When I read this book in 2020, it was like reading about current events in the US, especially so with chapters 3-6.  The parallels that I noticed between Israel and the US...I just think we are where they were, and the worry is that if God did not spare 10 tribes of His chosen people, why in the world would we think He will overlook what we're doing and send no repercussions?   Maybe it's just me, maybe I see more similarity here that what there really is, but as far as I'm concerned, Amos is a lens we can use to understand the nature and extent and meaning of what is going on right in front of us.

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Follow this link to read the whole book - which I highly recommend!

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/amo/1/1/s_880001

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Chapter 1
Amos, a shepherd, during the days of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel, two years before the earthquake.  Jonah, Hosea, and Isaiah were contemporary with him.  Zech. 14:5 also mentions this earthquake.  Roughly somewhere around 790-750 BC.

2024 - Wow!  I have been reading it wrong.  In my head, the earthquake was in the past.  But what it really says is that Amos prophesied BEFORE the earthquake happened.  Here is how Barnes describes it:  "Two years before the earthquake - This earthquake must plainly have been one of the greatest, since it was vividly in people's memories in the time of Zechariah, and Amos speaks of it as "the earthquake." The earthquakes of the east, like that of Lisbon, destroy whole cities. In one, a little before the birth of our Lord , "some ten thousand were buried under the ruined houses." This terrific earthquake (for as such Zechariah describes it) was one of the preludes of that displeasure of God, which Amos foretold. A warning of two years, and time for repentance, were given, "before the earthquake" should come, the token and beginning of a further shaking of both kingdoms, unless they should repent. In effect, it was the first flash of the lightning which consumed them."
2024 - And this from Jamieson-Faucett-Brown:  The earthquake; of which only this text, and Zec 14:5, do make particular mention, and where somewhat is spoken of it; which see. It is the tradition of the Jews, that this earthquake happened when Uzziah usurped the priest's work and offered incense in the temple, against which violation of Divine rites God testified thus from heaven, say they. Further than this we need not inquire in this matter. It was a great and dismal earthquake, and perhaps by this God did smite the winter and summer houses, as Amo 3:15; however, as it was foretold two years before it came, so we are sure it did come according to the time prefixed by the Lord.
2024 - Found this in Wikipedia in the article on Jereboam II.  I was trying to find out how this king died.
"Earthquake in Israel c. 760 BC
A  major earthquake had occurred in Israel c. 760 BC, which may have been  during the time of Jeroboam II, towards the end of his rule. This  earthquake is mentioned in the Book of Amos as having occurred during the rule of "Jeroboam son of Jehoash".[17]
Geologists believe they have found evidence of this big earthquake in sites throughout Israel and Jordan.[18] Archeologists Yigael Yadin and Israel Finkelstein dated the earthquake level at Tel Hazor to 760 BC based on stratigraphic analysis of the destruction debris.[19] Similarly, David Ussishkin arrived at the same date based on the "sudden destruction" level at Lachish.
According to Steven A. Austin, the magnitude of this earthquake  may have been at least 7.8, but more likely as high as 8.2. "This  magnitude 8 event of 750 B.C. appears to be the largest yet documented  on the Dead Sea transform fault zone during the last four millennia."[20]
The epicenter of this earthquake may have been 200–300 km north of present-day Israel.
Multiple biblical references exist to this earthquake in the Book of Amos,[21] and also in Zechariah 14:5.[22]
Recent excavations by Aren Maeir in ancient Gath have revealed evidence of a major earthquake.
"Based on the tight stratigraphic context, this can be dated to the mid-8th cent. BCE" ...[23] "

2023 - Amos prophesies about Israel, as do the first 37 chapters of Isaiah.  Long before Daniel.

Judgement is pronounced on Israel's neighbors, each starting with this phrase:
3 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four... [Amo 1:3a ESV].  Various neighbors are substituted for Damascus in the phrase, but the point is that these neighbors have repeatedly, habitually been enemies of Israel, and been oppressors of God's chosen.  Though the chosen haven't been anything God would be proud of, they are His, and all those neighbors know they are His, and so oppressing them is an attack on God.  Reckoning is due.  It is interesting that the Assyrians who will eventually carry away the people of Samaria and all Israel are also used to exact punishment from Israel's neighbors.  God rolls up His wrath and sends it out to all those that have earned it - by the same means.  Interesting that Assyria believes itself to be strong and powerful and protected by the gods its people serve.  Yet once God is done using Assyria to carry out his wrath against Israel's neighbors, and then against Israel itself, the Assyrians are also destroyed.  They were just a tool, not a  favored nation.  We must be careful when we think we are winning.  We might be just a club in the hand of God, carrying out his wrath against others before we get what we deserve also.  Here are a few verses to back this up:
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! ... 12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ... 16 Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. [Isa 10:5, 12, 16 ESV]
And here is the account of the "wasting sickness":
35 And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. [2Ki 19:35-37 ESV]

