Amos Chapters 6 - 9 Q&A: Bible Study by Atheists

[00:00:00] Welcome to Sacrilegious Discourse.

[00:00:01] For this is what the Sovereign Lord says!

[00:00:03] Why do you need prophets to tell people who you are and what you want?

[00:00:07] If you can justify everything that the God of the Bible has done, then you can justify any of your behavior.

[00:00:14] A lot of this mentality is trickling into what is now mainstream right-wing Christianity.

[00:00:21] I am capable of empathy greater than this God of the Bible.

[00:00:26] This is a Bible that they tell kids.

[00:00:29] This is the good Lord.

[00:00:31] This is the good book.

[00:00:32] He is fantasizing about murder, mass murder.

[00:00:37] Head over to Sacrilegious Discourse.com right now to find out how to leave us a review or support us on Patreon.

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[00:01:22] Wife!

[00:01:23] Guess what happened to us?

[00:01:25] We didn't do an episode?

[00:01:26] No, we finished Amos.

[00:01:29] Oh, that bit.

[00:01:29] That bit, yeah.

[00:01:30] No, we finished Amos.

[00:01:32] But that's not what we're here to talk about today.

[00:01:34] And then we skipped a couple days.

[00:01:35] But you know, yeah, here we are.

[00:01:36] We finished Amos.

[00:01:37] And we're doing a Q&A.

[00:01:38] We're doing a Q&A.

[00:01:39] But this is not like the wrap-up one.

[00:01:41] No.

[00:01:41] This is the one over the actual chapters we read, right?

[00:01:43] Yeah, chapter six through nine.

[00:01:45] Okay.

[00:01:46] You ready to get into this?

[00:01:47] I mean, am I?

[00:01:49] Yes, you are.

[00:01:50] Yes, yes I am.

[00:01:51] All right, let's do this.

[00:01:52] Okie dokie.

[00:01:58] All right, we are here to do a wrap-up.

[00:02:02] Yeah.

[00:02:02] Just kidding.

[00:02:03] It's not a wrap-up.

[00:02:04] It's a Q&A.

[00:02:05] Oh yeah.

[00:02:06] What the fuck?

[00:02:07] You're just throwing me all off here.

[00:02:08] And you look green.

[00:02:09] Well, I just assumed you wouldn't, you know, say the wrong thing.

[00:02:13] And I assumed that you would correct me when I did.

[00:02:15] Well, you know.

[00:02:16] Shame on both of us.

[00:02:17] I didn't expect to have my correcting hat on the first like ten seconds of the podcast.

[00:02:22] Uh, three, sir.

[00:02:23] Yeah, my bad.

[00:02:24] Three seconds.

[00:02:24] My bad.

[00:02:24] Yeah, we're doing the Q&A over chapters six through nine of Amos.

[00:02:30] Amos, yeah.

[00:02:31] The book which we have finished.

[00:02:33] And I just keep being so excited to get to the wrap-up.

[00:02:37] But no, we're doing a Q&A.

[00:02:38] Yes, we're doing a Q&A.

[00:02:40] So, chapter six starts out with like, whoa, to the pride of Jacob.

[00:02:45] Yeah.

[00:02:46] And the destruction of Israel.

[00:02:47] Okay?

[00:02:48] Okay.

[00:02:48] So, here's the thing.

[00:02:50] Where's chapter five was condemning the conduct of worship in Israel without justice?

[00:02:56] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:57] In chapter six, we're taken from the public worship of the people to the private banquets

[00:03:03] of the rich.

[00:03:04] Okay.

[00:03:05] But only in order to have their security and extravagance contrasted with the pestilence,

[00:03:12] the war, and the captivity that are rapidly approaching.

[00:03:15] I see.

[00:03:16] So, you guys are living in real fancy stuff now, but it's about to get not good for you.

[00:03:22] Like, you better enjoy those grapes and those bonbons or whatever.

[00:03:26] Because shit be coming.

[00:03:27] Yeah.

[00:03:27] I mean, it's always coming because it's God.

[00:03:28] Right.

[00:03:29] Obviously.

[00:03:30] So, Israel's leaders deceive themselves that the nation is secure.

[00:03:34] They live prosperously and see no possibility of any immediate crisis.

[00:03:39] Because they're like, what?

[00:03:40] These are mine.

[00:03:40] I call bullshit on that.

[00:03:42] Like, okay.

[00:03:43] To say that they don't see any crisis on the horizon with these warring factions out there.

[00:03:48] Yeah.

[00:03:48] Seems a little over the top when you're saying that they don't have any idea.

[00:03:52] But to live, you know, the way you live in the meantime is also not unusual.

[00:03:56] Like, hey, well, they're coming, but I still have my parties.

[00:04:00] Okay, no.

[00:04:00] I'm going to push back on that.

[00:04:01] Okay.

[00:04:01] Because we literally just lived through people in today with social media, even not having

[00:04:09] a fucking clue the difference between Harris and Trump.

[00:04:13] Right?

[00:04:13] They had no idea what's going on.

[00:04:15] They're not paying attention to the news.

[00:04:17] They don't know.

[00:04:18] Okay.

[00:04:19] And they're just living their lives.

[00:04:20] They're going to work.

[00:04:21] They're going out to the movies, whatever the fuck they're doing that lets them not be

[00:04:25] watching the news.

[00:04:26] Right.

[00:04:26] To where.

[00:04:27] Oblivious.

[00:04:28] Yeah.

[00:04:28] Oblivious.

[00:04:29] Right.

[00:04:29] Choice fully choosing oblivious.

[00:04:33] And that's what these people are doing.

[00:04:35] They might have the opportunity and means to know better because they are rich.

[00:04:40] Yeah.

[00:04:40] Obviously.

[00:04:41] Right.

[00:04:41] They have grapes and shit.

[00:04:43] Right?

[00:04:43] Yeah.

[00:04:43] Grapes.

[00:04:44] They're laying on their fucking couches and, you know, whatever else we read in chapter

[00:04:48] five that I can't remember.

[00:04:50] Yeah.

[00:04:50] Right.

[00:04:50] So they have the ability to know better, but they choose not to.

[00:04:55] Right.

[00:04:56] So that's, that's my take on it.

[00:04:58] Okay.

[00:04:58] So when you say, oh, they might not know.

[00:05:00] I'm like, yeah, willful, willful ignorance.

[00:05:03] Okay.

[00:05:03] It cannot be excused in my opinion.

[00:05:04] I mean, there's no way to actually know, but yeah.

[00:05:06] I mean, either.

[00:05:07] It does sound plausible also that way.

[00:05:09] So, well, I mean, you were the one saying that, oh, I think they knew.

[00:05:13] And I'm saying maybe they chose not to know.

[00:05:15] That's what I'm saying.

[00:05:16] Either way sounds good.

[00:05:17] Okay.

[00:05:17] I think that that's a valid reason.

[00:05:20] Oh my God.

[00:05:20] I think I might've just won an argument with you.

[00:05:23] Wow.

[00:05:24] That's so great.

[00:05:25] Somebody out there notate it.

[00:05:27] Yeah.

[00:05:27] It feels really good.

[00:05:28] Mark it down on the notes.

[00:05:29] I feel like that was a strong argument I had though.

[00:05:31] Okay.

[00:05:32] And I got to fuck with Trump.

[00:05:34] Nice.

[00:05:35] Right.

[00:05:35] It's like a double win.

[00:05:36] I know, right?

[00:05:37] Yeah.

[00:05:37] All right.

[00:05:38] So Amos compares Israel to her pagan neighbors.

[00:05:41] Remember when he's like, fuck those, fuck these, fuck them.

[00:05:45] Yeah.

[00:05:46] Yeah.

[00:05:46] All the nations suck.

[00:05:47] Right.

[00:05:48] Right.

[00:05:48] We're proving his people for indulging themselves in luxurious ease and for making alliances

[00:05:54] with their powerful, idolatrous neighbors.

[00:05:56] Okay.

[00:05:57] And that takes us, we're going to start with verse two, go to Calna and look at it, go

[00:06:03] from there to great Hamath and then go down to Gath in Philistia.

[00:06:08] Are they better off than your two kingdoms?

[00:06:10] Is their land larger than yours?

[00:06:12] And we were like, what the fuck is a Calna?

[00:06:15] What's a Hamath?

[00:06:16] What's a Gath?

[00:06:17] And what?

[00:06:18] Why?

[00:06:19] What?

[00:06:19] Do you remember?

[00:06:20] Right.

[00:06:20] Yeah.

[00:06:20] Okay.

[00:06:21] So Calna is an ancient city founded by Nimrod.

[00:06:25] Ooh.

[00:06:25] Right?

[00:06:26] He always pops up when you least expect it.

[00:06:30] That's what Nimrods do.

[00:06:32] That is true.

[00:06:33] It is true.

[00:06:34] It is true.

[00:06:35] So Calna is an ancient city founded by Nimrod in the land of Shinar after the flood, likely

[00:06:41] located somewhere in the southern part of Mesopotamia between the modern day cities of Baghdad and Samara

[00:06:49] in Iraq.

[00:06:50] Likely meaning we don't actually know because the city no longer exists and we haven't actually

[00:06:54] found it archaeologically.

[00:06:56] Right.

[00:06:56] Okay.

[00:06:57] Yeah.

[00:06:57] I just wanted to clarify that.

[00:06:58] But based on what we know about it, all the different clues point to somewhere in this

[00:07:03] like definitely not the Americas.

[00:07:05] Right.

[00:07:06] Yeah.

[00:07:06] Yeah.

[00:07:07] And definitely not in say India or like Japan.

[00:07:11] Sure.

[00:07:11] You know what I mean?

[00:07:12] Like, I think that was a yeah.

[00:07:14] Yes.

[00:07:14] That was a given already.

[00:07:15] Right.

[00:07:15] I'm just saying like they can narrow it down even within the country to probably somewhere

[00:07:19] between these two cities somewhere.

[00:07:21] Okay.

[00:07:21] Okay.

[00:07:22] So Hamas was a city not to be confused with Hamas.

[00:07:26] Okay.

[00:07:28] Right.

[00:07:28] I'm saying Hamas.

[00:07:29] Right.

[00:07:30] Was a city on the Orontes in Syria.

[00:07:34] I'm assuming that's a river.

[00:07:36] It's a river.

[00:07:37] Very good.

[00:07:37] The fall of the Hittite Empire during the Iron Age saw the Neo-Hittite Aramaean city

[00:07:44] of Hamas named as the capital of one of the prosperous states known as Hamas, which

[00:07:51] traded extensively, particularly with Israel and Judah.

[00:07:54] Hmm.

[00:07:55] Hamas today, today.

[00:07:58] Yeah.

[00:07:59] Is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west central Syria.

[00:08:04] It is located 132 miles north of Damascus.

[00:08:09] And it is the provident, provincial capital city of Hamas governorate.

[00:08:16] Gov governorate.

