary and a Bible Study. Go read the text. Keep that window open. Read through it once to get a broad view of what is happening. Then come back and read through my notes. I’d suggest going back to the text one more time, read through it and when you get to a word or idea you are unsure of, come back and see if there is something in my Reader’s Guide that helps. You can read my original series introduction and the original posts that cover the text up to this point.

5:1-17
There is a distinct pattern here in the structure and arrangement of these verses (WBC.)
5:1-3 – Lamentation
5:4-6 – Exhortation
5:7 – Accusation
5:8-9 – Hymn
5:10-13 – Accusation & Judgment
5:14-15 – Exhortation
5:16-17 – Lamentation

1 – Lament is a funeral song, sung over the dead
2 – Fallen, as in on the field of battle and no one is there to help (WBC). Virgin here connotes youth and purity (NAC).
3 – ‘went out’ as in marching out, as in sent out an army. Few will return. Those sent out, are marching to their deaths.
4-6 – Bethal (mentioned thrice), Gilgal (mentioned twice) and Beersheba (once) are all centers of false worship. Only Jerusalem is the center for worship. The frequency of mention, is connected/related/corralled with their familiarity/importance to the audience (NAC)
7 – Wormwood – a bitter tasting plant used proverbially as poison
Thrown down – thrown away, thrown out
You have the two pillars of the covenant requirement here with Justice and Righteousness. The sweet words and deeds of justice are being turned to bitterness (Tyndale). Righteousness is being tossed out with the trash.
8-9 Another hymn, similar to 4:13. Pleiades and Orion are well known constellations in the ANE.
10-13 ‘Him who reproves’ is either the Judge or the Elder on the Jury whom renders the verdict.
‘At the gate – where court was held/lawsuits were handled
As punishment, those who exploit the poor to become rich will not enjoy their material wealth.
Prudent – has the meaning of insight or understanding (NAC), so it is likely the judges/elders at the court who oppress the poor.
‘In such a time’ in the future exile, which is the ‘evil time’.
Verse 13, despite starting with ‘therefore’, which usually indicated judgment is likely a proverb, can be understood as – in time, those who silenced the poor, will themselves be silenced.
14-15 – Seeking is more than looking for, but actively working so that good prevails over evil (NAC)
Establish is to set up justice (contrasted with casting down righteousness in v7 (Tyndale)) in the court
Do these things and Yahweh may save a few, the remnant of Israel
16-17 – ‘skilled in lamentation’ – Israel had professional mourners, so the mourning, wailing (the woe) will be so great that even the famers and those in the vineyards will lament and wail and mourn.
‘I will pass through’ recalls Exodus. The lord will pass through, he is there for judgement and as with Egypt, he will also be the cause of the mourning (due to the judgement).

5:18-27
This is a woe oracle with two parts. First, the misunderstanding of the day of the Lord, and second, the rejection of Israel’s worship. See here for notes on Day of the Lord
18 – They are expected the Day of Lord to be a victory for them, but as God brings his judgment for their breaking of the covenant, the Day, will be a victory against them.
19 – There will be no escaping the destruction (NAC). It would be like fleeing from a lion, only to run into a bear, which ever direction you turn, you will die. Or, entering your house, expecting you are safe, but to be bitten and die.
20 – The Day will bring darkness, not light. Only darkness, not even a hint of light. “The Northern Kingdom was awaiting devastation, no deliverance” – WBC
21-24 – The site of this oracle is likely Bethel, where there were cultic festivals. They practiced much religiousty, following the practice of religion, but they did not have justice or righteousness. So, they had actions, but not right hearts and minds. This is why they are judged. You really need to take time and ponder the strength in which this woe comes. The amount of rejection and admonition should be crushing.
25- Rhetorical question. The time in the wilderness was also considered the apex of Israelites devotion and worship of Yahweh (WBC). There weren’t many sacrifices then, there wasn’t religiosusity and false devotion
26 – Assyrian deities. In contrast to the wilderness era of devotion, they take up other gods and idolatry.
27 – Punishment for the idolatry. You will be sent out past Damascus. Damascus was north, northeast of Israel. Following this path, leads to the roads of Assyria. Decades later, the Assyrians would conquer Israel and exile them.