Judgement on Damascus - on Hazael and Ben-Hadad.  The transgression mentioned is "for threshing Gilead with threshing sledges of iron"  Fire will be sent- likely meaning cities and villages will be burned, destroyed.  Physical destruction of the land.  The gate-bar broken - Damascus, the capitol city, to be sacked.  They will go into exile in Kir.  MSB says we don't know where Kir is, but Syrians were originally from there?  This reference from Bible Hub seems to be a good way to look at it:  https://bibleatlas.org/kir.htm
It says in part that "The meaning of Kir is "inclosure" or "walled place," and it is therefore doubtful whether it is a place-name in the true sense of the word. In 2 Kings 16:9 it is mentioned as the place whither Tiglath-pileser IV carried the Syrian (Aramean) captives which he deported from Damascus after he had taken that city."

2023 - Found this verse over in Amos 9:  7 "Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" declares the LORD. "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? [Amo 9:7 ESV].  Perhaps Kir is in the land of Ham somewhere, a long way off.

Judgement on Gaza - The transgression singled out is "because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom".  Gaza means Philistines.  MSB references 2Ch 21:16, 17 as a possibility for what this is about.  Fire is mentioned again.  All the major cities of the Philistines are mentioned except for Gath, which had previously been destroyed by Uzziah.

Judgement on Tyre - The transgression is again"because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood".  The covenant, per MSB, goes back to Hiram helping first David in building Jerusalem and then Solomon in building the temple.  There was an alliance.  It was later "papered up" when Jezebel married Ahab.  No king of Israel ever attacked Tyre or Sidon.   Fire upon the wall the Tyre is decreed.  Alexander the Great ultimately wipes out Tyre, filling in the watery gap between the mainland and the island fortress of Tyre with stones so that he could attack it by land.

Judgement on Edom - Here is the transgression:
11 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. [Amo 1:11 ESV]
Edom continually made war on Israel, aided and abetted her enemies, and never ever got over his wrath.  MSB note says Obadiah goes into more detail on the judgement of Edom.  Edom is Seir is Esau.  Jacob's brother.  Esau as a nation never got over Jacob stealing the birthright - thought it was Esau's decision to sell it for a bowl of red soup.
2023 - This verse though:  12 So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah." [Amo 1:12 ESV].  I though Bozrah was in Iraq?  South part of Iraq?  Google maps shows about three places with similar names, none of which are down where I always thought Edom was located.  

Judgement on the Ammonites - The transgression was "ripping open the bellies of pregnant women".  Ammon was one of the two sons of Lot.  This is pretty awful, but was not uncommon in those days and among those people.  There are additional references to the practice in MSB.
Fire is mentioned again.  I think the point of the fire is that these nations will succumb to war, to invasion.  It won't be a disease that wipes them out, nor famine, nor poverty.  It will be an invasion.  It will be a brutal, painful end for most.  In the case of Ammon, its King and Princes will be taken into exile.   

Chapter 2
Judgement on Moab - Moab "burned the bones of the King of Edom".  MSB says we don't know what event this references.  It does not appear anywhere else in the Bible.  The idea is that they didn't just kill this King, they burned him to ashes so he could not receive an honorable burial.  Interesting that Moab is judged for what they did to Edom, though Edom has previously been judged for their treatment of Israel.  Moab is the other son of Lot by his eldest daughter.  The King of Moab is to be killed as are all his sons.  His line will be cut off.

Judgement on Judah - For "rejecting the law of the Lord, and not keeping his statutes".  Fire is to come.  So this judgement on Judah is prophesied well before (100-150 years before) it happens, and even before Israel falls in the north.  Fire will be the agent - that is, it will fall by invasion.
2023 - Wow.  Judah is included with these other offenders - the Philistines, Moab, Tyre...God pretty much levels things out here through Amos.  And then Israel comes right after!

Judgement on Israel - For selling the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.  They have denigrated human life to a commodity, to be bought and sold without regard for the fact that they are trading people for money.  And sometimes just for shoes.  They are soulless and driven by greed.  It keeps going.  They also sexually abuse female slaves, and they violate God's laws about goods to worship idols, in disregard of those who gave the collateral.  They commit sexual sins in the temples of idols.  Israel has the longest list of transgressions given.