[00:08:18] Gov governorate.

[00:08:19] Governorate.

[00:08:21] Yeah, I don't.

[00:08:21] That one.

[00:08:22] Governorate.

[00:08:23] Governor.

[00:08:24] Governorate.

[00:08:25] Yeah.

[00:08:26] Yeah.

[00:08:26] Yeah.

[00:08:27] With a population of 996,000 people, according to the 2023 census, Hamas is the fourth largest

[00:08:36] city in Syria after Damascus.

[00:08:39] Okay.

[00:08:40] Aleppo and Horns.

[00:08:41] Got it.

[00:08:42] Okay.

[00:08:42] Yep.

[00:08:42] So it's, it's one of those.

[00:08:44] It's very populous.

[00:08:45] Yeah.

[00:08:45] Yeah.

[00:08:45] Which is amazing.

[00:08:46] Like, oh, okay.

[00:08:48] Hello, Bible city.

[00:08:50] I see you.

[00:08:51] Sure.

[00:08:51] Okay.

[00:08:52] Now, Gath, that was the other one that was mentioned in that verse.

[00:08:55] Okay.

[00:08:55] Yeah.

[00:08:56] Gath was one of the five main cities of Philistia during the Iron Age.

[00:09:00] It was located in northeastern Philistia, close to the border of Judah.

[00:09:05] It was one of the last refuges of the Anakim in front of the conquering Israelites under

[00:09:11] Joshua.

[00:09:12] Which was the giants.

[00:09:13] The giants.

[00:09:14] Yeah.

[00:09:14] Yeah.

[00:09:15] The Anakim were the halfy halves, right?

[00:09:19] Yeah.

[00:09:19] The half angel guys or something like that.

[00:09:21] There was some tie in with that, but it wasn't necessarily like they were just,

[00:09:25] they were just giant people.

[00:09:27] Maybe.

[00:09:27] Sort of.

[00:09:28] Yeah.

[00:09:28] Yeah.

[00:09:29] So Gath was either subdued during the days of prophet Samuel or by King David.

[00:09:35] Although the first book of Kings states that in the time of King Solomon, it was still

[00:09:40] ruled by a Philistine king named Ashish.

[00:09:43] Hmm.

[00:09:44] Of course, King Ashish is mentioned as the ruler of Gath for the times of Saul, David and

[00:09:49] Solomon, making it uncertain whether this refers to two or more kings of the same name.

[00:09:55] I see.

[00:09:56] Like we don't know.

[00:09:57] Yeah.

[00:09:57] That would be a long serving king otherwise.

[00:09:59] Right?

[00:09:59] Yeah.

[00:10:00] Gath was also the home city of the Philistine giant Goliath and his brothers.

[00:10:06] Yes.

[00:10:06] As well as of Itai Hagiti, one of King David's generals.

[00:10:12] Hmm.

[00:10:13] Okay.

[00:10:13] And his 600 soldiers who aided the king in his exile from his son Absalom.

[00:10:18] I remember that.

[00:10:20] Yeah.

[00:10:20] Like he was hiding amongst them.

[00:10:21] He was.

[00:10:22] Yeah.

[00:10:22] David, while running from Saul, escaped to Gath and served under its king Ashish.

[00:10:28] Yeah.

[00:10:28] Like, oh, I forgot about that.

[00:10:30] Right.

[00:10:31] Cool, cool, cool.

[00:10:31] So basically with this verse, Amos is saying you have no more reason to expect exemption

[00:10:37] from the consequences of your sins than they had.

[00:10:40] They've been punished and so will you.

[00:10:43] Why then do you, why would you trust in their gods who could not even save their own cities?

[00:10:49] Right.

[00:10:50] Yeah.

[00:10:51] Amos then asked if their neighbors' lands and lives are better than their own,

[00:10:55] that they would choose to worship the gods of the heathen and forsake Jehovah.

[00:11:00] And then Amos supplies an explanation of all the sins of which he reproves.

[00:11:05] He's like, you suck at this, you suck at those, you suck at these.

[00:11:08] Right.

[00:11:09] And then he attaches some awful threats, which I mean, isn't anything new.

[00:11:13] He's always like, you suck so fucking much.

[00:11:15] And then it's like, and here's what's going to happen.

[00:11:17] Right.

[00:11:18] God's going to get you.

[00:11:18] Yeah.

[00:11:19] The upper class people live in luxury without any concern of consequences, what I was trying

[00:11:25] to say, for the injustice that is ruining the nation.

[00:11:29] When Israel is conquered, they will be the first in the group taken into captivity is what

[00:11:34] he's saying.

[00:11:35] Right.

[00:11:35] Well, and that's usually true, right?

[00:11:36] Like, I mean, we've talked about this even with the Babylonian exile.

[00:11:39] Whoever conquers usually takes the brain trust first or the rich and the powerful and the

[00:11:44] people who have skills and all that because they usually take them in order to either enslave

[00:11:50] them or something, use them as collateral or whatever.

[00:11:53] Right.

[00:11:53] Or if they can't do any of those to do away with them altogether, because at the very worst

[00:11:59] case scenario, it leaves the city defenseless and stupid.

[00:12:05] Leadershipless.

[00:12:06] Yeah.

[00:12:06] Yeah.

[00:12:06] Like basically a chicken running around with its head cut off.

[00:12:09] Yeah.

[00:12:10] Yeah.

[00:12:10] So Amos states that the high standing people in Israel will soon be brought low and reminds

[00:12:15] them that other nations were stronger than Israel and other cities were more prosperous than

[00:12:20] Samaria, but even they still fell to enemy armies.

[00:12:25] They must not have a very good God if there's all these other places that are more powerful

[00:12:28] than them.

[00:12:29] You know, that's the way I see it.

[00:12:30] That's the way I would see it too.

[00:12:31] I'll be like, oh, they are.

[00:12:33] Right.

[00:12:33] Why aren't they?

[00:12:34] You have the God.

[00:12:36] Right.

[00:12:36] As your God.

[00:12:37] Right.

[00:12:38] Why aren't you guys the most powerful people out there?

[00:12:41] Because God's not real.

[00:12:42] Right.

[00:12:43] Right.

[00:12:44] All right.

[00:12:50] So I'm musical instruments.

[00:12:52] I was confused about this at the time because I'm like, we're saying this as though it's

[00:12:56] a bad thing.

[00:12:57] Right.

[00:12:58] But you're also comparing it to David who was good.

[00:13:01] Right.

[00:13:01] Right.

[00:13:02] And so is it good or bad to play a harp?

[00:13:05] Well, here's the thing.

[00:13:06] Both.

[00:13:07] Okay.

[00:13:08] Yeah.

[00:13:09] Okay.

[00:13:10] Let me read this.

[00:13:11] I'll address your concern first.

[00:13:13] I was trying to think which would be better.

[00:13:14] Sure.

[00:13:14] Okay.

[00:13:15] So playing the instrument in and of itself is not a bad thing.

[00:13:19] Okay.

[00:13:19] But laying around eating grapes and fuck farting with, you know, with art stuff.

[00:13:26] Oh, okay.

[00:13:27] He's not saying I have a problem with art.

[00:13:29] He's saying I have a problem with you fucking around and pretending nothing is wrong while

[00:13:35] you're doing art.

[00:13:36] I see.

[00:13:37] Okay.

[00:13:37] Okay.

[00:13:38] Now, having said that, some churches today use this specific verse, Amos chapter six,

[00:13:45] verse five, to justify banning musical instruments and worship services.

[00:13:49] Hmm.

[00:13:50] However, when read in context, Amos' warning was directed at the complacent and prideful

[00:13:56] people of Israel and Judah who were enjoying leisure while forgetting God and disobeying his

[00:14:02] laws, which is basically what I said.

[00:14:04] Stop fucking around with your art.

[00:14:05] Yeah.

[00:14:06] God forbid you have time to do leisurely activities that are fun and, and, um, you know.

[00:14:11] Again, but not while you're fucking over the poor, not while there are starving people

[00:14:17] next to you.

[00:14:18] I get it.

[00:14:18] I get it.

[00:14:18] Not while you're owning slaves.

[00:14:20] But at the same time, there is like this whole thing, like we, we say the Protestant

[00:14:24] work ethic, right?

[00:14:25] Yes, we do.

[00:14:26] Because, because they don't like the idea of, of, um, art and leisure and like, you must

[00:14:33] work hard for everything that you get in this life, right?

[00:14:36] Like, um, idle hands are the devil's tools or something like that.

[00:14:39] But I, but I, but my, my, my consternation with that thought is that the, the idea that,

[00:14:46] you know, uh, art and, and, um, philosophical endeavors are not.

[00:14:52] The humanities in general are not hard is this bullshit.

[00:14:56] No, right.

[00:14:57] Like, I mean, I don't like this idea that the only way to work is to work and grind your

[00:15:03] way to, you know, whatever you're doing.

[00:15:05] It's either to work physically or to use the one side of your brain and like, hi, there's

[00:15:11] a whole other side of your brain, right?

[00:15:12] There's like three ways to work.

[00:15:14] And you're saying that one of them doesn't count.

[00:15:16] Well, and the, the problem is that this idea of hard work, quote unquote, right?

[00:15:21] Um, the reason that it gets such a grasp in society is because most people, this is how

[00:15:27] they do get ahead, right?

[00:15:28] Yeah.

[00:15:29] They work hard to make the money they make and then they retire and then that's their

[00:15:32] life.

[00:15:32] And then they sell a planner saying how I plan my day and got where I got.

[00:15:37] Sure.

[00:15:38] But I don't ever personally want to take away from people who do it in a creative manner.

[00:15:43] Sure.

[00:15:43] I think creativity is important for sparking so much in this world and in humanity in general.

[00:15:50] And I think that it, if we didn't support that as well, we are doing a disservice to

[00:15:55] our, our, you know, planet.

[00:15:58] Well, there's a reason that music and creativity are taught to young children in order to stimulate

[00:16:06] their brain and to make them smarter.

[00:16:09] Yeah.

[00:16:10] Like, hi, can we keep that up?

[00:16:12] Maybe.

[00:16:12] Sure.

[00:16:13] We admit that it's a thing, but it's like, once you're five and start school, we're like,

[00:16:17] okay, you're about smart enough now.

[00:16:19] Well, and that's the, those are the first things they cut out of school is the, the, the arts,

[00:16:23] right?

[00:16:23] Like the, the art classes, the, um, the music classes, things like that.

[00:16:28] And it's just, I, I have never ever agreed with that line of thinking.

[00:16:33] No, they should all be equally emphasized.

[00:16:36] Right.

[00:16:36] Honestly, well-rounded education includes the humanities, the hard sciences and the

[00:16:43] arts.

[00:16:43] Yeah.

[00:16:44] Well, yeah.

[00:16:44] Humanities.

[00:16:45] Yeah.

[00:16:45] Right.

[00:16:45] Yep.

[00:16:46] Yeah.