Commentary Sources:
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary)
Joel and Amos (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries)
Hosea-Jonah, Volume 31 (Word Biblical Commentary)

Book Review: On Writing

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On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft – Stephen King

My Rating – Must Read

Level – Easy, quick read

Summary
The book is broken up into two main parts, C.V. and What Writing is, Toolbox, and On Writing, plus a longish post-script chapter, which is followed by two more short post-post-script chapters, which King calls ‘And Furthermore’, parts 1 & 2. Throw three different forewords and there is a good deal of interesting and helpful material.
C.V. is basically a brief auto-biography.
What Writing Is, Toolbox, and On Writing, is the part of the book where he explains his writing process as well as tips and procedures to follow in writing fiction.
The first post-script ‘On Living’ is the story of him being struck by and van and his subsequent recovery.
The final two chapters are, first an example of editing a first draft and writing a second, and second, a recommended reading list.

My Thoughts
I love the feeling of King’s book, I felt the tone was, you know, it’s hard to describe. Just kidding, that’s a joke. Read the book, you’ll see, it’s funny.

His second foreword, pretty much sets the tone for the book – “This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit.” His one exception to this is Elements of Style, which Mrs. MMT actually gave me before we were even married, but I haven’t read it yet. Continue reading →

Orlando Shooting

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A few weeks ago, I reviewed the book How Would Jesus Vote?: Do Your Political Views Really Align With The Bible?

One of the chapters he covers in the book relates to gun control. I think this is an important issue that many Christians don’t adequately consider. Many people hold the second amendment (well, parts of it) sacrosanct, almost to level (or often above) that of the Bible itself. We really need to consider how far we want to take this. Even now after over 100 people were shot, barely six months after 14 people were shot, and of course not too long since 20 first graders were shot, among other shootings, we can still barely even debate the value of semi-automatic weapons.

I’ve seen numerous politicians and talk-radio personalities say that just because someone is on a terrorist watch list, is being investigated by the FBI, or is on a no-fly list, does not mean that person should have their right to high-powered, high-capacity firearms curtailed, even a little bit. This is terrifying to me. In about 10 minutes one man over the weekend was able to kill 50 people and shoot another 50 or so more. How can we be alright with this? About three and a half years ago 20 first graders were killed plus six adults. Let me repeat that, 20 first graders. Children in first grade. Gun laws have only gotten looser since then.

Obviously, the Bible say nothing about guns. Ask yourself, though, if you reading of the Bible, if your understanding of Jesus and his teachings, really mean you are will to live with the tragedies. We will accept this as a way of life? As a nation we are will to sit through the news every six months or so and watch another story about another mass shooting? Are we really willing to continue to live with 20 dead first graders, or 100 shot, 50 dead in one night, just so people like this guy have the right to do whatever it was he had originally planned to do here?:

Amos 3:9-4:13

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This is another post in my series, Reader’s Guide to Amos. It works(or at least, I’d like it to) as something between a commentary and a Bible Study. Go read the text. Keep that window open. Read through it once to get a broad view of what is happening. Then come back and read through my notes. I’d suggest going back to the text one more time, read through it and when you get to a word or idea you are unsure of, come back and see if there is something in my Reader’s Guide that helps. You can read my original series introduction and the first two post that cover the text up to this point.

Amos 3:9-12
9.He starts as if he is calling on emissaries of the foreign superpowers of the time, Assyria and Egypt. Most translations, including the original Hebrew have Ashdod, however the LXX uses Assyria and most commentators agree this is a stand in for them.
The word unrest has a greater sense of panic and oppression is plural. God is calling on the other power to look at them in their punishment.
10.The are greedy and gain through violence and destruction. These are the oppose of doing ‘what is right’.
11 – This is a punishment statement to Israel for their crimes committed in the verse
12 -This is the extent of their punishments, that after the enemy attacks (is allowed to) and overwhelms them, there will be barely anything left, as if mostly devoured by a lion.
Translation – Look other nations upon this one that does not act right. They steal and destroy, so soon, someone will come to them to steal and destroy. Their punishment will be so severe, there will be almost nothing left. Continue reading →

Book Review: Meditations – A Short review, for a short book

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Meditations – Marcus Aurelius

My Rating – Pass

Level – Short, writing can be long and choppy, knowledge of history and philosophy would be helpful

Summary
Basically random thoughts from a guy who thought he was going to die. Most ideas are a reflection of the time in which he wrote as well as stoicism.

