Amos 1 – 4

Verse 1:1 got my attention because of the last bit:

These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds in Tekoa, a city in the highlands of Judah. God gave him these visions regarding Israel in the time of Uzziah (who ruled Judah) and Jeroboam (the son of Joash, who ruled Israel) two years before the great earthquake.

The idea there was a “great earthquake” caught my attention, so off to Google. While many people, even Christians, view the Bible as more of a story book with social significance most don’t view it as historically accurate. Heck Genesis 1 is so “discredited” by science that most assume the rest is not accurate, never mind the idea Genesis 1 matches the fossil record and radio metric dating is based on an “old earth” assumption and CONSTANTS are used to adjust a “linear” scale with exponential functions … but that’s another book.

In researching this book there is plenty of historical evidence uncovered around 1955 that shows a significant earthquake happened around the time of Amos. So once again a “story” starts to have historical significance. We need to start looking at things like parting of the Red Sea as something that may have actually happened and not a “story”. I will be laughing when they find a platoon of Egyptian chariots in the middle of the Red Sea!!!

Verse 1:13 has a few things that stand out to me:

 Here is what the Eternal says about Ammon, just northeast of the Jordan:

Eternal One: For three crimes of the Ammonites,
        no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
    Because they ripped open the bellies of pregnant women in Gilead
        as they made war to expand their territory.

First the “no for four” reminded me of a Monty Python skit of the Spanish Inquisition where the cardinals kept adding a forth charge. I wonder if they were mocking Amos in a way or if they were not aware of these passages? Notice that all the judgment is against the cities have this written.

The other stand out was “they ripped open the bellies of pregnant women.” Is this a documented stance against abortion? I believe so since they were forcibly aborting children so they could gain control of the land they would inherit. When you think about it this could be a Babushka Doll Principle warning us today on what we are doing. Our nation has come to accept abortion, heck I even think it should remain legal just not moral. Believe me this is a long description on why I believe this, but I do admit I may be wrong in this stance. Maybe we need to heed the warnings of Amos?