[00:16:46] All right.

[00:16:47] So moving on to the next section of this chapter, we're going to talk about the coming

[00:16:51] destruction of Israel.

[00:16:53] Okay.

[00:16:53] Yeah.

[00:16:54] So Amos pictures the scene when the enemy lays siege to Samaria, the city is delivered

[00:16:59] to destruction and the people die in thousands because of famine and plague.

[00:17:05] Yeah.

[00:17:06] When a person comes to a house to take away the corpse of a relative to burn it up, the

[00:17:10] lone survivor in the house warns him, do not speak.

[00:17:13] And certainly don't mention the name of Yahweh.

[00:17:16] Because they're trying to hide from God.

[00:17:18] Yeah.

[00:17:18] They do not want to attract God's attention in case he punishes them even more.

[00:17:22] Yeah.

[00:17:23] So basically they realize that God himself is the one who sent this catastrophe.

[00:17:28] And this is confirmed by the oath of Jehovah.

[00:17:31] Yeah.

[00:17:32] Lots of people dying.

[00:17:34] Superstitions abound.

[00:17:35] And yeah.

[00:17:36] So they're hiding from some imaginary being who they think is causing this instead of

[00:17:40] like hiding from the plague.

[00:17:42] Right.

[00:17:43] Yeah.

[00:17:43] Yeah.

[00:17:44] Sure.

[00:17:45] So Amos next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, the injustice

[00:17:51] and pride of Israel, make it a target of justice.

[00:17:54] I'm sorry, of judgment.

[00:17:57] Because, you know, murdering them is not enough.

[00:17:59] We got to go further than that.

[00:18:00] I mean, murder is fun, but it's not good enough.

[00:18:04] Sure.

[00:18:04] Amos further specifies the punishment of their sins by famine or a drought that should harden

[00:18:10] the earth so that it could not be tilled.

[00:18:12] Right.

[00:18:13] Okay.

[00:18:13] So let's move on to verse 12.

[00:18:15] Do horses run on the rocky crags?

[00:18:18] Does one plow the sea with oxen?

[00:18:21] But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

[00:18:26] And we kind of like almost understood that, but not quite.

[00:18:30] We're like, what?

[00:18:31] Yeah.

[00:18:32] So this is what it's saying.

[00:18:33] A rock, a rock, a horse cannot run up a rocky cliff and a farmer cannot plow the sea.

[00:18:39] Obvious.

[00:18:40] Obviously.

[00:18:40] Yet the people of Israel have done what seems equally impossible.

[00:18:44] So he was giving examples of impossible things and saying, you're trying to do something impossible

[00:18:51] such as plow the sea.

[00:18:53] Okay.

[00:18:54] They have turned justice into injustice and right into wrong.

[00:18:58] They're living in the upside down.

[00:19:00] They made Trump president.

[00:19:01] I'm sorry.

[00:19:02] I keep going there.

[00:19:03] Don't I?

[00:19:04] They have also foolishly boasted of their military strength because they have overrun two small

[00:19:09] towns.

[00:19:10] Womp womp.

[00:19:11] God tells them that he will send an army to overrun their whole country from north to

[00:19:15] south.

[00:19:16] God told Amos.

[00:19:17] I'm just saying, well, God is telling Amos to tell them.

[00:19:22] Right.

[00:19:22] No, that's what I'm saying.

[00:19:23] Yeah.

[00:19:23] He didn't tell them.

[00:19:24] He told Amos to tell them.

[00:19:26] Amos is saying, God told me to tell you this.

[00:19:28] Right.

[00:19:28] Yeah.

[00:19:29] Right.

[00:19:29] I always like to clarify that because people always, when you're talking to somebody who

[00:19:33] is Christian or whatever, they're like, well, God told them to.

[00:19:37] No, not exactly.

[00:19:39] Right.

[00:19:39] Amos said that God told them.

[00:19:41] Right.

[00:19:42] Yeah.

[00:19:42] And whether or not Amos was told by God, that's the part we're arguing about.

[00:19:47] Yeah.

[00:19:48] Yeah.

[00:19:48] All right.

[00:19:49] So verse 13 says, you who rejoice in the conquest of Lodabar and say, did we not take

[00:19:57] Karn name by our own strength?

[00:20:00] And we were like, I have no idea what any of that means.

[00:20:03] Right.

[00:20:03] Okay.

[00:20:03] So the name Lodabar can be translated to mean nothing or no thing in Hebrew.

[00:20:10] It was likely a small, insignificant town in the region of Gilead.

[00:20:14] So the Israelites are sarcastically boasting about their conquest, quote unquote, of this

[00:20:21] teeny tiny place, which Amos highlights as meaningless or unimpressive.

[00:20:25] He's like, why are you bragging that you stepped on a fucking anthill?

[00:20:29] Right.

[00:20:29] Like, that's not even anything.

[00:20:30] Well, just to throw this out there, it's also meaningless to anybody reading this now.

[00:20:35] Sure.

[00:20:36] Right.

[00:20:36] Sure.

[00:20:37] This is the quote unquote word of God.

[00:20:39] This is the Bible.

[00:20:40] And one of my biggest questions about the Bible in general is why do we learn about things

[00:20:46] like Lodabar that have no significance to anybody today?

[00:20:50] And moreover, just the mere act of trying to interpret what that is for most people is going

[00:20:58] to be an exercise in futility because it's such a nuanced thing that happened or occurred.

[00:21:04] Right.

[00:21:04] And as we get further along in history, you know, another hundred, 200,000 years down the road, these

[00:21:09] things are going to be even more obscure and less relevant.

[00:21:12] Right.

[00:21:12] But yet we're supposed to take this as the word of God.

[00:21:16] Okay.

[00:21:16] I totally 100% agree with you, but I think that that argument is not best made by this

[00:21:22] example because the name of the city is unimportant here.

[00:21:27] I understand, but it makes it, it makes that section somewhat unreadable because you don't

[00:21:33] know exactly what they're talking about.

[00:21:34] And, and they, they don't really, if, if God is God, why haven't it, why hasn't it been updated

[00:21:44] in the last, you know, 500 years?

[00:21:47] No, I totally agree with you.

[00:21:48] To be more relevant to the people today.

[00:21:49] There should be some prophet out there that wrote down this new version of the Bible to be

[00:21:54] relevant to whatever is happening now.

[00:21:56] I mean, we talked about being the new prophet.

[00:21:59] No, I, but, but yet we're left with this idea of this book from 2000, 3000 years ago.

[00:22:08] And the stories that are, you know, built into that book, these are canon.

[00:22:12] These are the things that we're supposed to accept as forever the word of God.

[00:22:16] And it just doesn't make any sense as to like some of the writing, some of this stuff just

[00:22:20] doesn't make any sense.

[00:22:21] Yeah.

[00:22:22] So that's all.

[00:22:23] No, I totally agree.

[00:22:24] And you're right.

[00:22:25] It's a good question.

[00:22:26] Yeah.

[00:22:27] So that was low bar, but what is car name?

[00:22:30] Like, did we not take car name by our own strength?

[00:22:33] Was the rest of that question?

[00:22:35] Yeah.

[00:22:35] Car name means horns.

[00:22:36] And in some translations, it actually says horns instead of car name.

[00:22:40] Oh, okay.

[00:22:47] Yeah.

[00:22:49] Yeah.

[00:22:58] Yeah.

[00:23:00] Yeah.

[00:23:00] So that means that the customer of God shows their own strength shows their arrogance

[00:23:02] and failure to attribute their success to God.

[00:23:05] Oh, I see.

[00:23:07] Yeah.

[00:23:07] So they were able to do something greater.

[00:23:08] Just, they didn't give it to God.

[00:23:10] Yeah.

[00:23:10] Okay.

[00:23:11] Yeah.

[00:23:11] Got it.

[00:23:12] Like, here's the thing.

[00:23:13] If you crush somebody weak, you're a piece of shit and it doesn't count.

[00:23:17] If you crush somebody strong, you're still a piece of shit because it wasn't you.

[00:23:22] It was God.

[00:23:22] But if they weren't giving it to God, right?

[00:23:24] And they went to go conquer this town that was going to be stronger.

[00:23:28] In the past, God has made them fail because they didn't, you know, bring God into it.

[00:23:33] Yeah.

[00:23:33] Why didn't he stop them from conquering that city?

[00:23:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:23:37] That if it's not a boast, if it's not something that, then why didn't God help them win over the Israelites that weren't accepting them?

[00:23:45] Ours is not to question God.

[00:23:47] No, actually, that's exactly what we're doing here.

[00:23:50] I was being a Christian robot.

[00:23:51] No, I know.

[00:23:51] But I'm just saying that our entire, yeah, our podcast, this podcast.

[00:23:55] Yeah.

[00:23:55] Right.

[00:23:56] Yeah.

[00:23:56] That's us.

[00:23:56] We're questioning these things because why not?

[00:24:00] I got a question for you.

[00:24:01] Do you?

[00:24:02] Pregunt us.

[00:24:03] Okay.

[00:24:04] Yeah.

[00:24:04] Yeah.

[00:24:04] So, anyway, that verse ties into the larger theme of Amos, which is a warning against arrogance, complacency, and ignoring God's justice.

[00:24:12] And thus concludes chapter 6.

[00:24:15] Okay.

[00:24:15] Okay.

[00:24:15] So, chapter 7 now, okay?

[00:24:17] Yep.

[00:24:18] Is about visions of judgment and the power of the prophet's prayer.

[00:24:22] Okay?

[00:24:23] Mm-hmm.

[00:24:23] So, the 7th, 8th, and 9th chapters of Amos contain visions and their explanations.

[00:24:29] Okay.

[00:24:29] So, now we're going back to, you know, visions and stuff.

[00:24:32] Right.

[00:24:32] In this chapter, God represents to Amos by three separate visions the judgments he is about to bring on Israel.

[00:24:42] The locust, the fire or drought, and the plumb line.

[00:24:45] Remember those?

[00:24:46] Yes, I do.

[00:24:47] The visions are then, quote-unquote, interrupted by a narrative about Amos and his listeners in Bethel.

[00:24:54] Remember, Amaziah's like, you need to leave, bro.

[00:24:57] So fucking out of place.

[00:24:57] Right?

[00:24:58] Yeah.

[00:24:58] Before they continue on with the visions in chapter 8.

[00:25:01] Right.

[00:25:01] Okay?

[00:25:01] Yeah.

[00:25:01] So, but we're still in chapter 7.

[00:25:04] So, let's read about that.

[00:25:05] Okay?

[00:25:05] So, God's patience before judgment and judgment seen in three visions of destruction.

[00:25:12] And that happens in verses 1 through 9.

[00:25:15] Okay?

[00:25:15] So, the first vision is a plague of locusts threatening to cut off the hopes of the harvest by attacking it in the time of the second growth.

[00:25:23] And the second growth means, like, they cut the first part off to give to the king and then keep the second one.