My Thoughts
The story of how/why he wrote the book is probably the most interesting aspect of the book. There is not systematic organization to the book, so writings seem unorganized and disjointed and occasionally repeat themselves.

If you have any familiarity with philosophy, any religion, any famous idioms or maxims, you will not get much from this book. You could probably save yourself the $1 (Dover Thrift Edition all the way) and just google Marcus Aurelius quotes and find the good parts.

 

Book Reviews: Four Views on the Historical Adam

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Four Views on the Historical Adam

My Rating – Put it on Your List

Level – Somewhat technical, requires a higher level knowledge of Genesis and some theology, somewhat short, but at times reads longer than it is.

Summary
This book is exactly what the title says, though there is one different aspect that I haven’t seen in other volumes of the series. Outside of the intro but the series editors and the four chapters on the different views, there is a final chapter called ‘pastoral reflection.’ This is basically a ‘unity & love’ chapter, ostensibly because this is a very touchy subject. In fact, Barrick, who in my opinion makes the weakest argument, implies we should be suspicious of the salvation of those with different views than his own. It is a very disappointing view for an author in this series.

The four views are as follows:

Evolutionary Creation – Denis O. Lamoureux
His view is essentially Theistic Evolution, but prefers this name on a semantic level. There is no historical Adam, and there doesn’t need to be. God created the natural order and the world proceeded in an evolutionary way. He has interesting arguments on ‘ancient science’, that is, what the writers of the Bible would have understood as fact. Even if you completely disagree with everything he says, his chapter is worth reading solely for this, as it will challenge you to understand the Bible as the original audience may have viewed it. A clearly brilliant man, with two PhDs, has to waste too much of his word limit ‘proving’ his Christianity.

Archetypal Creation – John H. Walton
Again, we have old-earth creation that views much of the first few chapters of Genesis through a literary lens. However, he is never conclusive as to whether or not there is a historical Adam. He may personally believe there was, but under this view, it can be either way. Basically, ‘Adam’ is an allegorical representation. He is ‘elect’ and chosen, much in the same was as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, though some of them clearly existed. That isn’t the point of the story, though. Great info in this chapter pertaining to the writings and beliefs of the Ancient Near East.

Old-Earth Creation – C. John Collins
Collins isn’t too different than Walton. He would agree with most of my summary above, but on Adam and Eve he has a little more nuance. He still does not require historic, first human Adam, but he does view him as historical. He has an interesting view of historical but not ‘literalistic,’ while arguing that we should not get too bogged down on this historical person of Adam.  So, it is history, was written to be history, was read as history, it’s just not a type of history (historicity) that we deal with today. This is an important distinction for many evangelicals to consider while researching their view of Genesis 1-11 in general and Adam in particular.

Young-Earth Creation – William D. Barrick
This is the view that people think of or the media mean when they use the term creationist. That is, a focus on the world being created exactly as described roughly six thousand years ago. This obviously is in great conflict with science, as well as most Christians and theologians. Science aside, this view also fails in light of literature and history, which is clearly demonstrated by the other views. There is not much evidence proposed in this chapter and is fairly weak in my view.

My Thoughts
Of course, I think everyone should be reading books in this series. However, I couldn’t quite put this on the must read list. Partly because I like to keep those in that rating small, but also this book does get somewhat academic. That being said, if you are already familiar with the theological issues involved with a historical Adam and have a broad understanding of the relations between Genesis and the age of the universe, then this book would probably be considered a must if this is an issue that you care about.

I personally found myself in agreement with multiple points from the first three authors. I thought Walton made an interesting point of Genesis 1 vs. 2, as being two completely different stories. The idea of historical Adam and billions of years old universe are important issues. I still haven’t full development my own theology on the issue. I tend to lean towards an understanding of an historical Adam, but I in no way think the world is not millions and billions of years old. My view is somewhere between Archetypal and Old-Earth, that is an ‘elect’ historical Adam that had some sort of special interaction/relation with God, but isn’t necessarily a special or first creation.