2024 - This verse:
6 Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals-- [Amo 2:6 ESV]
How is this not a statement of God's position on slavery?  Israel is to fall because they trade human beings like commodities.  God's own chosen are not exempt from punishment because of this sin.  The commentaries on Bible Hub don't really even use the word "slavery".  They say it is about judges taking bribes to rule that the ones in the right in a money dispute end up sold into servitude - because the judges are corrupt.  Also says it is about how they'd sell people for a trivial price - a pair of sandals.  But the word slavery is not mentioned except in the Cambridge commentary, and even then it is not slavery itself that is condemned but the hard hearts of those who would sell people for the price of a pair of sandals.  If looked at that way, we might almost say that there is no condemnation of slavery here at all, but of devaluing human beings and of the corruption of justice.  Or...perhaps it was that while selling any man for a price is fundamentally wrong, Israel had become so jaded as to the sin they were committing that they were doing not of need or necessity but for trivial reasons.  In the OT, perhaps slavery was admitted as a necessary evil, but Israel was far past that.  Do the commentaries not mention this because of the "time" the commentaries were written?  Barnes died in 1870 in Pennsylvania.  The north.  You'd think he would mention that slavery itself is a bad idea.  

Eight judgments.  Each has a specific reason.  You could do a study on those reasons.  Some are general enough - like the last two, but the ones on Israel's enemies are different.  They have to do mostly with how those countries dealt with Israel and Judah.

Then God presents a list of the things he has done for Israel, that they should have been obligated to Him about.  He brought them out of Egypt, and yet they treat slaves this way.

It says that no amount of preparation will save them from this judgement.  Being a fast runner won't let them get away, nor will riding a fast horse.  The judgement is on all of them, and none will escape it.

Chapter 3
2022 - Amos 3:2, You only -- no other worldwide wrath, only God's great correction of his own people.

This chapter is the word of God against Israel.  First, He makes it clear that what is coming is coming from Him.  He has been offended and is about to act.  There is this very interesting verse:
7 "For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. [Amo 3:7 ESV].  Surely this was something in effect during that time, when prophets were always around.  I cannot see it in our day.  There were no prophets who foretold what Isis would do, or who foretold the six day war or any of that.  But still, an interesting verse.  On second reading, I think God is reminding them that he warned them repeatedly that wrath would eventually come, via the messages of the prophets.  He does not punish without warning.  He gives chances, time and again, for people to repent of their evil.  This is reinforced with many "cliches" about how things work.  It concludes in 6b where it says: Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it?  In our day, the warnings are in the written word of the Bible, as clarified to the spirit within His children.  We can read and understand because he reveals the depth of His teachings to us.

Here is another powerful statement in light of the riots and violence going on right now:
10 "They do not know how to do right," declares the LORD, "those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds." [Amo 3:10 ESV]
Either God changes them from the inside, or they continue in their violence.  They don't know any better!

The specifics of the judgement are in vs 11.  This will be an invasion, not fire from heaven, not that earthquake.  God is sending invaders.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered." [Amo 3:11 ESV]

This verse:
12 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. [Amo 3:12 ESV]
MSB thinks it means a small remnant will be left after the Assyrian invasion.  I think it means that what is left will be useless for any purpose.  It means Israel will be reduced to beggars, carrion eaters, scavengers of what the stronger and more able have killed and eaten and grown tired of, and discarded.

Vss 13-15 announce God's intention to destroy the false altar in Bethel, set up by Jereboam I so long ago.  That has to go.  Further, these verses say the destruction of Israel will be complete.  Not recoverable for them.

2024 - So the calves were in Bethel and Gilgal? We will see this verse tomorrow:  4 "Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days; [Amo 4:4 ESV].  Pretty much fits doesn't it?  Previously, there was this:  28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. [1Ki 12:28-29 ESV].  Is Gilgal in Dan?  Not initially.  Dan was west of Jerusalem and had some seacoast.  But remember that they relocate later to the north.  But...so far north that they do not include Gilgal in their territory.  So...was one of calves later moved to Gilgal or I am just mistaken about that?  Looked in quite a few places.  Calves in Bethel and Dan are the only one's mentioned.  Hosea says Gilgal is where Joshua and the people mistakenly trusted the travelers from a long way off, which resulted in the sparing of Canaanites who should have been killed.  It was in Gilgal that God "first began to hate Israel" because of this sin, NOT because of the calves.  