[00:25:31] And then whatever.

[00:25:31] Yes, the king gets his bit.

[00:25:32] Yeah.

[00:25:33] Regardless.

[00:25:33] Right.

[00:25:33] The first luxuries of the crop being mowed for the king's horses.

[00:25:38] Right.

[00:25:38] So, it wasn't just the king.

[00:25:39] It was the king's horses.

[00:25:41] And all the king's men?

[00:25:42] Not the king's men.

[00:25:43] No.

[00:25:43] They get the second bit.

[00:25:45] Farmers paid their taxes by giving the king the first reaping of their harvest.

[00:25:49] After this, a second crop grew, which provided the main harvest for the people.

[00:25:53] And it was this second crop that Amos in his vision saw threatened with destruction from a plague of locusts.

[00:26:01] Which we talked about earlier that that is a very common event that happens in that area.

[00:26:07] Yeah.

[00:26:07] Even still today.

[00:26:08] Right.

[00:26:09] So, not exactly a godly event.

[00:26:13] Sure.

[00:26:14] And very believable, actually, that this happened.

[00:26:16] Maybe not at this particular moment, but sure, any time during those biblical times.

[00:26:22] Right.

[00:26:22] So, if God judged Israel in this way, it might never recover.

[00:26:27] If those locusts came and ate up all the...

[00:26:30] I see.

[00:26:31] Yeah.

[00:26:31] Except for that they have had locust attacks in the past.

[00:26:33] Yeah.

[00:26:34] And they've managed to recover.

[00:26:35] But, I mean, back then, they had no idea.

[00:26:38] Like, what's going to happen tomorrow if all of our fucking grains are gone?

[00:26:42] Yeah.

[00:26:42] You know?

[00:26:43] No, I get it.

[00:26:43] So, when Amos pleaded on behalf of Israel for God's mercy, God answered his prayer, if you recall.

[00:26:50] Yeah.

[00:26:51] Okay.

[00:26:51] The next vision threatens a judgment by fire or drought.

[00:26:54] And it just depends on which interpretation you read.

[00:26:56] Sure.

[00:26:56] Which would consume a great part of the land.

[00:26:59] And we're going to read verse 4.

[00:27:01] This is what the sovereign Lord showed me.

[00:27:04] Remember, we were like, oh, showed me?

[00:27:06] My, my.

[00:27:07] You upgraded.

[00:27:09] The sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire.

[00:27:12] Fire!

[00:27:13] It dried up the great deep and devoured the land.

[00:27:16] All right.

[00:27:17] So, let's talk about that a little bit.

[00:27:18] Okay.

[00:27:18] Most translations associate the fire with a drought, like I said.

[00:27:22] Although some take it to mean that God would permit war, both civil and foreign, to harass the land after the death of Jeroboam II.

[00:27:30] I see.

[00:27:31] Okay?

[00:27:32] Okay.

[00:27:32] So, the third vision is a total overthrow of Israel, leaving it as it were by a line.

[00:27:41] So, now we're moving on to the plumb line.

[00:27:43] Okay.

[00:27:43] Yeah.

[00:27:44] So, when Amos saw the people as a whole persist in their sin, he knew that judgment could no longer be avoided.

[00:27:51] And as a builder tests a wall with a plumb line to see if it is straight, so God tests Israel according to his perfect standard to see if it is morally upright.

[00:28:01] And that's what the plumb line was for.

[00:28:02] Does God actually have a perfect standard, though?

[00:28:04] No, he does not.

[00:28:05] I don't think so, yeah.

[00:28:06] Not that I've been able to locate.

[00:28:08] No.

[00:28:08] No, this fucking book is so wishy-washy, topsy-turvy.

[00:28:12] Timey-wimey.

[00:28:13] Yeah.

[00:28:14] Yeah.

[00:28:14] He finds that, he, God, finds that it is crooked beyond repair and must be demolished.

[00:28:20] Of course he does.

[00:28:21] Corrupt religion and corrupt administration have been the cause of the country's failure.

[00:28:26] Always.

[00:28:27] And these are things upon which the judgment falls most heavily.

[00:28:30] Yeah.

[00:28:31] Okay?

[00:28:31] Because you're not worshiping your God enough.

[00:28:33] Yeah.

[00:28:34] He's jealous.

[00:28:34] Basically.

[00:28:35] He's pissed.

[00:28:36] He mad.

[00:28:36] He big mad.

[00:28:37] Yeah.

[00:28:37] Bigly.

[00:28:38] Right.

[00:28:38] So verse 8 reads,

[00:28:39] And the Lord asked me,

[00:28:41] What do you see, Amos?

[00:28:42] A plumb line, I replied.

[00:28:43] Then the Lord said,

[00:28:45] Look, I'm setting a plumb line among my people Israel.

[00:28:47] I will spare them no longer.

[00:28:50] So plumb line here appears to be intended as an emblem of strict justice, which we talked

[00:28:55] about earlier.

[00:28:56] Got it.

[00:28:57] And intimated that God would now visit them according to their iniquities by justice and

[00:29:03] without any mixture of mercy.

[00:29:04] Okay.

[00:29:05] Because, you know, God is justified.

[00:29:07] Yeah.

[00:29:07] Right.

[00:29:08] So, yeah.

[00:29:08] Something like that.

[00:29:09] Whatever he does is justified.

[00:29:11] Right.

[00:29:11] Right.

[00:29:12] To him anyway.

[00:29:13] Yeah.

[00:29:14] Yeah.

[00:29:14] Of course.

[00:29:15] He's the only one that matters.

[00:29:16] Sure.

[00:29:16] Yeah.

[00:29:17] Yeah.

[00:29:17] So verse 9 then reads,

[00:29:22] So verse 9 then reads,

[00:29:29] So the high place of Isaac was Beersheba, where Isaac had built an altar to the Lord back in

[00:29:35] Genesis chapter 26.

[00:29:37] Okay.

[00:29:38] Okay.

[00:29:38] And this high place, which had been abused to idolatrous uses, was demolished by Josiah,

[00:29:44] king of Judah, in 2 Kings chapter 23.

[00:29:47] Okay.

[00:29:48] Okay.

[00:29:48] So back in 2 Kings, the Lord had promised to Jehu, the ancestor of Jeroboam, that his family

[00:29:54] should sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.

[00:29:58] Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, was the fourth in order after Jehu.

[00:30:04] And onto him is where the threat of this verse fell.

[00:30:08] Because he was murdered by Shalom after he had reigned only six months.

[00:30:13] And in him, the family did indeed become extinct.

[00:30:17] Oh.

[00:30:17] Dang.

[00:30:18] So there's a prophecy that kind of came true, I guess, whatever.

[00:30:22] Sure.

[00:30:22] But again, you could always question when...

[00:30:24] When it was written is what matters.

[00:30:26] Or whether it was interjected after it was written.

[00:30:29] You know what I mean?

[00:30:29] Yeah.

[00:30:29] There's so many things that are going on in the Bible that it's hard to keep track of

[00:30:33] what was written when, who wrote it, whether or not it was inserted after the fact.

[00:30:37] You know, there's all these different things that happen.

[00:30:39] So I don't take a lot of it as gospel because I'm like, nah, I don't know.

[00:30:45] Well, it's also kind of like to how a newspaper will print copies of newspapers for a win going

[00:30:54] either way.

[00:30:55] Right.

[00:30:56] Or used to before digital took over.

[00:30:58] Yeah.

[00:30:59] So that they were prepared to release newspapers for whichever team won the Super Bowl or whichever

[00:31:04] president won the election or whatever.

[00:31:08] Sure.

[00:31:08] Right.

[00:31:08] And they'd be ready to go because they had a newspaper for either possibility.

[00:31:13] Right.

[00:31:13] And so it strikes me that that's not exactly a new idea.

[00:31:16] These folks definitely could have had shit that was like, let's prepare this, this and

[00:31:22] this to see what happens.

[00:31:23] And, you know, whichever one proves out, that's the one we'll go with.

[00:31:27] Right.

[00:31:27] So I don't know.

[00:31:29] Yeah.

[00:31:29] Just putting that out there.

[00:31:30] So then we move on to the rest of the chapter, which is a denunciation of heavy judgments against

[00:31:37] Amaziah.

[00:31:38] Yeah.

[00:31:39] Priest of Bethel, who had brought an accusation against Amos to the king.

[00:31:43] Amos is expelled from Bethel, where he had been warning about the impending threat to the

[00:31:48] northern kingdom.

[00:31:50] Right.

[00:31:50] I think that's some of what we didn't necessarily pick up like or I didn't pick it up anyway.

[00:31:55] OK.

[00:31:56] OK.

[00:31:56] So Amos has been walking around and talking about y'all suck, y'all going to burn up or

[00:32:02] whatever.

[00:32:03] Yeah.

[00:32:03] And Amaziah is like, why don't you go to that other kingdom?

[00:32:06] So this is a Judah versus Israel.

[00:32:09] Right.

[00:32:09] Right.

[00:32:10] Which I did not pick up at the time.

[00:32:12] OK.

[00:32:12] But there's been other prophets who got in trouble for saying that they're going to get

[00:32:16] attacked, too.

[00:32:17] Yeah, totally.

[00:32:18] So this isn't something new.

[00:32:19] No.

[00:32:20] And it goes back to the same idea where we talk about this is politics, basically.

[00:32:24] Yep.

[00:32:24] Definitely.

[00:32:25] Some theists consider it probable that Amos left Bethel in compliance with Amaziah's directives

[00:32:31] and withdrew to Judah, noting that the verb used here in Hebrew refers to fleeing one's

[00:32:38] home country to a foreign state, suggesting that Amos's hometown of Tekoa was in the Galilee

[00:32:45] of Samaria and not the Tekoa south of Jerusalem.

[00:32:48] OK.

[00:32:49] So he might have went.

[00:32:51] Got it.

[00:32:51] Who knows?

[00:32:51] Yeah.

[00:32:52] Amaziah, the idolatrous.

[00:32:54] I have such a hard time with that word.

[00:32:56] The idolatrous priest who had been established by the king to maintain the worship of the

[00:33:03] golden calves.

[00:33:05] Right.

[00:33:05] Which Jeroboam, the elder, had set up at this place, heard Amos's preaching at Bethel

[00:33:11] and was furious that he so boldly denounced Israel's religious practices.

[00:33:16] Right.

[00:33:17] So he's like, excuse you, I'm the one telling religious stories here, not you.

[00:33:22] Yeah.

[00:33:23] So Amaziah planned to get rid of the unwelcome prophet by accusing him of treason because of

[00:33:29] his announcements of judgment on the royal house.

[00:33:31] So Amaziah went to the king and was like, excuse me, can we do something about this fucking

[00:33:37] prophet guy?

[00:33:38] He's like really getting in the way of my business.

[00:33:41] Politics.

[00:33:42] Right.

[00:33:42] Yeah.

