Amos 1 – 4
Amos was a shepherd and farmer before getting the word from God. Most of them seem to come from more stately conditions. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both from priestly families while although Isaiah was imprisoned he was a man of the royal court.
Verse 1:13 caught my eye more on what has become a socially acceptable practice in dealing with unwanted pregnancies:
Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
I often “waffle” on my stance on abortions. I believe they are murder and are taking the life of an unborn child. This has been supported in courts where if a “wanted” dies at the hand of an assault, the perpetrator could be charged with murder. At the same time thousands of abortions happen on a daily basis without notice. At the same time I look at the original judgment as more for the woman’s safety than anything, since at that time there were tons of back alley abortions with very unsanitary conditions.
So my stance is weird since it’s difficult to “change the heart” of an individual and their decision to abort a child. We can still keep them safe and in a proper surgical setting while at the same time not just immediately sucking out a fetus. I think the decision should be pondered and weighted against all options before the actual abortion. I say this from a different perspective than most, since if we had gone to a Planned Parenthood clinic that Friday and not a Christian based pregnancy center Veronica would not be alive today. The weekend was all we needed to “rethink” that almost reflex decision for an unmarried California couple.
Now back to Amos’ prophecy and ripping open pregnant women. I tend to apply this to today’s society and wonder if that is right? Also, the wording has me confused since the “because” is they “ripped open pregnant women” but the reason why was to “enlarge their border.” How would killing the unborn enlarge the border? I assume then the women’s place was in the home, where now it’s in the workplace. So if a pregnancy interrupts the working women’s life, their “border” will not be enlarged. Was that what Amos meant then or is this what he is predicting today?
Verse 3:12 kind of grossed me out:
Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
This verse has two aspects which intrigue me, the first is how God shall be faithful and promise to rescue his people but with little left. He wants them to truly come back to him and not drift away again. He wants this reunion to be the last one needed before His people remain faithful. Seconds and more obscure, since it was not a point Amos or God were trying to make, was his reference to the Israelites who are dwelling in Samaria. They were considered a lowly culture and yet Jesus uses a story about the Good Samaritan to highlight the hypocrisy of the Jewish people of his time.
Although Amos is not making this connection, since we read this with foreknowledge on what happens later in the book it’s not difficult to notice things like this. I am sure Amos was making a point that the Jewish people that were living in Samaria were picking up their beliefs and culture and not the other way around. I believe this is why so many Muslim fundamentalist do not want their people to have contact with modern society or Christians since it would cause the people to question their beliefs. Sure Islam is one of the largest growing segments of American society today, I believe our culture will have a greater impact on theirs then the other way.