Amos

What I found particularly interesting in this chapter was the repetition of promises God made. He understood of a certain population of a city committed three transgressions, but had they committed a fourth, he would not forgive them. This theme of God being ok with three but not with four occurs many times throughout the book of Amos. Throughout this chapter, I noticed that there was quite a bit of violent imagery associated with God, which goes against the traditional depiction of God that is displayed often in the New Testament, and often in contemporary protestant teachings. Also throughout this chapter, God seems to be angry with literally all the people of every town and city. Even Israel, the holy land, God says he will strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left he will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away not one of them shall escape. In Amos chapter 5, God speaks of how the Israelite’s false gods will all come to nothing, and he will destroy them. He states that if you seek the LORD, you will live. Even throughout this extreme righteous anger, God still gives a way out to those who desire to follow him. God says 

“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.”

To me, this last quote seems to be a glimmer of hope for the Israelites who have wronged God via the worship of false Gods or other sins. I find this last excerpt interesting, and the idea of this extremely angry God to be a bit challenging. I think it would be interesting to discuss in class the topic of righteous anger