{"id":77449,"date":"2020-07-15T12:39:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T09:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77449"},"modified":"2020-07-15T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T09:58:41","slug":"points-to-ponder-amos-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-amos-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Points to Ponder – Amos 7"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. Prayer and forgiveness<\/em>. In the first two scenes, Amos responds with a supplication in response to the upcoming disaster, and he is answered. The forgiveness is not conditional upon the repentance of the people, it stems exclusively from divine mercy. In the third vision, no entreaty is offered up, and God is explicit in his denial of forgiveness: \u201cI will pardon them no more\u201d (verse 8). Through the three events we can see a relationship: the anger, the mercy, the second chance, and then once again, anger, mercy\u2026 until the line is crossed. Then it will end in destruction.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. A two-way prophet<\/em>. According to verses 2 and 5, Amos doesn\u2019t only bring God\u2019s word to the people, he also prays to God for their sake (note that Moses was this sort of prophet, as was Jeremiah).<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Freedom of expression<\/em>. Is it permissible for a prophet to criticize the government? When do the authorities feel that he has crossed a line? For Amaziah the priest, the line was crossed when direct implications were made about the fate of the kingdom, and the royal family. For Jeremiah (in another 150 years, and 99 chapters ago), the prophecy about the destruction of the Temple was felt to have gone too far, and almost cost him his life (Jer. 26).<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Prophecy as a trade<\/em>. The way that Amaziah accuses Amos essentially \u201cyou\u2019re doing it for the money,\u201d is evidence of the fact that there were also \u201cprofessional prophets\u201d who would foretell the future to provide tailor made prophecies, in exchange for payment.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. A tender of sycamore figs<\/em>. This profession apparently refers to the agricultural specialty of piercing the fruit of the sycamore fig to help it ripen. Since this is a seasonal occupation, during the rest of the year the sycamore tender would engage in other types of work such as shepherding or raising cattle.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","image":{"ID":53645,"id":53645,"title":"general-qs-points to ponder","filename":"general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-chapter-9\/general-qs-points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"general-qs-points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53644,"date":"2019-04-13 21:49:41","modified":"2019-04-13 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