2. Bible Blitz Msgr Ed Thompson And Deacon Norm Kazyk With Technical Assistance Ray Hosler

3. Amos 786-746 B.C. Shepherd, Fig farmer, Prophet (1:1)

4. Lived in Tekva, 10 miles south of Jerusalem Called by God to deliver a message to northern Israel, to the wealthy who were getting rich at the expense of the poor. Their ritual sacrifices were hypocritical.

5. The message preached to the rich of Bethel, a cultic town. Earliest of the prophets – before Isaiah – short career. Martin Luther King’s “dream” inspired by Amos.

6. Divisions 1.Judgement of the nations (8) (1- 2) 2.Words (4) and woes (3) for Israel (3-6) 3.Symbolic visions, threats and promises (7-9) 4.Epilogue: Messianic perspective (9:9-15)

7. Power Points 1.Return to me – 3 rd word (5:4-9) 2.Amos and Amaziah (7:10-17) 3.Against greed (8:4-7) 4.Rebuilding of the temple (9:9-15)

8. Obadiah Author? Obadiah? Shortest prophecy, only 21 verses Bitter cry for vengeance against the Edomites of South Judah Theme: God eventually settles his accounts 5 th Century B.C.

9. Divisions Edom shall perish (2-9) The cause – violence (10-14) Judgment upon the nations (15-16) Judah shall be restored

10. Jonah Written in the post-exilic period of Judah: probably the fifth century B.C. Stress is on the need for repentance and the merciful, forgiving nature of God.

11. Jonah is a symbol of a narrow attitude of many of the chosen people of the time who limited the mercy of God to their nation: a narrow nationalism. It is in the genre of fiction and its intent is didactic.

12. Some questions to be asked: Why did Jonah disobey God? How did God respond? How did Jonah respond to both his calling and his success?

13. Irony: In flight from God’s service, he unwittingly serves God: Sailors, pagans repent.

14. Micah A contemporary of Isaiah (ministered before and after Samaria’s fall in 721 B.C.) He was a peasant suspicious of city life.

15. He attacked the rich, usurers, families divided by rivalry, prophets, judges, and tyrants who are the antithesis of the divine ideal: “to deal justly, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with God.” (Ch 5:8)

16. Major divisions Ch 1-3Threat and condemnation Ch 4-5Promises to Zion Ch 6Denunciation and threat Ch 7:8-20Hope for the future

17. A Contrast Mi 4:3They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. (also see Isaiah 2:4)

18. Rest of Contrast Joel 4:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak man say, “I am a warrior!”