Chapter 4
2022 - He is talking to "wives", because "they say to their husbands"...
Cows of Bashan?  MSB says this is a reference to the women of Samaria, who were living in luxury.  The whole verse is thus:
1 "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, 'Bring, that we may drink!' [Amo 4:1 ESV]
Seems there's some role reversal going on here also.  We saw this earlier in Isaiah 3, where the women were doing things, in charge of things, running things, and their downfall is prophesied.  Here is an example of what Isaiah says but the chapter has much more:
16 The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, 17 therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts. [Isa 3:16-17 ESV]
In Isaiah the once haughty women will beg to be wife #7.  Women in leadership are exceptions, and there are examples down to the present time of women who were exceptional leaders.  There is no biblical prohibition of women in leadership roles - except in the church itself.  But when it gets to the point where "most" of our leaders are women, God is not happy.  He is not happy because it means men have forsaken their role, and the curse of Genesis 3 is in full swing with women dominating men.
2023 - So I am not a misogynist, I am a student of history!

2023 - In vs 3, they go out "through the breaches".  Samaria, the city, will fall to a siege after the walls are breached.  They will be marched out through the breaches, rather than the gates, to remind them that they are defeated.  War was truly hell in those days.

Vss 4, 5 are an indictment of insincere worship, of sacrifices for show and not for worship.  Of offering unacceptable sacrifices through ignorance or apathy or disregard.  God holds Israel accountable for this playing at worship as much as for their disregard of human life.

Here is something for FB:
Verses 6 through 13, the end of the chapter, list seven "chastenings", or attention getters, that God sent to let Israel know he was unhappy with them and required that they return to Him.  We should pay close attention to this list, as it is highly likely that it is God's general method for dealing with nations in revolt against Him.  Here is the list:
1, cleanness of teeth, lack of bread.  Food shortages. Serious food shortages.  It says this happened in ALL Israel's cities.  Clean teeth because no food to get them dirty.  Seems to mean famine at least, but could also mean a breakdown of the food distribution infrastructure?  We saw a hint of that when covid started.  It could get a lot worse.
2, the rain was withheld.  Weather related crop failure.  Think drought in the San Fernando Valley, currently.  If drought also hits the corn belt, then what?  2023 - Note that the drought was not nationwide.  It went city by city, field by field.  Like our rotating droughts - the Colorado river going dry this year.
3, blight and mildew, locusts.  That is, the crops that did grow were damaged and unusable, or eaten by pests.  Monocultural crops, genetically identical crops, both far more susceptible to pests and diseases than the "old way" of the truck farms.  Two things in this section.
4, pestilence, as there was in Egypt.  and young men killed by the sword.  This one is pretty easy to see in today's newspaper.  Covid and the murders in places like Chicago.  
5, Some places overthrown absolutely as were Sodom and Gomorrah.  I think it means some places were razed to the ground as examples of what might happen, and yet these object lessons were ignored.  Maybe the beginnings of things like this could be seen in Portland and other places.

Israel ignored all these warnings.  Because they will not repent given the lesser, though deadly serious and recognizable chastenings above.  So this is what God decrees:
12 "Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" [Amo 4:12 ESV]

2023 - Note in vs 9 that it talks about the locusts devouring vines and fig trees.  Joel starts with the plague of locusts.  Were Joel and Amos contemporary?  Looked at MSB intro to Joel.  There is little certainty about Joel's time, but comparisons with this book - with Amos - indicate that Joel was also during this time.

Whether the current events in this country constitute the same kind of Biblical warning that the seven items above were for Israel, I surely cannot say.  But I think we have far more in common with the Israel of that time than should be comfortable!

2024 - This seems to show that Amos had read Jeremiah...or knew him:
13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth-- the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name! [Amo 4:13 ESV]
2 "Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it--the LORD is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. [Jer 33:2-3 ESV]

Chapter 5
Seems Israel is to get yet another opportunity to repent.  Amos is almost trying to scare them in to it as he talks about the power of God and the vengeance He is more than willing to send if things do not change.  He indicts them for their treatment of the poor, for injustice, for taking bribes.  This is a corrupt culture, with an oppressive upper class enriching themselves by taxing the poor.  On this second reading, in 2020, I do see this as a lot more characteristic of the US.  The poverty that results from accepted cultural failures like fatherless homes, crime, and antagonism toward law enforcement is being used to incite chaos designed to put those who would oppress in power against the wishes of the majority of the country.  So many possible examples - exploitation of children, exploitation of those living in poverty, the powerful behaving as if they are above the law - Epstein and his island and all the rich and famous people who frequented that place...all examples of spiritual corruption in high places!  It is that same old thing...the closer you are to prophecy being fulfilled, the more you begin to see that fulfillment in current circumstances.  It becomes incredibly easy to recognize.  I read this about prophecy in Revelations, but here it is in Amos, and I see the US being the country this prophecy is about.  Though Amos was not writing about the US, the warnings, the escalation, the urging toward repentance...why would we think God would treat us any differently than he treated Israel?  We are as apostate as they were.

