Today's Scripture Reading (February 15, 2023): Amos 7
In his song "Stronger
Beer," Canadian country singer Tim Hicks explains the differences between
the United States and their northern neighbor, Canada. Admittedly, many
differences between the two countries are marginal, but Hicks lists them anyway.
We eat Smarties you eat M&M's
You think all our money looks pretend
Ya, we got Bryan Adams but, hey you got Bruce
Springsteen
We can drink in bars when we're just nineteen
As you can tell, the song
evolves around the idea that drinking alcohol is easier and more profitable, as
defined by the ability to get drunk north of the United States/Canada border.
But maybe it is also about how we categorize our national Identities, even if
most of the ways we like to identify ourselves are shallow. For instance, Hicks
highlights the differences between Canadian and American Football, including a
larger field, bigger footballs, and one less down for the Canadian version of
the game. But it also asks a good question: How do we see our nations? Do
Americans identify themselves by their superiority? Do they really think the
United States is a better place to live than anywhere else in the world? Does a
massive inferiority complex really characterize Canadians? Or are these things
artifacts of our national situations? What really does describe us, regardless
of where we live?
Amos uses different language
as he speaks of what God will do and some interesting names. He starts with the
"high places of Isaac." Normally, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
would identify either with Israel or Jacob, the one for whom the nation was
named, or sometimes all three patriarchs, as in saying the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. But rarely would they identify with Isaac alone, yet Amos
specifically calls the high places as being "of Isaac." And likely,
this is because the nation had somehow identified with the patriarch Isaac.
There was something about Isaac that the people began to think resembled them.
After Amos mentions "the
high places of Isaac," he moves on to the "sanctuaries of Israel."
Amos is not pointing at the Temple in Jerusalem, but the other places that had
sprung up to worship other gods in the countryside throughout both of the
Kingdoms.
Lastly, the prophet speaks of God opposing "the
House of Jeroboam." As a Royal House, the House of Jeroboam lasted for a
very short time. Jeroboam's House lasted for twenty-four years and included
only two kings, Jeroboam and his son, Nadab. So, it is unlikely that Amos was
speaking of the actual "House of Jeroboam," which was long gone by
the time Amos was born. Rather, Amos is pointing at the legacy of Jeroboam.
Specifically, Amos argues that Jeroboam was responsible for dividing the nation
of Israel into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and that the King was responsible
for the birth of religious cults found in the north and a break with the God
who had brought Israel out of Egypt.
Amos wants his audience to
recognize that God was big enough to remove all these things. And not only
could he do it, but God would do it at some point in the future.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Amos 8
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