Historical context is something that is easy to find because of it’s availability in Scripture but requires a little digging on our part at times. As we have already seen, to give the Bible to justice it deserves in study, digging is appropriate and reveals more to us than just reading alone.
Most biblical books and passages have a historical backdrop of some kind. The backdrop may be found in the Bible book itself, or we might have to study to understand more about it.
Today, let’s give it a try using the book of Amos.
I will give you some info about the Historical Context of Amos, similar to what you will find in a study Bible or Bible dictionary. Then we will walk through the study to draw conclusions based on what we have studied.
Amos is the first of our eighth-century B.C. Prophets, who also included Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. Along with Hosea, Amos’s ministry was to Israel, even though he was from Judah. Amos was a layman who did not consider himself to be a professional prophet (Amos 7:14-15). God gave him visions and words to speak against the superficial religious crowd of his day.
Amos was from Tekoa, a small village 10 miles south of Jerusalem. He was the only prophet to give his occupation before declaring his divine commission. He was not of priestly or noble descent, but worked as a “shepherd” (Amos 1:1, 2 Kings 3:4), and a “dresser of sycamore figs” (Amos 7:14). The date of writing is mid-eighth century B.C., during the reign of Uzziah, King of Judah and Jeroboam II, King of Israel, two years before a memorable earthquake (Amos 1:1, Zechariah 14:5).
At the same time, decades of struggle with Damascus had left the population exhausted. Many of the farmers in this area and time were reduced to poverty. Their more affluent neighbors, and especially the aristocracy, swooped in with loans that the poor could not repay and then reduced the debtors to slavery and repossessed their lands. The leaders of this society weren’t really concerned with the future because they had walls around their cities and victorious armies were everywhere. They were the “elite”. The Chosen people of God and considered themselves immune from judgment.
Some Key Teachings That Make Up The Message of Amos:
God is impartial and fair, judging each nation appropriately. Nobody, neither Jew or Gentile is exempted from divine judgment. The Gentiles are punished for moral sins that we would call in our day “a crime against humanity.” The Jews were judged on Mosaic Law. (Amos 1:3-2:5)
God despises human pride. He is not impressed with what we think “we can do” especially when it is demonstrated through confidence in military power, wealth and indifference toward other people. (Amos 6:1-8)
God is especially stern toward anyone who abuses or cheats the poor! (Amos 8:4-6)
God is not impressed by unclean worship. God does not joy in the worship service and music led by those with an unrepentant heart. (Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-24)
Confidence blinds people from the judgment to come. People get arrogant and think they can’t be judged. They assume they have no reason to fear divine judgment, but they are totally misguided. (Amos 5:18-20)
Even after judgment, God is Able. He can restore and bring redemption and salvation. (Amos 9:1-4, 9:13-15)
Israel’s hope (and humanity’s) is in the Line of David. It is through David that God will establish His Kingdom (Amos 9:11-12). We now know this hope is fulfilled in David’s descendant, Jesus Christ.
Now, carefully read Amos 5:21-24
· In your journal, note each of the following that apply in these verses:
· Empty Worship Gatherings
· Meaningless Offerings
· Empty Worship Music
· The Need For Justice
· The Need For Righteousness
· How does a personal study of Historical Context help you understand this passage?
· What guidelines for living did Amos give the Israelites in the last two lines of this passage?
Amos attacked the emptiness of the Israelites’ religious practices and their false hope that the Lord would deliver them in spite of their unjust and unrighteous ways. God was clear when He told them, they could not truly worship God without exercising genuine justice toward other people.
· How can believers practice justice and righteousness today:
· In the church?
· In the community?
Part of understanding the historical context of a Scripture passage involves pinpointing where the writing occurs in the overarching story of the Bible. David Dockery has said:
“We need to understand the big story from creation to the book of Revelation, and understand that God has revealed Himself not only at particular times to particular people, but has done so progressively. As time went on in biblical history, God revealed more and more aspects of his plan for humanity. We see progression, for instance, in the covenants he has made with people. He made a covenant with Abraham, which was amplified in the covenant with David, and then further amplified in the new covenant promised in Jeremiah. That covenant finds fulfillment when we begin to read Matthew chapter 1 as Matthew traces the heritage and history of Jesus back through those covenants. The covenants give us a framework for understanding God’s agenda in forming a people who would follow Him, and we begin to see how the pieces of the Bible fit together. This big picture keeps us from lifting passages out of context, or reading something into the Bible that is not there. It forces us to allow the Bible to speak to us. If we claim that it is authoritative, we have to let it be an authoritative Word that speaks truthfully to our lives, so that we learn to listen so that we’re not the authority over it, but it becomes the authority over us. To do so we must engage the Bible, allowing the broader contexts to illuminate our reading.”
The purpose of this study, is to help us read the Bible well. The big part of that is understanding the Bible as a whole. If we leave out parts of the Biblical story, we don’t understand God’s redemptive message as a whole. If we can grasp the big picture, however, then we begin to understand our place in the ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Grasping the historical context of a Scripture passage helps us do that.
Pray this week that God will reveal to you something new about His Word, simply through understanding the different contexts.
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