Here is a description of God, of His power and his person.  It reminds me very much of a passage in Proverbs...but I cannot put my finger on just where exactly it is.  I need to find and put the reference in.  Here is God:
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name; [Amo 5:8 ESV]

Vss 10-13 talk about the fate coming to the soulless, to those who have enriched themselves on the backs of the poor, downtrodden, and helpless.  How are to react when this comes?  This amazing verse:
13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time. [Amo 5:13 ESV]
Possible FB Post

18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, [Amo 5:18 ESV]
This seems to be an admonition to the righteous who remain about the danger of wishing for God's vengeance.  MSB says it is the wicked who are wishing for justice, and not rightfully so.  But aren't we all wicked in the eyes of God?  No one in their right mind wishes for the wrath of God to come down.  Second reading, maybe this is a warning to those of us who pray for the downfall of the evil.  Mightn't we end up caught in the same storm?  Hmm...I think I'll go with MSB's interpretation...though I'm not so sure about it.  Vs. 13 just warned us to be silent, because it is an evil time, and then it tells us to be careful about asking for the day of the Lord, because it is NOT a good time!)
Another good one for FB.
MSB says Damascus fell to Assyria in 732 BC, Israel 10 years later in 722 BC.  So even after these warnings from Amos, Israel continued for quite a while.  They would have no excuse for not repenting.  They were given plenty of time.  By human standards, they were given excessive time.
2022 - Vs 18, The "Day of the Lord" is darkness and not light.  As in the sun is like sackcloth, moon turned to blood, and stars falling?  That's going to be a pretty dark day.  So this seems to be a near/far.

2024 - Look at this description of the day of the Lord:
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, 19 as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. [Amo 5:18-19 ESV].
While it is most likely that Amos had the invasion of Assyria in mind here, I would expect the same description, the same metaphors, to apply in "the great and terrible day of the Lord" that is yet future.  Look at it.  The picture of of normalcy, calm, routine, security, and confidence.  The reality is that you will identify the enemy and run from that one, right into the jaws of a different enemy in another direction.  Or you will go into your own house and lock the door, and die of snake bite.  In both cases what is perceived as right action, or what is perceived as refuge, will be what kills us.  There will be NO safety, NO refuge, NOWHERE to run.  Every attempt to save ourselves will lead directly to our death.  ALL DECISIONS WILL BE WRONG!  No one wants to be caught in such a situation.

2022 - Vs 21, ""I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies." [Amo 5:21 ESV]
Would God EVER say this about saved people?

2022 - vs 22 - "Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them." [Amo 5:22 ESV]
I will not accept your offerings...from the saved?  No way God says this to the saved!

2022 - vs 26 - "You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god--your images that you made for yourselves," [Amo 5:26 ESV]
"and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts." [Amo 5:27 ESV]
These are not God-worshipers.  They worship idols!  This is not "back slid" this is pagan!


(((I noticed yesterday that my notes have overlapped.  I am on the second time through of note taking.  I need to combine these.  No need to do this over and over.
Or maybe I do.  Just went back and looked at previous notes.  They are far less involved.  Maybe four sentences for a whole morning of reading.)))

((I really got a lot from these chapters in 2020.  I decided to just give them the time, and not worry about other things on my agenda for today.  I am so glad that I yielded to the word and not to the flesh - I can run my 5K any time!)

Chapter 6
Starts with a "woe" to those comfortable in Judah and Israel, who think they are safe and protected.  Look to nearby nations, and see if you are any different.  Are you better than these?  If not, why would you feel so safe?

A second woe in vs. 4.  This one is about those who eat, drink, and are merry, and do not grieve for the state of Israel or Judah.  These are people who have wealth and comfort and are awash in leisure time.  They have servants to fill every need, they have the best of food and drink, and they have no concern at all about the state of their country, about the anger of their God, but look only to themselves.  This says they will be first into captivity.
2023 - Hmm...this is interesting.  We see in vs 4 that a woe goes out, and then the reasons for it are given.  Look at vs 5...
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, [Amo 6:5 ESV].  This appears to be a direct indictment of instrumental music.  I have never heard of it.  I have never noticed it before.  There is some variation of translation in other  Bibles, but the majority state it this way.  How interesting...