[00:33:42] But the king apparently took no interest in the priest's accusations.

[00:33:47] So Amaziah, therefore, tried to persuade Amos to return to Judah where people would welcome

[00:33:53] his prophecies against Israel and so pay him generously.

[00:33:56] See, I didn't get any of this.

[00:33:58] And that makes verse 14 make so much more sense.

[00:34:02] Verse 14 reads, Amos answered Amaziah, I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet,

[00:34:08] but I was a shepherd and I also took care of sycamore fig trees.

[00:34:11] And we took that to mean that he was like, whoa, I'm not even a prophet.

[00:34:17] Like, I don't even work with these guys.

[00:34:18] I wasn't even there.

[00:34:19] Right.

[00:34:20] You know, like, I'm just telling you what God said.

[00:34:22] Yeah.

[00:34:22] But there's more to it.

[00:34:24] Amos replies that he's not a professional prophet and never has been.

[00:34:27] He's a common farmer whom God called to announce his message to Israel.

[00:34:31] And Amos is basically saying, I am an extraordinary messenger of God.

[00:34:36] I am not called to the prophetic office, but for this particular occasion.

[00:34:41] I have no message to Judah and therefore need not go there.

[00:34:46] I only have a message to Israel alone and I must faithfully deliver it.

[00:34:51] I see.

[00:34:52] That's interesting, right?

[00:34:53] Like, oh, okay, I get it.

[00:34:55] He's like saying, you know, I'm not actually a prophet.

[00:34:59] I'm just here to deliver this one message.

[00:35:02] And you're telling me to go sell my story somewhere else.

[00:35:05] But my story isn't for them.

[00:35:07] Right.

[00:35:07] It's for y'all.

[00:35:08] Yeah.

[00:35:09] So that's interesting to me.

[00:35:11] No, definitely.

[00:35:12] So in addition, he has a message for Amosiah.

[00:35:14] Do you remember what it is?

[00:35:16] I do not.

[00:35:16] Your wife's a fucking whore and your kids will die.

[00:35:19] And oh, yeah, so will you.

[00:35:21] Yeah, it was such a beautiful thing.

[00:35:23] What?

[00:35:24] Yeah.

[00:35:25] It was so like out of the blue.

[00:35:27] It was like, like I could get down with his message of, you know, I'm here to tell this

[00:35:33] story only for y'all.

[00:35:35] It doesn't apply to anybody else.

[00:35:36] So I'm not leaving.

[00:35:37] Like that made sense.

[00:35:38] That was part of the Bible.

[00:35:39] Like that's a great Bible story, right?

[00:35:40] Okay, I'm down.

[00:35:41] And then he's like, and by the way, fuck you and your wife and your children and the horse

[00:35:46] you rode in on.

[00:35:47] Wait, what?

[00:35:48] Calm your tits, bro.

[00:35:49] I was on board till you went there.

[00:35:52] So when Israel is eventually conquered, Amosiah's wife will become a prostitute for the enemy

[00:35:57] soldiers.

[00:35:58] His children will be killed.

[00:36:00] Jesus.

[00:36:00] And his land will be divided by the conquerors.

[00:36:02] As says God.

[00:36:03] Per God.

[00:36:04] Yeah, exactly.

[00:36:05] What the fuck?

[00:36:07] Right?

[00:36:07] And there's some question, some quote unquote scholars wonder if Amosiah's wife wasn't already

[00:36:14] an under the table prostitute because she was, you know, the wife of part of the uppity

[00:36:23] muck schmuck.

[00:36:25] You know, the the what is he?

[00:36:28] He's like a religious leader.

[00:36:29] He's a priest dude.

[00:36:30] Right.

[00:36:31] Amosiah.

[00:36:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:36:32] I think so.

[00:36:33] Oh, and so like the temple priestess or whatever.

[00:36:35] Yeah.

[00:36:35] Like that.

[00:36:36] Yeah.

[00:36:36] OK.

[00:36:37] So some scholars are like she probably already was a prostitute.

[00:36:40] But the fact that and that's kind of embarrassing enough, although maybe not because because of

[00:36:46] religious practice and their rights and all that.

[00:36:48] Yeah.

[00:36:49] But her being a prostitute to the enemy soldiers, that that changes everything.

[00:36:55] Yeah.

[00:36:55] Because then it has nothing to do with it.

[00:36:58] It's not a choice.

[00:36:59] She's not making a choice in it and he's not making a choice.

[00:37:02] Right.

[00:37:02] So, yeah, that's gross all the way around.

[00:37:05] Sure.

[00:37:06] And, you know, your kids will die, too, is pretty.

[00:37:08] Yeah.

[00:37:08] Not cool.

[00:37:09] That's pretty awful.

[00:37:10] So that concludes chapter seven and we move on to chapter eight.

[00:37:13] OK.

[00:37:14] OK.

[00:37:14] So this chapter opens with a vision of a basket of summer fruit.

[00:37:18] Remember?

[00:37:19] Yes, I do.

[00:37:19] For like the ripe fruit, Israel nears its end.

[00:37:23] Yeah.

[00:37:23] OK.

[00:37:23] Yeah.

[00:37:24] So we're going to talk about the rotting and corruption.

[00:37:26] The time was ripe.

[00:37:27] The time was ripe.

[00:37:28] For Israel's destruction.

[00:37:29] Yeah.

[00:37:29] And you were like, I see what you did there.

[00:37:31] I understood that reference.

[00:37:34] So Amos is given a fourth vision denoting the certainty and nearness of the destruction

[00:37:39] of Israel.

[00:37:40] Right.

[00:37:41] Just as the harvest comes to an end and the fruit is gathered into baskets.

[00:37:45] So Israel has come to its end and will be punished.

[00:37:49] Celebration will be turned into mourning and hope will be replaced by despair.

[00:37:56] When the enemy attacks, the slaughter will be so extensive that bodies will lie unburied

[00:38:02] in the streets and fields for days.

[00:38:04] Let the bodies hit the floor.

[00:38:06] Let the bodies hit the floor.

[00:38:08] I mean, this is a very angry, destructive, murderous God that they have.

[00:38:14] Let the bodies hit the floor.

[00:38:17] I don't.

[00:38:18] It doesn't make like this is so contrary to what, you know, the New Testament God gets

[00:38:24] pushed as.

[00:38:25] Right.

[00:38:25] Yeah.

[00:38:25] And I know.

[00:38:26] I know.

[00:38:26] Things change.

[00:38:28] But this is still the God.

[00:38:30] Yeah.

[00:38:30] It's the same God.

[00:38:31] It's still the same God.

[00:38:32] It's still Yahweh.

[00:38:33] It's still Jehovah.

[00:38:34] You can't tell me it's not because it's still it's the same fucking book.

[00:38:36] You're saying this is your God.

[00:38:38] Yeah.

[00:38:39] Yeah.

[00:38:39] It's very cool.

[00:38:40] Love it.

[00:38:41] Love it.

[00:38:41] So Amos returns to conditions in Israel to indicate that one reason for the nation's

[00:38:46] downfall is, of course, as we've been saying this whole bit, the upper classes, dishonesty,

[00:38:52] their exploitation of lower classes, they're cheating the poor and their oppression and injustice,

[00:38:57] all of that stuff.

[00:38:59] They've been bad.

[00:39:00] Yeah.

[00:39:00] You know, eating grapes and, you know, laying on the couch with bonbons.

[00:39:04] Right.

[00:39:04] Right.

[00:39:04] OK.

[00:39:05] So verse four versus four or five and six.

[00:39:08] I'm going to read here in succession here.

[00:39:11] OK.

[00:39:11] Hear this.

[00:39:12] You who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land saying, when will the

[00:39:17] new moon be over that we may sell grain and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat

[00:39:22] skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the

[00:39:28] poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the

[00:39:33] wheat.

[00:39:34] Remember all that?

[00:39:35] Yeah.

[00:39:35] Yeah.

[00:39:35] So greedy merchants annoyed that they must stop work whenever there is a religious holy

[00:39:41] day can hardly wait for the holy day to pass so that they can get back to the job of making

[00:39:47] money.

[00:39:47] Right.

[00:39:48] Now, I don't know if you caught this, but they they mentioned the new moon.

[00:39:53] They're waiting for the new moon to be over.

[00:39:54] OK.

[00:39:55] That's not actually one of the like gaudy holidays.

[00:39:58] That's one of the people holidays.

[00:40:00] OK.

[00:40:00] So the celebration of the new moon was kept as a kind of holy day, not by divine command,

[00:40:06] but by custom.

[00:40:08] Oh, it's like a pagan leftover.

[00:40:10] Yeah.

[00:40:10] Yeah.

[00:40:11] The Sabbath was strictly holy and yet so covetous were they that they grudged to give to God

[00:40:18] and their own souls this seventh portion of their time.

[00:40:23] Yeah.

[00:40:24] So I mean, they don't do it anymore.

[00:40:26] No.

[00:40:26] I mean, corporate America has got their foot in the door with regard to that.

[00:40:30] I actually read a whole diatribe about that while I was studying this verse.

[00:40:35] Yeah.

[00:40:35] That.

[00:40:36] Yeah.

[00:40:36] Not a problem anymore.

[00:40:38] And a lot of the Christians in this in while I was studying this were going off about how

[00:40:47] people that keep their businesses open on Sunday, they're going to feel the pain later.

[00:40:53] Yeah.

[00:40:53] Everybody should be like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A.

[00:40:55] Look, I I'm kind of torn about this.

[00:40:58] Right.

[00:40:58] I don't believe in God.

[00:40:59] Right.

[00:40:59] In any way whatsoever.

[00:41:00] I believe in a day off for humans.

[00:41:02] Right.

[00:41:02] Right.

[00:41:03] And if it falls on a Sunday to appease, you know, humans and people who have religious

[00:41:08] practices, I don't give a fuck what the day is.

[00:41:11] Can we just have it?

[00:41:12] It would be nice to have some of these like scheduled human days off.

[00:41:16] Right.

[00:41:17] And for whatever reason, doesn't really matter.

[00:41:19] But like it's nice to have days that you can count on having off.

[00:41:24] Right.

[00:41:25] Period.

[00:41:25] Yeah.

[00:41:25] I mean, we celebrate the family part of Christmas, if not the religious part of it.

[00:41:32] And we're glad for the day off.

[00:41:35] Right.

[00:41:36] But a lot of companies stay open even on Christmas Day now.

[00:41:40] They do.

[00:41:40] Which is just tragic to me because it's always the people at the bottom of the totem pole that

[00:41:46] get forced to work in.

[00:41:48] Yeah, I know they get time and a half and they don't have to blah, blah, blah.

[00:41:51] And I'm like, fuck off.

[00:41:53] You know, if you're like a flat tire away from being homeless.

[00:41:58] Yeah.

[00:41:58] You're going to work the time and a half on the holiday or double time and a half or what

[00:42:02] the fuck ever.

