Friday 30 May 2014
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!" (v.1)
Background
Verses 1 to 3 address the rich women of Samaria. It is perhapssurprising to hear them described as cows, but this shouldn'tnecessarily be considered as an insult (as it would in English) buta reference to their excesses. Bashan was a fertile area to theeast of the Jordan and was renowned for its well-fed qualitycattle. By relating the women to cows Amos is drawing attention totheir luxury and fine living.
These women don't directly oppress the poor and helpless as theywouldn't have been in positions of leadership. But they benefitfrom the results of that oppression, staying at home calling outfor drink. They live off the spoils of injustice, and are thereforejust as guilty as those directly responsible. So their comeuppancewill be just as severe (verses 2-3).
Verses 4 and 5 are full of irony - Amos is inviting the peopleto exhibit their corruption and sinfulness, in places which God'shelp had been seen. Bethel was where Jacob had dreamt of the ladderof angels between heaven and earth and where God had promised togive the land to Jacob and his descendants (
And that's before we even get to Amos talking about God's use ofnatural world to try and bring the Israelites to heel ...
To Ponder
- What place does irony or sarcasm play in proclaiming the wordof God?
- To what extent do you benefit from the result of injustice andinequality? What could you do to make a stand against this?