Weekly Bible Study - Amos 8:4-7

22 September 2013
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Injustice, immorality, complacency, corruption.  Sound like today’s headlines? These are the very practices that the prophet Amos preached against in the 8th century B.C.!

So what manner of man (or woman, in some cases) was a prophet in ancient Israel? It is a common misconception that the role of these religious leaders was to foretell a future event.  (Many Old Testament prophecies do, in fact, reach their greatest fulfillment in the New Testament, but they were always directed first to an immediate purpose in their own time.)

Let’s examine some of the characteristics of these “gadflies” who often irritated the religious sensibilities of God’s people.

With an ear inclined to God, the eye of the prophet was always on society. The prophet's words were often an indictment against faithlessness, corruption and the kind of exploitation of the poor we see in today’s first reading. Acting as God’s messenger, the prophet said “no” to societal corruption, condemning bad habits, waywardness, and sprawling pride. The prophetic word is often designed to shock rather than edify us.

 

The "corporate" dimension of the prophet’s message often rang out as well: few may be guilty, but all are responsible! The greedy merchants of today’s reading may be tipping the scales and cheating the poor, but those who stand back and watch are just as complicit. Society was constantly called to task for its empty observance of God’s commandments as not reflected in love of neighbor.

Lest we think of prophecy only in terms of “doom and gloom,” we need also to recognize that in many ways Christ patterned himself after the prophets. Like the prophets, Jesus sought to reconcile humanity with God, calling the faithful to their covenant roots.

The prophetic message was often a message of warning, but prophets also provided words of comfort and consolation, promise and hope to a people struggling to find redemption.

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.