"The Israelites were a religious people. Pilgrimages to Bethel, Gilgal, and Beer-sheba, the sacred precincts of Israel, were commonplace (Amos 4:4; 5:5). Freewill and thanksgiving offerings and tithes were performed regularly (4:4), and there were many religious assemblies and festivals (5:21–23). By all criteria, then, the Israelites assumed that they were performing the cultic and ritual requirements necessary to appease Yahweh.
Furthermore, they considered their wealth and security as evidence that Yahweh was pleased. They assumed that their steadfast devotion to cultic ritual exempted them from the requirements of righteousness and social justice and from the consequences of wrongdoing. Through sacrifice they could guarantee divine favor and their own survival. The peace and prosperity the nation enjoyed must have, to many Israelites, validated their lives, values, and assumptions as the chosen people of God.
Yet the people had turned the official view around and were reasoning in reverse: their prosperity proved that they were righteous. The distinction, while a fine one, is nevertheless important: the obligation of the covenant was to pursue righteousness and justice; prosperity would follow as a by-product of God’s pleasure. The pursuit of wealth rather than righteousness was an unacceptable short cut, and wholly abhorrent to Yahweh, according to the prophet.
‘Amos’ severe judgment is a repudiation, not of the cult [worship system] itself, but of the cult as it was practiced in the eighth century B.C.E. …One’s conduct in the marketplace must always conform to one’s attitude in the holy place’ (King 1988: 89).
And Israel’s did not. Amos decried the social injustice, the oppression of the poor, and the lack of any moral or ethical values on the part of the rich and powerful. According to Amos, the spokesman of Yahweh, Israel was a violent, oppressive, and exploitative society. The poor had to sell themselves into slavery to pay off trivial debts (2:6; 8:6). The rich falsified weights and measures (8:5) and traded dishonestly (8:6). Even the courts, the last bastion of hope for the poor, were corrupt. Judges were bribed to cheat the poor out of what little they had (2:7; 5:10, 12). In fact, Israel was no longer capable of acting with justice (3:10; cf. 5:7, 24; 6:12). Truth and honesty were now hated (5:10).”
Source: Bruce E. Willoughby, Amos, the book of, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 1, pgs. 203-212 (for entire article)
Excellent post, Dave.
I like the turn of phrase the commentator uses here, just a different way of saying “Practice what you preach.”
Israel’s desire for wealth as the de facto badge of Divine approval, their “devotion to cultic ritual,” while at the same time foregoing the requirements of righteousness and social justice, the exploitation of the poor in the name of the pursuit of riches — all sounds vaguely familiar, eh?
How does the French proverb go?…“The more things change, the more things stay the same.†Interesting how the words of the Preacher still ring true, almost 3,000 years later:
I’m reminded of Micah’s similar plea to the nation:
-joebib
The whole issue of the ‘prosperity gospel’ seems to be getting some attention these days, and some of the proponents thereof seem to be feeling the heat.
Listening to TBN a couple days ago, I heard PC tell a whopper that at least rivals Hillary’s Bosnia airport story.
He was speaking from verses in 2 Corinthians 11:7 and 12:13, saying that Paul actually did the Corinthians a disservice by not taking $$$ from them for preaching the gospel! You know the line well, “God can’t bless you unless you dig deep!”
I can only wonder if he really believes this baloney? Or is he under huge financial pressure to keep the program on the air? The chapters 11 & 12 of 2 Corinthians are dripping with sarcasm and irony….most commentators take note of it. (see Vincent’s word studies in the New Testament for instance) TBN, however, sees Paul’s ironic “Forgive me this wrong” (in not taking support from the Corinthians) as a serious admission of guilt from the apostle! (2 Cor. 12:13) They eagerly overlook other verses like 2 Cor. 11:20-21, “For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face. To my shame, I must say that we have been weak by comparison.” It seems to me that TBN fits the last description.