8 The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: "I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it." [Amo 6:8 ESV]
This seems fairly permanent.  Assyria takes Israel (Samaria) about 10 years later or so.  They had more than enough time to repent.  Look how quickly and totally Ninevah repented.  But Israel did not.

Then this verse:
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. [Amo 6:9 ESV]
The invaders will be so intent on killing those in Israel, so thorough in wiping out the inhabitants, that they will take the time to search out groups as small as 10 in hiding, and kill them.  This will be an intense  conquest, leaving no stone un-turned in order to be complete.  Perhaps to prevent any later retaliation or rebellion.

And here is another that leaves little doubt:
14 "For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel," declares the LORD, the God of hosts; "and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah." [Amo 6:14 ESV]

"Do horses run on rocks?", "Do you plow the sea with oxen"?  "You rejoice in Lo-debar".  Lo-debar means "nothing".  They were full of pride and thought all the good that came to them was their own doing.  They are pleased with their success, and have forgotten God, and all his commands.

Chapter 7
Amos sees two visions of devastation coming.  First, locust that would devour the land, and all that was green.  Famine would come.  Amos prays for it to not be so, and God relents.  The second time, Amos sees fire, devouring the deep and eating the land.  Amos prays again and God relents.  The third vision is of a plumb line.  Of God's standard.  This time, God will not relent.  Israel must be "plumb", or God will judge it.  God has agreed not to send locusts, and not to send fire - perhaps in this case meaning wildfire that would have razed the land to nothing.  These judgments would have been against crops, and starved them out, reduced them to poverty.  But God relents on these two matters, and then this verse:
8 And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; [Amo 7:8 ESV]
It is like a reset, with conditions.  The reset takes away the punishments that God had in mind up to that time.  He decides, at Amos' prayers, to relent.  HOWEVER, the standard goes back to full plumb.  There will be no further deviation allowed, this is the LAST TIME that God will relent.  If they don't change, essentially immediately, then God says He will never "pass by them" again.  They get what they earn from here on.
2022 - Three visions.  Locusts, fire, both stayed at Amos' pleading.  Plumb line - standard set.  Stay plumb or He will never "pass" by them again.  No more remitting.  From here, what God starts as punishment will go on as punishment.

2024 - Note that all these prophecies seem to be for Amos' own time, and are against Israel specifically.  There may be principles here as to how God works, but I don't believe we are seeing any unfulfilled prophecy here.

Vs 10 on, a priest to the golden calf in Bethel tells King Jereboam (I or II?  II I think) that Amos is over the top.  King insists that Amos leave Israel for Judah and bother them instead.
Amos replies to Amaziah, says Amaziah's wife will be a prostitute, his children die by the sword, and his land will be divided - parceled out - to others.  Amaziah will die elsewhere, in a place unclean.  Israel into exile.

2024 - Did Amaziah misrepresent what Amos had actually said by tell Jereboam that he was prophesied to die by the sword?  Not sure Amos said exactly that.  
Here is what I found:
29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place. [2Ki 14:29 ESV].  Doesn't say he didn't die of the sword, but it surely doesn't look like he did.  

Amaziah, priest of Bethel (where one of the calves was worshiped) sends word to Jereboam II that Amos' words are not to be tolerated.  

2023 - We have not seen Amos say the things of which Amaziah the priest accuses him before Jereboam.  Amaziah puts these words in Amos' mouth:  11 For thus Amos has said, "'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'" [Amo 7:11 ESV].  Amos may have said this at one time - that is sort of his message in the whole book - but he didn't say it in this chapter.

Amaziah - NOT Jereboam - orders Amos to go live in Judah and do his prophesying there.  Amos replies he who was a shepherd and no prophet at all has been called to Israel.  Instead of backing down, he makes this prophecy against Amaziah:
17 Therefore thus says the LORD: "'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'" [Amo 7:17 ESV]
This seems to be directed at Amaziah himself, and his family.  This would have been a very unwelcome prophecy in light of the King's order that Amos leave Israel entirely (no, it was not that King that ordered this.  It was Amaziah, first lying to the King about what Amos had prophesied, then lying to Amos as to what the King wanted done about it.  Amaziah is pretty much a liar all around.  We ought not be surprised by his fate), and Bethel, the King's sanctuary, in particular.  What a horrible prophecy.