[00:42:03] I think the richest and the highest up should be the ones that have to work at those places

[00:42:06] on the holidays.

[00:42:07] Right.

[00:42:07] Yeah.

[00:42:07] Like you're the one that like can't quite get enough millions.

[00:42:10] Right.

[00:42:11] So make them work in a store.

[00:42:12] Yeah.

[00:42:12] Make the CEOs go into a freaking, you know, corner corner lot place and run down the run

[00:42:18] the register that day.

[00:42:19] I think that would be like the greatest for their company.

[00:42:23] Like when you like your company to be known as the nice one, not the one that exploits.

[00:42:29] You know what?

[00:42:30] If I would if I ran my own company and I wanted to stay open all the time, I think I would

[00:42:35] do something like that.

[00:42:36] Like if you know, if you're management with us, you're going to end up working that day

[00:42:39] by yourself.

[00:42:40] The people down from you like I'll be working there with you.

[00:42:43] Right.

[00:42:44] Like, you know, the people that are higher up in the chain, you're going to be working those

[00:42:48] days, not your people.

[00:42:50] Yeah.

[00:42:50] You know, let people have a day of relaxation to be with their families and to celebrate

[00:42:56] with their children or or the other children in their lives.

[00:43:00] I know it's a novel idea.

[00:43:01] Right.

[00:43:01] But, you know, Jesus, it shouldn't be.

[00:43:04] Shouldn't be.

[00:43:05] You mentioned the word grinding earlier, and that's all I can think.

[00:43:09] Just like hustle, hustle, hustle culture.

[00:43:11] Always working.

[00:43:13] Never not working.

[00:43:13] No, I think I think relaxation is something that this world is trying to make extinct.

[00:43:18] You know?

[00:43:18] So, yeah.

[00:43:19] So I just read about the new moon and how we still celebrate that even at Easter time.

[00:43:25] Yay.

[00:43:26] Yep.

[00:43:26] Moving on.

[00:43:27] The coming judgment will smash the sinful people like an earthquake and overthrow them

[00:43:32] like a flood.

[00:43:33] I know I'm shocked.

[00:43:34] Right.

[00:43:35] Yeah.

[00:43:35] So this is how God's going to judge Israel.

[00:43:37] OK.

[00:43:38] OK.

[00:43:38] Their doom is at hand.

[00:43:39] So verse 8 reads, will not the land tremble for this and all who live in it mourn?

[00:43:46] The whole land will rise like the Nile.

[00:43:49] It will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.

[00:43:53] Now, some translations actually read, and it shall ride up wholly as a flood and it shall

[00:43:59] be rise up.

[00:44:01] Sorry.

[00:44:01] I said ride up.

[00:44:02] Didn't I?

[00:44:02] It shall rise up wholly as a flood and it shall be cast out and drowned as by the flood of Egypt.

[00:44:09] It's just a slightly different wording, but kind of cool.

[00:44:13] Sure.

[00:44:13] So cast out and drowned or swept away and overwhelmed.

[00:44:16] Those are just different translations also that come into play.

[00:44:21] OK.

[00:44:21] OK.

[00:44:22] As the land adjoining the Nile is by it, when there is flooding, the Nile generally rises

[00:44:28] about 20 feet, which I think I had mentioned before.

[00:44:31] And then the waters cast out mire and dirt.

[00:44:35] So that's what they're saying.

[00:44:37] Oh, well, yeah.

[00:44:37] Yeah.

[00:44:37] I mean, when you have a flooding river, it's going to bring some of that silt and everything

[00:44:43] from the riverbed over to the places that normally don't have that, which is good for

[00:44:47] farming.

[00:44:48] Yeah.

[00:44:48] So now I'm going to read verses 11 through 14 in succession here.

[00:44:52] OK.

[00:44:52] The days are coming, declares the sovereign Lord, when I will send a famine through the

[00:44:57] land, not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of

[00:45:01] the Lord.

[00:45:02] People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east searching for the word

[00:45:07] of the Lord, but they will not find it.

[00:45:09] In that day, the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.

[00:45:16] Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, who say, as surely as your God lives, Dan, or as

[00:45:23] surely as the God of Beersheba lives, they will fall never to rise again.

[00:45:28] OK.

[00:45:28] And we were like, the fuck?

[00:45:30] What?

[00:45:30] Huh?

[00:45:31] Right.

[00:45:31] Like, we kind of understood the wording that and we understood that there's going

[00:45:37] to be like a lack of prophets and a lack of ability to find any direction via God's words.

[00:45:44] But we were like, what is all this mention of all these places?

[00:45:47] I don't get it.

[00:45:48] Yeah.

[00:45:48] So this is not merely a physical darkness, but a spiritual darkness that's going to

[00:45:52] continue to cover the nation without even the small amount of light at present supplied

[00:45:58] by the prophets in their mourning and distress.

[00:46:00] People will suddenly become hungry for God's word, but they'll not find it no matter how

[00:46:05] hard they search.

[00:46:06] Anyway, whatever.

[00:46:07] Samaria was one of the things mentioned.

[00:46:10] Samaria, the sin of Samaria.

[00:46:12] They worshipped Baal there.

[00:46:14] So that's why they mentioned that.

[00:46:16] OK.

[00:46:16] And then as surely as your God lives, Dan, we were like, excuse you, Dan.

[00:46:22] Right.

[00:46:23] The golden calf was worshipped there.

[00:46:25] OK.

[00:46:26] The representative of the Egyptian God, Apis or Osiris.

[00:46:30] Got it.

[00:46:31] OK.

[00:46:31] Yeah.

[00:46:31] And then as the God, as surely as the God of Beersheba lives.

[00:46:36] And we were like, what?

[00:46:38] That was another of the golden calves, which Jeroboam had set up there.

[00:46:42] Got it.

[00:46:42] So no wonder the tribe of Dan kind of became silent.

[00:46:45] They were they were probably the most like they were one of the furthest away.

[00:46:48] So they probably were one of the first to change away from the traditional idea of Yahweh.

[00:46:53] So with that, we close out chapter eight and move into chapter nine.

[00:46:58] OK.

[00:46:58] And we're coming up on the end here.

[00:47:00] OK.

[00:47:00] Raising up the ruins.

[00:47:02] This is where we get into that whole remnant shit.

[00:47:05] Got it.

[00:47:05] OK.

[00:47:06] Yeah.

[00:47:06] And the final chapter here contains further visions and their explanations.

[00:47:10] OK.

[00:47:10] So the first part of this chapter contains another vision in which God is represented as declaring

[00:47:16] the final ruin of the kingdom of Israel and the general dispersion of the people.

[00:47:22] And there are just so many questions about this stupid chapter because like what?

[00:47:28] Yeah.

[00:47:29] In the final vision, God causes a shrine to collapse on the heads of the worshipers.

[00:47:34] Do you remember that?

[00:47:34] He's like, hey, knock over that fucking pole and I'll take out the rest of the people that

[00:47:40] don't die with my sword.

[00:47:41] Right.

[00:47:41] Right.

[00:47:42] Right.

[00:47:42] So the picture is that of God's judgment on the people of Israel because of their false

[00:47:46] religion.

[00:47:47] So that's why he's specifically saying knock over the pole of that building.

[00:47:52] Got it.

[00:47:53] The church building.

[00:47:54] OK.

[00:47:54] Like it's both symbolic and very specific.

[00:47:58] Got it.

[00:47:58] OK.

[00:47:58] In verse one, there's different interpretations of it, of course.

[00:48:04] One says, I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said, strike the tops of the pillars

[00:48:09] so that the thresholds shake.

[00:48:11] Bring them down on the heads of all the people.

[00:48:13] Those who are left, I will kill with the sword.

[00:48:16] Not one will get away.

[00:48:17] None will escape.

[00:48:18] And we were like, oh, gross.

[00:48:19] Yeah.

[00:48:20] OK.

[00:48:20] Now, another way it can be read is strike the doorposts that the thresholds may shake

[00:48:26] and break them on the heads of them all and cut them in the head is another way of even

[00:48:30] reading it.

[00:48:31] OK.

[00:48:31] I will slay the last of them with the sword.

[00:48:33] OK.

[00:48:34] So we've got all these different translations.

[00:48:36] Now, this is a continuation of the preceding prophecy.

[00:48:39] The altar here being likely one of those either at Dan or Beersheba.

[00:48:45] OK.

[00:48:45] OK.

[00:48:45] Which that kind of.

[00:48:47] OK.

[00:48:47] We get it.

[00:48:48] Got it.

[00:48:49] OK.

[00:48:49] It's one of the bad places, the high places.

[00:48:51] Sure.

[00:48:51] What he's saying is let all the lintels of all the doors of all those temples be thus

[00:48:58] cut as a sign that the whole shall be thrown down and totally demolished.

[00:49:03] OK.

[00:49:03] That's one way of reading this.

[00:49:05] OK.

[00:49:05] Like we're going to knock down all of these fucking religious places that are being abused

[00:49:09] and used wrong.

[00:49:10] Sure.

[00:49:10] OK.

[00:49:11] Another way to read this is that this may refer to their heads, the head guys, the

[00:49:19] chiefs.

[00:49:19] OK.

[00:49:20] OK.

[00:49:21] Who were principals in these transgressions because they were the ones leading everybody.

[00:49:25] So he's saying mark their temples, their priests, their prophets and their princes for

[00:49:29] destruction.

[00:49:30] Got it.

[00:49:30] So it may have been like a, you know, cross on their forehead kind of thing.

[00:49:35] Like they've got the X, knock them out.

[00:49:38] Right.

[00:49:38] So it's hard to know which way it was going.

[00:49:40] Yeah.

[00:49:41] Yeah.

[00:49:41] Anyway, moving on to verse five.

[00:49:44] Uh huh.

[00:49:44] The Lord, the Lord Almighty, he touches the earth and it melts and all who live in it

[00:49:49] mourn.

[00:49:50] The whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt.

[00:49:55] There we go with the river of the Nile raised in 20, 20 feet.

[00:49:59] Miles.

[00:50:00] Miles.

[00:50:00] Miles.

[00:50:00] Oh, sorry.

[00:50:01] My bad.

[00:50:02] But the important part there that we were like, huh?

[00:50:05] Was that he touches it and it melts.

[00:50:07] Yeah.

[00:50:08] The fuck?

[00:50:08] That's weird.

[00:50:09] So, okay.

[00:50:10] So powerful is he that a touch of his hand will melt or dissolve the land and cause all

[00:50:16] its inhabitants to mourn.

[00:50:18] Yeah.

[00:50:18] This is, of course, still a reference to the earthquake previously discussed.

[00:50:22] Oh, okay.

[00:50:24] So some Israelites might object that this could not happen to them because, you know, they're

[00:50:29] Israelites.

[00:50:30] Yeah, sure.

[00:50:30] And they're like, fuck, I'm one of God's chosen people, right?

[00:50:32] Right, right.

[00:50:33] Because they are God's chosen people.

