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The Old Testament reading of this Sunday is from the prophet Amos, as it was last Sunday.1 For some background reading about the prophetic concept of justice, see last week’s Old Testament commentary. For a brief introduction to the prophet Amos, see either the article on Amos on the EntertheBible.org website, or my article, “What … Continue reading “Amos 6:1a, 4-7 Commentary by Rolf Jacobson”

A brilliant ironist, Amos reverses his audience’s expectations at every turn in the book that bears his name. The prophet shows the cherished traditions of Israel to be not causes for complacency but measures of Israel’s accountability to God. Here, Amos offers a potent challenge to his audience by ironizing three apparently disparate ideas: the … Continue reading “Amos 5:18-24 Commentary by Carolyn J. Sharp”

It doesn’t go well for the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Unlike Judah her neighbor to the South, Israel never had a king who did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. Jeroboam II, son of Joash, occupied Israel’s throne in Samaria (788-748 B.C.). During the early years of his reign, the nation was in … Continue reading “Amos 5:18-24 Commentary by Mark S. Gignilliat”

This text begins and continues with the theme of lament and grief (“Alas”; also Amos 6:1, 4). Israel was expecting/desiring “the day of the Lord,” a phrase commonly used to refer to a glorious future in which Israel’s enemies would be vanquished. But the prophet cuts into this hope with a sharp question: why would … Continue reading “Amos 5:18-24 Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

Amos worked full-time for much of his life as “a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees” (Amos 1:1; 7:14) in the village of Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah. One day God called this rancher and arborist to leave his vocation in order to become God’s mouthpiece and prophet to the people of … Continue reading “Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Commentary by Dennis Olson”

“Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time” (Amos 5:13). I never feel the temptation of this proverb more than I do in the midst of a political season. As I watch the social media accounts of my dear friends and family on either side of the … Continue reading “Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Commentary by David G. Garber Jr.”

Integrating life and liturgy has been a practice for Christian churches. There are few that aim to do it, and even fewer are able to achieve it. A divide separates those who think of the Christian life as a way of being versus those who find virtue in the way of doing. These tensions appear … Continue reading “Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Commentary by Steed Davidson”

Amos might just be the most famous of the biblical prophets. The Amos material had at least three different historical settings. It began as an event in the eighth century B.C.E. The followers of Amos shepherded the tradition, and it became part of a collection that provided a rationale for the exile during the period … Continue reading “Amos 1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24 Commentary by Stephen Reid”

The prophet Joel writes in response to an ecological disaster, a plague of locusts that exceeded their regular breeding and feeding cycles. His words are difficult to break into individual sermons. The internal markers in the Hebrew text dating from the time the Masoretic scholars added vowels and cantillation (musical marks), about 1008 CE, delineate … Continue reading “Joel 2:23-32 Commentary by Wil Gafney”

Joel 2 is, perhaps, most well known from its quotation in Acts 2:14 and following. In Acts, Peter calls upon Joel’s words to help the festival crowds in Jerusalem understand the powerful in-rushing of the Holy Spirit that would come to define Pentecost thereafter. For many it will be difficult to separate Joel from its … Continue reading “Joel 2:23-32 Commentary by Karl Jacobson”