Chapter 8
As chapter seven started with visions that God showed Amos, so does this chapter, leading right into a pronouncement that the end has come, and that there will be many dead bodies.

vss 4-6 are about greed displacing worship.  They want the new moon feasts and the sabbath to be over so they can go back to cheating the poor with their commerce.  They use false balances and false measures to make the poor overpay for what they get.  Like making ice cream cartons 3 pints instead of a half gallon.  All the containers are getting smaller, but the prices stay the same or go up.  Here, it is not individuals, but corporations that are being so greedy.  The principle is the same.  The rich are cheating the poor to increase their wealth.  God does not care for this.  In Israel's case, they resent any and all religious activities because they are not allowed to cheat people with their daily buying and selling during the festivals.  In our terms, they hate the blue laws and all that they stand for.

Sections starting at verse 9, 11, and 13 seem to be about "that day".  Hard to tell from the text if this is about the coming Assyrian invasion, or about the end times.  It says a time is coming when there will be a famine of God's words.  This could be the 400 year inter-testamentary period.  Or it could be end times.

An interesting note on vs 9 from MSB:
9 "And on that day," declares the Lord GOD, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. [Amo 8:9 ESV]  This likely referred to the total solar eclipse of 763 BC (three years after that big earthquake) as a picture of God's coming judgment.  This is possible, but I think it more likely referred to a truly supernatural darkening of the sky.  Only God makes changes in the heavens.  Satan is prevented from this.  Signs in the heavens are God's signs and His alone.  These cannot be faked, even in the end times.
2024 - Note also that the events described would need more than a single day to occur.  So "on that day" refers to a period of time here.  We have seen t his before.

2024 - Vss 11-12 could about Amos' day.  No word, no prophet in Israel as the Assyrians bear down on them.  Perhaps Amos and all others like him are gone by the time Assyria actually begins to march toward Israel.  In their fear,  they finally seek God, but God is nowhere to be found.  I think this kind of thing still happens.  This prophecy in Amos is about those days.  I believe this prophecy is complete, not about end times.

Chapter 9
The final vision given to Amos.  He sees God beside the altar in Bethel, in that false temple, and God commands that it be destroyed, and fall in on the "worshipers" inside.  Perhaps some will take refuge there as the Assyrians invade.

2022 - Vs 7, Israel, Philistia, and Syria all moved up from Cush (Egypt) to the Middle East??  Migrated from there?  So they originated as the sons of Ham.  These did NOT come over from Mesopotamia to settle this part of the world!

In 2-10, God makes it clear that his anger is directed against a people, not a place.  He says these people will pay, where ever they may try to hide.  He will find them, and they will die.  Israel never returned from Assyria.  They were scattered, and stayed scattered, unlike Judah when their time comes.  vss 9,10 are similar.  None of Israel will escape this coming judgement.  None.  (but don't forget that verse from yesterday, that talked about recovering legs or ears only from the lion's mouth.  Perhaps some small remnant will yet be recovered, even after this judgement.  It almost has to be given the division of the land described in Ezekiel.  All the tribes are represented.  All then must have descendants.  At least it seems that way to me.)

Vss 11, 12 seem to be about the Millennial.  The House of David to be rebuilt as in the days of old.  This hasn't happened.  From Amos' time until now, Israel has not enjoyed the place among the nations of the world that it did in David's day.  This only comes with the return to Israel, beginning at the Tribulation and continuing through the Millennial reign.

Then vss 13-15 say that "the days are coming" when Israel will return, and rebuild, and never again have to leave.  Surely that refers to the Millennial?  And then these verses:
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them," says the LORD your God. [Amo 9:14-15 ESV]
So there will be a remnant of the northern kingdom that is also preserved.  They have been in exile a very long time, yet God still knows where they are, and from whom they are descended.  The 12 tribes are all still there, and the promises to Abraham will be fulfilled.

This book is inserted after 2Chron23, which is after a quick succession of Kings (and a Queen) in Judah.  Jehoshaphat, a very good King dies, and his son Jehoram goes far the other way, and is followed by Ahaziah who is at least as bad, and then Ahaziah's Mother takes over when Ahaziah dies.  Jehoiada the priest steps up and declares Joash King in Chapter 23.  Joash, with Jehoiada, returns the people to God and destroys Baal worship in Jerusalem.  Ahab has just died in Israel, and his son Ahaziah becomes King, but only for two years.  This is in the last chapter of 1Kings(22).  So both Israel and Judah had Kings named Ahaziah, and at about the same time.  In my chronological reading, Obadiah comes right in here.  My guess is that it is right about in here that one of the Kings of Judah or Israel is going to wipe out Edom.

