{"id":77393,"date":"2020-07-14T14:23:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77393"},"modified":"2020-07-14T14:23:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:23:48","slug":"an-8th-century-bce-gilded-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/an-8th-century-bce-gilded-age\/","title":{"rendered":"An 8th century BCE Gilded Age"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77393","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":39778,"related_cahpter":"524","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And as with modern economic crashes - too few listened until it was too late\r\n\r\n","content":"

(This post is the sixth in a series on social justice in Amos)<\/span><\/p>\n

In the late 19<\/span>th<\/span> century, Gilded Age mansions constructed on Fifth Avenue in New York and on similar streets elsewhere housed the tycoons of the era while many thousands of others toiled in sweatshops and lived in tenements. The lifestyle characterized by opulent surroundings and succulent foods takes a page out of Amos 6, where the wealthy are criticized for their excessive lifestyle:<\/span><\/p>\n

Verse 4 tell us: \u201cThey lie on ivory beds.\u201d Ivory brings to mind the worst excesses of recent centuries \u2013 the widespread massacre of elephants for their tusks \u2013 but in the era of 8<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE, it must have been even more difficult and expensive to acquire and transport enough ivory to the Middle East to make a bed of sufficient size.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the verse, we are told that they feast on lambs and calves. Then comes the musical entertainment: \u201cthey hum snatches of song to the tune of the lute.\u201d Though these people think of themselves like David, they are much closer to Goliath, with his reliance on his power and his scorn for the weak. These verses illustrate parties with food, music, wine, and oil for anointing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verse 6 warns \u201cBut they are not concerned about the ruin of Joseph.\u201d The prophet is warning about the destruction of the Northern Kingdom but these rich people are impervious to his warnings. We can understand their blindness: we\u2019ve seen it so many times throughout history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n