Amos
Brian & Joanie Forke
Sunday 9:30am
Art/Science Room (Elevator to the basement, on your left)
From the high pastures he lifts his eyes to see across the Salt Sea and the Jordan, where the shadows stalk and devour Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Turning toward the sunset, he sees the distant peak of Mount Carmel, the coasts of Philistia, and the way to Egypt engulfed with reddish light. He calls together the sheep and leads them to safety before the day turns to darkness, when predators roam.
The Lord called the shepherd Amos to deliver a surprising and ominous message for Judah and Israel. In his prophecies, Amos pictured the Lord angry, crouching, and focused like a lion stalking the sinful, carefree nations. The kingdoms were prosperous when Amos preached, but his prophecies of destruction were rapidly fulfilled by the invading Assyrians, who besieged Samaria within a few decades. (The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.)