MSB book notes says Obadiah was likely concurrent with Elijah and Elisha - but we really are not certain.  The book is about Edom's attack on Jerusalem in vvs 10-14.  There were four significant invasions of Jerusalem in OT history.
1)  by Shishak, king of Egypt, ca 925 BC during the reign of Rehoboam.
2)  by the Philistines and Arabians between 848-841 BC during the reign of Jehoram of Judah
3)  by Jehoash, king of Israel, ca 790 BC
4)  by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.  
MSB says only 2 or 4 fit with the historical data.  Several reasons are given in the MSB notes to favor 2 as the one Obadiah is writing about.  Of particular note is that Obadiah does not mention Babylon by name, as other prophets did, does not mention destruction of the Temple, and does not mention that the people were carried away as slaves.  So this more or less explains why it appears here in the chronological Bible.  The story of the invasion by the Arabians was in a recent chapter, already covered.
2021- Perhaps this is the list to look at when determining what fall of Jerusalem Asaph is talking about in earlier Psalms tagged Jerusalem Falls!

The book opens with "The vision of Obadiah."  The title says it is about Edom being humbled.  First place that is apparent is vs 3, where it says it is to those who live in the cleft of the rocks, are very proud, and who think they cannot be brought down from their lofty places.  Cleft of the Rocks can also be translated Sela.  (((Found this on the "Bible Study Tools" site.

Sela[N] [H]
=Se'lah, rock, the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea ( 2 Kings 14:7 ). It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin. It is called "the rock" ( Judges 1:36 ). When Amaziah took it he called it Joktheel (q.v.) It is mentioned by the prophets ( Isaiah 16:1 ; Obadiah 1:3 ) as doomed to destruction.
It appears in later history and in the Vulgate Version under the name of Petra. "The caravans from all ages, from the interior of Arabia and from the Gulf of Persia, from Hadramaut on the ocean, and even from Sabea or Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common centre; and from Petra the tide seems again to have branched out in every direction, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and by other routes, terminating at the Mediterranean." (See EDOM [2].)  Not really any doubt that this is about Edom.  This is Petra, so when it talks about them thinking they are unassailable, think Petra.)))

Second stanza seems to imply that Edom has been undermined by those who behave as if they are friends, and Edom is just too proud, too blind to see what is coming.  
The next is a two verse stanza where God is speaking and He says he will cut off by slaughter every man from Mt. Esau.  Every man.  This implies that it will cease to exist as a nation.  In vs 9, Edom is also referred to as Teman.  I wonder if this is the same as "...from Teman and Paran"?  Edom is Esau, who scorned his birthright.  The Bible said some really nasty things about him back in Genesis I believe it was.  After x hundreds of years, Esau's end is finally coming to pass.  It is interesting that Esau started all this, but the text makes it clear that the current inhabitants of Edom are deserving also of what is to come.  I also believe that Edom will come back at the end, it will be inhabited in the Millennial.  I believe there are prophecies to this effect, but I also remember that Isaac blessed both Jacob, and then Esau as best he could.  I believe God will ultimately honor that blessing.

The next stanza is titled "Edom's Violence against Jacob".  This recounts all the times through history that Esau himself, and then his descendants, failed to support his brother Jacob, or by reference Jerusalem.  Edom has stood by when Jerusalem was attacked and looted, and when the people of Jerusalem fled, Edom stopped them on the road so that their enemies could enslave them.  Edom kept them from escaping.  Though Edom did not participate directly, they played the part of an enemy.  MSB goes still further.  Says Edom later was called Idumea, and King Herod, who judged Jesus, was an Idumean.  It was when Jerusalem fell in 586 BC that Edom rejoiced in her downfall, and turned back those fleeing from her.  Again per MSB, the Idumeans fought with the Jews in Jerusalem in 70 AD against Titus.
2022 - This verse:
"On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them." [Oba 1:11 ESV]
This is a pretty specific description.  It must be this verse that generated the list of 4 invasions above, the only four where foreign conquerors actually entered the city of Jerusalem.  Casting lots would seem to indicate that an alliance did this, rather than one nation.  It is a puzzle...but this is the clue.

The next stanza talks about the day of the Lord coming.  All nations will be judged.  Justice will be done at last.  In this day, Mt. Zion shall stand be a fire and a flame.  But in vs 18, "...there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau...".

Last stanza: Prophesies of things to come.  About who will be where.  Could probably spend another hour on these 3 long verses.