Amos

I studied a little of Amos when I took a course in "Literature of the Bible" when I was in high school, and I rather liked the things I read there. It does condemn hypocrisy, which I agree with, and it tries to "afflict the comfortable." However, as with just about everything else I've read so far in the Bible, it has some rather interesting items.

Amos 2:1 - Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
Is this saying that a whole nation will be punished, simply because the King of Edom (which Joel says will be turned to a wilderness, anyway) was cremated? This makes no sense at all.

Amos 3:6 - Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster befall a city, unless the LORD has done it?
These rhetorical questions are thought provoking. It looks to me as if the author is saying that God causes all disasters that happen to cities. This certainly seems to be the message I hear from local preachers when we experience droughts and what-not.

Amos 3:7 - Surely the LORD God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
According to this, God tells certain people about every action he takes! It appears to me that this is as transparent a claim to supernatural knowledge as I've seen, and one that is about the most ridiculous. Using this verse, a person can claim to be a prophet and "explain the meaning" of everything that happens, and who's to gainsay him? Another "prophet" with a different message from God?

Amos 4:6-11 - I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me, says the LORD. And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would be rained upon, and the field on which it did not rain withered; so two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water and were not satisfied; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD. I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD. I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the fire; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD.
There are some really puzzling things here, I think. Like how could anyone possibly think that a mild drought (which is the first thing described here) could be supernatural in any way? So the weather went dry a few months earlier than usual one year. What of it? It's not as if there was NO rain at all! Next, it appears that this is saying God expects people to go back to the old religion in response to death, disaster and disease. Punishment and rewards may be effective in dealing with slaves, but mature persons should be able to relate in a more reasonable manner.

Amos 7:1-6 - This is what the LORD God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king's mowings). When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "O LORD God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" The LORD relented concerning this; "It shall not be," said the LORD. This is what the LORD God showed me: the LORD God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, "O LORD God, cease, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" The LORD relented concerning this; "This also shall not be," said the LORD God.
This is an interesting statement. Apparently, Amos got God to change his mind on some disasters he was cooking up for Israel! In Numbers, we're told the God doesn't change his mind! Of course, this gives a little added emphasis to my statement earlier, that it's silly to accept a prophet's statements about what God talks to them about - they can (and do!) spout the weirdest nonsense that can not be verified or challenged in any way. The silliness of the situation is accentuated when one prophet completely contradicts another.

Amos 8:11,12 - The time is surely coming, says the LORD God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
I personally find this statement interesting, not only because of the logical puzzle it presents, but because as an atheist, I honestly think that this would be a desirable situation. The logical puzzle, you ask? Simple, if the words of God (meaning the Bible to the faithful, the book this quote was taken from) ever vanish from human knowledge, no one would know that this prophecy had ever been made!

Amos 9:1,2 - I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left, I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape. Though they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
Well, here's another set of strange statements! First, Amos claims to have actually seen God, something that Jesus said hadn't happened. And God talks once again of completely destroying people, something that has been threatened before but hasn't actually happened. And it says that God will pull people out of Sheol in order to kill them! What's more interesting, it also says that people can dig themselves into Sheol, or climb to heaven, as though these are physical places that humans are capable of physically entering! How many people take these ideas seriously these days?

Amos 9:5,6 - The LORD, God of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; who builds his upper chambers in the heavens, and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth - the LORD is his name.
Interesting, isn't it? Saying that God's touch on the earth causes disasters and mourning, this is meant to indicate his greatness! Of course, we then continue on into flat-earth territory, which is no longer a surprise to me.

Amos 9:8 - The eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth - except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.
Here's yet another promise of near-total destruction. Obviously, this message, delivered by several people was not very effective. So exactly what could have been the motive of repeatedly delivering it, when an omniscient being would have known the futility of it?