[00:50:34] He brought them out of Egypt and he would not send them into a foreign country again.

[00:50:39] Amos points out that past blessings are not a guarantee of present safety.

[00:50:44] God directed the movements of other nations, not just Israel, but when people are sinful,

[00:50:50] he will punish them regardless of their nationality.

[00:50:53] I am curious, though, because God says often that he won't do this again to them.

[00:50:57] Right.

[00:50:58] Like it's a thing.

[00:50:58] I know.

[00:50:59] Right.

[00:50:59] And then bad shit keeps happening.

[00:51:01] I know.

[00:51:01] So he's like, I'll never do it again unless then I did it again.

[00:51:05] Right.

[00:51:05] Yeah.

[00:51:06] Right.

[00:51:06] So in this matter, Israelites have no advantage over people of other nationalities such as

[00:51:12] Ethiopians, Philistines or Syrians.

[00:51:15] God will destroy Israel, but he will preserve the minority within Israel who are faithful to

[00:51:20] him and remain so.

[00:51:23] That's nice of him, I guess.

[00:51:24] Right.

[00:51:25] Through these, he will fulfill his purposes.

[00:51:28] I don't know what his fucking purposes are.

[00:51:30] They're not yours to know.

[00:51:31] They're really shitty.

[00:51:32] They're not yours to know.

[00:51:33] I don't know that I want to know.

[00:51:35] I get so tired being the Christian robot.

[00:51:39] It's not yours to know.

[00:51:40] Yeah.

[00:51:41] You are not to ask.

[00:51:42] You cannot understand.

[00:51:44] You are a mere human worm.

[00:51:46] Yes.

[00:51:47] Okay.

[00:51:47] So verse seven reads, are not you Israelites the same to me as the Kushites, declares the

[00:51:54] Lord, did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Kaphtor and the Arameans

[00:52:01] from Kerr?

[00:52:02] And we were like, what the fuck are all these place names again?

[00:52:06] Right.

[00:52:06] And who and why?

[00:52:07] Why should we care?

[00:52:09] Like, I have to like look all these things up.

[00:52:12] Okay.

[00:52:12] Yeah.

[00:52:12] Yeah.

[00:52:12] So, okay.

[00:52:13] The Ethiopians.

[00:52:15] Well, okay.

[00:52:16] Our translation reads, are you Israelites the same to me, are not you Israelites the

[00:52:21] same to me as the Kushites?

[00:52:23] But in other translations, it actually reads, are you not the same to me as the Ethiopians?

[00:52:28] Okay.

[00:52:29] So the Ethiopians are the Kushites.

[00:52:32] Got it.

[00:52:32] Okay.

[00:52:32] Okay.

[00:52:33] So that's what that is.

[00:52:34] Sure.

[00:52:35] Kush was the son of Ham mentioned back in Genesis chapter 10.

[00:52:39] Sure.

[00:52:39] And his descendants inhabited parts of Arabia and all this stock was universally despised.

[00:52:45] And I love how we're referring to a man and his descendants as stock.

[00:52:51] Yeah.

[00:52:52] His stock was all despised.

[00:52:55] Right.

[00:52:55] Like his people, his family, his descendants, his, you know, they were despised.

[00:53:01] But no, his stock.

[00:53:02] Right.

[00:53:03] Okay.

[00:53:03] The Philistines, Philistines, I always get that wrong, from Kaphtor, this was the island

[00:53:09] of Crete off of Greece.

[00:53:12] Okay.

[00:53:12] Yeah.

[00:53:13] And then the Syrians from Kerr is perhaps a city of the Medes, which would be kind of

[00:53:19] nearish, Greece-ish.

[00:53:20] Right.

[00:53:21] So Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem.

[00:53:26] Again, hearkening back to Genesis chapter 10.

[00:53:28] Sure.

[00:53:28] Some of his descendants settled in this city and some in Aram, Narahim, Syria of the two

[00:53:36] rivers.

[00:53:37] Okay.

[00:53:37] That's what that meant.

[00:53:38] Yeah.

[00:53:39] Which is to say Mesopotamia.

[00:53:41] And that included the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates.

[00:53:44] Got it.

[00:53:45] Which is the Fertile Crescent.

[00:53:46] Yep.

[00:53:47] Yep.

[00:53:47] I learned that in fifth grade and it never left.

[00:53:50] So the meaning of this verse is, do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of

[00:53:55] Egypt and the house of bondage into a land flowing with milk and honey.

[00:54:00] Don't presume on that, even though that's what I did or whatever.

[00:54:03] Right.

[00:54:04] I have brought other nations and some of your neighbors who are your enemies from comparatively

[00:54:11] barren countries into fruitful territories, such, for instance, as the Philistines from

[00:54:18] Cath-Tor and the Syrians from Kerr.

[00:54:21] Okay.

[00:54:21] So that's an interesting way of looking at it.

[00:54:24] Yeah, so he's claiming that he brought other people.

[00:54:26] Yeah.

[00:54:26] You know, which we never really, he never really talks about that.

[00:54:29] Right.

[00:54:30] So that's why this was like a really interesting way of reading that.

[00:54:34] And I'm like, oh, is that what you think?

[00:54:37] Well, that would indicate to me that the Exodus would have been something that would have happened

[00:54:41] in some indeterminate time in the past.

[00:54:44] Right.

[00:54:44] Because you're talking because basically all history says that the Israelites are from

[00:54:50] the Israel, the place where Israel is.

[00:54:52] Right.

[00:54:53] But maybe, maybe some ancient, ancient time ago, people migrated from this area to that

[00:54:59] area.

[00:54:59] And it was just one of those like stories that got passed down and passed down and

[00:55:03] became lore.

[00:55:04] Right.

[00:55:05] And that sounds more like what this is based on.

[00:55:07] Like a big flood becomes the earth is flooded.

[00:55:11] Right.

[00:55:11] And based on how much they talk about the Nile and things like that, maybe this stuff was

[00:55:16] from like those time frames.

[00:55:18] Right.

[00:55:18] Right.

[00:55:18] When they were like thousands of years before they even started writing Bible stuff, maybe

[00:55:23] there was certain people that lived in that area that ended up migrating to where Israel

[00:55:26] is now.

[00:55:27] Yeah.

[00:55:28] And, you know, these flood stories and migration stories all kind of came with this package

[00:55:32] deal of moving from there to here.

[00:55:34] Right.

[00:55:34] You know.

[00:55:35] Well, it kind of strikes me similarly.

[00:55:37] Like these were originally oral tales.

[00:55:42] Right.

[00:55:42] Well, they weren't written down until like way later.

[00:55:46] Yeah.

[00:55:46] Even.

[00:55:46] And when they were written down is like thousands of years ago.

[00:55:49] Right.

[00:55:50] Sure.

[00:55:50] So kind of crazy.

[00:55:51] And it kind of reminds me of like Beowulf and how that was also like that's one of the

[00:55:59] earliest forms of written literature.

[00:56:01] Yeah.

[00:56:02] Right.

[00:56:02] And it was originally, of course, an oral tale.

[00:56:07] And we are only reading one version of that story.

[00:56:11] Right.

[00:56:12] And so obviously this will have had many different oral versions of the story.

[00:56:18] Oh, for sure.

[00:56:19] And we know that there are actually.

[00:56:20] Which is what makes it so funny that Christians are like hardcore.

[00:56:25] This is it.

[00:56:26] Yeah.

[00:56:26] Right.

[00:56:26] And not only this one, but the King James version, which was printed in the 1500s.

[00:56:32] And it's probably the most incorrect version of all the versions.

[00:56:36] Like, I'm sorry that it sounds really fancy with its Shakespearean stuff.

[00:56:41] Yeah.

[00:56:41] But you don't even like King James or Shakespeare.

[00:56:45] Yeah.

[00:56:45] Like if you did even the least bit of like history digging.

[00:56:48] Right.

[00:56:48] You'd be like, wait, what?

[00:56:50] Why am I?

[00:56:50] What are we doing here?

[00:56:51] Why am I sucking the dick of this guy?

[00:56:53] Hold on.

[00:56:54] Hold on a sec.

[00:56:56] Like that one confounds me, honestly.

[00:56:58] Right.

[00:56:58] Yeah.

[00:56:58] Yeah.

[00:56:58] All right.

[00:56:59] So Amos gives a final picture of the certain judgment that is to fall on the sinful Israelites

[00:57:04] as no pebble or other worthless matter falls through a sieve.

[00:57:09] So no sinner will escape God's judgment.

[00:57:13] Yeah.

[00:57:13] If people think that because they are Israelites that they will not experience God's judgment,

[00:57:17] they are only deceiving themselves.

[00:57:20] All right.

[00:57:20] We are cruising into the last bit here.

[00:57:23] All right.

[00:57:23] Okay.

[00:57:24] So we're getting into the restoration of Israel to blessing and abundance.

[00:57:28] And there's some stuff in here that's going to blow your fucking mind.

[00:57:32] Okay.

[00:57:33] Right.

[00:57:33] Yeah.

[00:57:33] So the prophet then passes to the great blessedness of the people of God under the gospel dispensation.

[00:57:40] Excuse you.

[00:57:41] Gospel.

[00:57:42] That's New Testament.

[00:57:43] I'm sorry.

[00:57:44] What the fuck?

[00:57:44] Yeah.

[00:57:45] So we'll talk about that.

[00:57:47] Okay.

[00:57:47] All right.

[00:57:47] So we're going to talk about the restoring of the house of David to Israel.

[00:57:53] Okay.

[00:57:53] Now, beyond judgment, Amos sees God's forgiveness.

[00:57:57] Captivity in a foreign land will bring to an end the old division between the northern

[00:58:02] state of Israel and the southern state of Judah.

[00:58:05] God will bring the reunited people back into their land.

[00:58:10] Never happened.

[00:58:11] But okay.

[00:58:12] All right.

[00:58:13] Oh, hold on.

[00:58:14] I'm not there yet.

[00:58:15] Yeah.

[00:58:15] Where they will live in security and prosperity under the rule of the restored Davidic dynasty.

[00:58:22] Israel's rule will extend over other nations here represented by Edom.

[00:58:28] Sure.

[00:58:29] So.

[00:58:29] And this is one of those prophecies that is yet to be.

[00:58:33] Yet to be fulfilled.

[00:58:34] Yeah.

[00:58:34] So it's one of those that's very prominent.

[00:58:36] Oh, it's so magic.

[00:58:38] Christianity and Judaism and all of this.

[00:58:41] Oh, it's beautiful magic.

[00:58:42] Right.

[00:58:43] Very magic.

[00:58:44] Yeah.

[00:58:44] Okay.

[00:58:44] Because it's going to happen, you guys.

[00:58:47] It's proof of Jesus.

[00:58:48] It's like a lot of what the whole fucking New Testament Christianity is based on.

[00:58:52] It's a very like, have you ever seen those rock piles where like there's a giant rock

[00:58:59] resting on a smaller rock resting on an even smaller rock.

[00:59:03] And then like, you know, these are like serene balances or something.

[00:59:07] And then at the very bottom, it's all sitting on this teeny tiny pebble.

[00:59:11] Right.

[00:59:11] Right.

[00:59:11] And it's balanced just so.

[00:59:13] And if you cough crooked, it falls.

[00:59:14] Yeah.

[00:59:15] That's what this is.

[00:59:16] Yeah.

[00:59:17] This is that fucking pebble.

[00:59:19] Okay.

[00:59:19] So verses 11 and 12 read.

[00:59:22] In that day, I will restore David's fallen shelter.

[00:59:25] I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be

[00:59:31] so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,

[00:59:36] declares the Lord who will do these things.

[00:59:38] He will.

[00:59:39] So like I said, Israel's rule will extend over other nations here represented by the word

[00:59:45] Edom.

[00:59:46] We just decided that.

[00:59:47] Got it.

[00:59:47] Yeah.

[00:59:48] So Edom is rendered mankind in the Septuagint.

[00:59:52] Oh, okay.

[00:59:53] So I don't know why and who decided that sometimes when we say Edom, we don't actually mean the

[01:00:00] Edomites.

[01:00:00] We actually mean mankind.

[01:00:02] Got it.

[01:00:03] But the Greeks did, I guess.

[01:00:05] Okay.

[01:00:06] And sometimes we go with that.

[01:00:07] Sure.

[01:00:08] Okay.

[01:00:08] So we know that the kingdom of Israel fell first and that the kingdom of Judah continued

[01:00:14] long after enjoying prosperity and comfort under Hezekiah and Josiah.

[01:00:18] The remnant of the Israelites that were left by the Assyrians became united to the kingdom

[01:00:25] of Judah.

[01:00:25] But this comparatively short prosperity and respite previously to the Babylonian captivity could

[01:00:32] not be that, quote, restored Davidic dynasty that was referred to.

[01:00:37] Could not.

[01:00:37] That's why I said could not.

[01:00:39] No, I know.

[01:00:39] I was just like, why though?

[01:00:40] Because the Davidic dynasty was not restored.

[01:00:45] Okay.

[01:00:45] Okay.

[01:00:45] All right.

[01:00:46] Yeah.

[01:00:47] Like it cannot because it was not.

[01:00:49] Got it.

[01:00:49] Okay.

[01:00:50] And it could also not be the closing up of the breaches because the land was still split.

[01:00:56] Okay.

[01:00:57] Judah and Israel were still not together.

[01:00:59] Got it.

[01:00:59] And since it is acknowledged that nothing of the sort has taken place since.

[01:01:04] Yeah.

[01:01:05] Consequently, getting into what you were just saying.

[01:01:08] Most Christians agree that the prophecy remains to be filled in the time to come, which is

[01:01:15] to say, Christians take this exact text as solid proof that the Jews will eventually be converted

[01:01:23] and restored.

[01:01:26] Converted to Christianity.

[01:01:30] And this is why we have this love-hate relationship with Israel right now.

[01:01:34] And I had to write under this, the very arrogance is fucking astounding.

[01:01:40] Yeah.

[01:01:41] Yeah.

[01:01:41] I, because I'm, you know, using a Christian source alongside of a Jewish source as I'm

[01:01:48] researching.

[01:01:49] Right.

[01:01:49] And the Christian source is like, and this is a fact that this will happen.

[01:01:52] And I was just like, I'm sorry, what?

[01:01:55] Is it now?

[01:01:56] I have never heard Jewish people say, oh yeah, totally.

[01:02:00] We're totally going to be converted at some point.

[01:02:02] Right.

[01:02:03] Yeah.

[01:02:03] Yeah.

[01:02:03] I'm looking forward to the day when I take Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

[01:02:07] What?

[01:02:08] Like, I'm just like, do the Jewish people know this?

[01:02:11] Did we talk to them about this?

[01:02:12] What do they think about this?

[01:02:14] Like, I literally, if you know any Jewish people, please ask them to like, call in.

[01:02:19] If you're a Jewish person listening, please comment.

[01:02:22] Let me know.

[01:02:23] Like, are you aware of this?

[01:02:24] How do you feel about this?

[01:02:25] Right.

[01:02:26] I was not aware that Jewish people were like eagerly waiting with bated breath for the

[01:02:30] coming of Jesus Christ.

[01:02:31] Right.

[01:02:32] All right.

[01:02:32] So moving on to verse 13.

[01:02:34] The days are coming, declares the Lord, when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman

[01:02:39] and the planter by the one treading grapes.

[01:02:42] New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills and will bring my people

[01:02:46] Israel back from exile.

[01:02:47] And we were like, what the fuck are you even talking about?

[01:02:50] Right.

[01:02:50] Makes no goddamn sense.

[01:02:52] Like you said, don't fear the reaper.

[01:02:53] Yeah.

[01:02:54] Yeah.

[01:02:54] So here's what it is.

[01:02:55] The land will become so motherfucking productive that grain will grow faster than the farmers

[01:03:00] can even harvest it.

[01:03:01] Okay.

[01:03:02] The reaper will not be able to finish his work before the next planting is due.

[01:03:06] Oh.

[01:03:06] So Amos is predicting great fertility in the land, abundance in the crops and regularity

[01:03:13] of the seasons, indicating that the plowman, sower, grape gatherer and wine press operator

[01:03:19] will not only succeed each other, but we'll have parts of these operations going on at the

[01:03:25] same time.

[01:03:26] I see.

[01:03:27] Cities will be rebuilt and the people will live in happiness and safety.

[01:03:31] Sounds so wonderful.

[01:03:32] It's milk and honey, baby.

[01:03:33] Right.

[01:03:34] All right.

[01:03:34] Finishing up verse 14.

[01:03:36] They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.

[01:03:39] They will plant vineyards and drink their wine.

[01:03:41] They will make gardens and eat their food, which if you read Voltaire's Candide, there's

[01:03:49] a bit about gardens in there.

[01:03:52] And if you know, you know.

[01:03:53] Okay.

[01:03:53] Anyway, when threatened with great evils, Amos chapter five, verse 11, it said they shall

[01:04:00] plant pleasant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine of them.

[01:04:04] So they would be planting and planting and planting, but not be able to like appreciate

[01:04:08] the fruit of their labor.

[01:04:11] But that was back then.

[01:04:12] Now in this restoration that's going to happen, they will be laboring for themselves rather

[01:04:19] than for others and they will be able to enjoy it.

[01:04:21] And that's like a mirror of where they were before to where they will be in this day when

[01:04:28] we convert the Jews to Christianity.

[01:04:31] The end.

[01:04:32] Awesome.

[01:04:32] Yeah.

[01:04:33] God's going to kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.

[01:04:35] And then everything will be wonderful.

[01:04:37] But Jesus though.

[01:04:38] Yeah, exactly.

[01:04:39] Yeah.

[01:04:39] So it's all going to be solved.

[01:04:41] Yeah.

[01:04:41] I'm very excited.

[01:04:43] I really want to know if the Jews are aware of this plan.

[01:04:46] Right.

[01:04:46] Yeah.

[01:04:46] Like literally I've never heard.

[01:04:47] Have you ever heard of this?

[01:04:49] Yeah.

[01:04:49] Yeah.

[01:04:50] The Jews are going to be converted to Christianity?

[01:04:52] Well, yeah.

[01:04:52] All Christians think that.

[01:04:54] I didn't know that.

[01:04:55] I mean, like at some base level.

[01:04:57] Yeah.

[01:04:57] Like they, they, they're either going to be converted or they're part of the heathens that are going

[01:05:00] to go, you know, to hell.

[01:05:01] No, I always heard that they are the exception.

[01:05:04] They're God's chosen people and God will work that out somehow.

[01:05:07] That's what my mom says.

[01:05:08] Oh yeah.

[01:05:08] They're God's chosen people, but they better fucking convert or they're fucking roasting

[01:05:13] like the rest of us.

[01:05:13] I never heard that part of the sentence.

[01:05:15] Oh.

[01:05:16] I only ever got.

[01:05:17] Yeah.

[01:05:17] Yeah.

[01:05:17] That part's usually conveniently left out.

[01:05:20] Okay.

[01:05:21] So God's chosen people are not actually chosen unless they convert.

[01:05:25] No, they're chosen.

[01:05:25] All right.

[01:05:26] They're chosen.

[01:05:26] They're chosen to make a choice.

[01:05:28] And if they don't make the right choice, they're fucked.

[01:05:30] I don't know if I agree with you on that.

[01:05:32] I don't know.

[01:05:33] I don't know.

[01:05:34] I want to hear from some Jewish people.

[01:05:36] I'm, I'm like lit up over this.

[01:05:38] Jewish people wouldn't be talking about this.

[01:05:39] This is Christians talking about this.

[01:05:40] I know, but this is their book.

[01:05:41] So I want to hear from them.

[01:05:42] I don't give a fuck about the Christians.

[01:05:44] They don't know or care what a Christian wants them to do.

[01:05:46] But I want to know, like, are you aware of this plan and how do you feel about it?

[01:05:50] Okay.

[01:05:51] Okay.

[01:05:51] That's all.

[01:05:51] That's fair.

[01:05:52] That's fair.

[01:05:52] All right.

[01:05:53] Well, anyway, that was our Q&A for chapters six through nine of Amos.

[01:05:58] And we will be back probably tomorrow with the.

[01:06:03] Um, the, the wrap up.

[01:06:05] Yeah.

[01:06:06] The one you were so excited about earlier.

[01:06:07] Yeah.

[01:06:08] Sorry.

[01:06:08] That one.

[01:06:09] That was like five hours ago.

[01:06:10] Right.

[01:06:10] Right.

[01:06:11] And then after that, we will have our.

[01:06:14] You're always wrong.

[01:06:16] Okay.

[01:06:16] Along with a pop quiz.

[01:06:18] Yeah.

[01:06:18] Yeah.

[01:06:19] Um, and then I will get the weekly replay up and then we'll be back starting another book

[01:06:25] after that.

[01:06:26] Which I forget already.

[01:06:27] It was one.

[01:06:28] Obadiah.

[01:06:29] One chapter.

[01:06:30] Yeah.

[01:06:30] Yeah.

[01:06:30] And so we might.

[01:06:31] We might have like our final Jewish folklore thrown in there for good measure.

[01:06:36] We say that sometimes, but it doesn't.

[01:06:37] I know.

[01:06:38] We're going to.

[01:06:38] We'll do things.

[01:06:39] We'll do some things.

[01:06:41] We're going to record stuff.

[01:06:41] And we are going to record stuff.

[01:06:43] Yeah.

[01:06:44] Yes.

[01:06:44] That much we know.

[01:06:45] All right.

[01:06:45] Very professional.

[01:06:46] Thanks guys.

[01:06:47] Bye.

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