Adult Teaching Resources July 17, 2016

Transcription

1 Adult Teching Resources July 17, 2016 Getting On in Glti: Pul s Angriest Letter (My 29-July 3) Living Like You Men It Gltins 6:1-16 Nothing Minor About These Prophets (July 10-31) The Lening Tower of Isrel Amos 7:7-17 Full Pockets nd Empty Herts Amos 8:1-12 A Seriously Broken Home Hose 1:1-10 A Love Tht Won t Let Go Hose 11: Subscribe to Nurturing Fith to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith July,

2 Full Pockets nd Empty Herts Amos 8:1-12 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Hve smll bottle of wter for ech clss member, to be distributed during the Trnsformtionl Exercise. Mke copies of the lbels hndout. Cut nd pste the lbel to the bottle before the clss begins. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: Do you hve grden? If so, wht hve you hrvested so fr? Wht is your fvorite summer fruit or vegetble? Informtion Amos ws frmer. I m herdsmn nd dresser of sycmore trees, he sid. (Amos 7:14) Mybe he hd vegetbles, too. In tody s lesson, this prophet hd nother vision this time of food. [Hve clss member red Amos 8:1-3.] We might hve hrd time putting summer fruit nd mssive deth together. Indeed, were we to hve vision of fruit or vegetbles, we might tke this to be hppy vision relting to productive life or helthy er. We don t get the connection becuse we do not spek Hebrew. The word for summer fruit nd the word for end were homonyms they sounded the sme. In n English lnguge vision, it might be tht the prophet sw flg with sidewys blue cross on it. Wht do you see? sks God. I see Finnish flg, sys the prophet. God sys, Tht s becuse I m finished with these people. God, fter ll, creted everything, including puns. But wht God ws sying ws very, very serious. The end hs come to my people. They were going to be wiped out. Amos hs given wrnings bout the people s complcency, scheming, greed, nd idoltry. But, pprently, they ssumed tht God would do nothing to them, becuse they were, fter ll, God s people. God mde covennt. God mde promises. He s got to keep them right? But God ws bsolutely fed up, ccording to Amos. The summer fruit ws ll rotten. [Hve clss member red Amos 8:4-6.] 2 Nurturing Fith July,

3 Informtion continued Were these religious people? Why doesn t our religion ffect our ethics? They bought the poor for silver nd the needy for pir of sndls. This is powerful sttement. It stys with us nd tempts us to condemn them. But how mny of the poor of our country re locked out (trmpled on, brought to ruin, s the text puts it) for wnt of telephone to receive cll from perspective employer, or wnt of trnsporttion to job interview or job, or wnt of the proper clothes to wer to n interview? Mny times, it is esier to tell ourselves tht they do not wnt to do better thn it is to dmit tht we hve not done ll we cn to help. Why is it tht the rich in the dy of Amos seem wicked, while we, who lmost surely hve more of life s comforts nd mteril resources thn they did, do not? Both groups, both they nd we, re religious But wht both they re we hve done is ignore the commnds of God concerning the poor. (Sherri Adms. Amos: A Word for Our Times. Interpreting Amos for Preching nd Teching. Ed. Cecil P. Stton, Jr. Mcon, GA: Smyth nd Helwys p. 148.) Let s be reminded bout some of these commnds: [Hve clss member red Leviticus 19:9-10.] [Hve clss member red Leviticus 25:35-38.] [Hve clss member red Leviticus 25:39-43.] [Hve clss member red Deuteronomy 15:7-11.] We do not glen the fields nymore nd we hve n entirely different politicl system. But there re some principles tht cross culturl situtions. Hve we ignored the commnds of God concerning the poor? If so, wht is our excuse? These people were not only ignoring God s commnds bout tking cre of the poor. They were ctully working ctively ginst those God commnded them to cre for. Their forml piety is betryed by their inner desires As debts mount up for the poor, people re forced to sell themselves or their children into slvery to cover their debts. This is not just descriptive sttement of wht is hppening but is prt of the quottion of wht the merchnts sy. The trgedy is tht on Sbbth dys, the merchnts wnt to get bck to work so tht they cn end up driving more people into debt in order to own those people. (Gry V. Smith. Hose/Amos/Mich, The NIV Appliction Commentry. Grnd Rpids: Zondervn p. 384.) Our greed ffects people. Amos sys tht our greed ffects the erth itself. [Hve clss member red Amos 8:7-10.] The presupposition here is cler tht nyone in Isrel who tmpers with the just orders of life drws the erth nd its inhbitnts into perdition t the sme time. (Hns Wlter Wolff. 3 Nurturing Fith July,

4 Informtion continued Joel nd Amos, Hermenei. Phildelphi: Fortress, p. 329.) How hs our greed nd self-centeredness ffected the erth? How does your fith ffect your ctions when it comes to cring for Cretion? Though our scientific system hs done tremendous job lerting us to the dimensions of climte chnge, we re not doing nything meningful bout it. Our politicl system, our culturl system, so fr hs yet to respond in ny significnt wy. The reson tht it hsn t responded goes bck to the question with which we begn. As long s we consider ourselves to be envibly t the center of everything nd our immedite comfort nd grtifiction the most importnt of ll tsks, it is extremely unlikely tht our ledership will rise to the occsion nd demnd of us ny rel chnge, (From the Bill McKibben sermon, The Comforting Whirlwind God nd the Environmentl Crisis. [Hve clss member red Amos 8:11-14.] The people of God would grow so hrdened to the Word of God tht their souls would shrivel. How does God spek to us tody? (through the Scriptures, through pryer, through life s experiences, through worship, through God s people, etc.) Imgine if ll of tht cesed! Wht would hppen to our fith? Pul concludes his letter to n erly church with severl quick words of dvice. Listen for how these instructions could keep our fith fresh. [Hve clss member red I Thesslonins 5:16-22.] How could these instructions keep our fith fresh? Trnsformtionl Exercise When we look bck t the people tht Amos ws preching to, we see severl fith issues. They were religiously complcent. They felt spiritully (nd ntionlly) exceptionl. They ignored God s commndments to help the needy. They found wys to rob the poor of their freedom nd dignity. They cted in wys tht negtively ffected Cretion. As we look t this week s hedlines, we cn see tht things my not hve chnged much. All those issues re still our issues. But God hs not left the world voiceless. We cn yield our voices to God s Spirit, so tht God cn spek through our words nd our ctions. There is fmine of God s Word if we do not shre the bred of life. There is drught of the wter of life, if we do not spek nd ct. [Give ech clss member bottle of wter with its ttched lbel.] I wnt to encourge you to crry this bottle with you tody nd mybe this week. Put it where you will see it s reminder to offer yourself s continer of fresh, life-giving good news. (And, of course, recycle the bottle when you ve finished drinking the wter!) 4 Nurturing Fith July,

5 Trnsformtionl Exercise continued [Close in pryer something like this: From you flow springs of living wter. From you comes nourishment for the souls of this world. This week, we choose life nd we choose to be continers of your life. Use us s you will, Amen.] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@ cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 5 Nurturing Fith July,

6 Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. How did Amos book come to be? - As we hve sid, Amos ws probbly ctive in Isrel for only very short time. Such words s he uttered would not be well received s illustrted by the confronttion with Amzih in 7:10-17 nd Amos would hve been quickly shipped out of the country. The wonder of it is tht he ws not killed outright. Amos preched messge of doom for sinful people who flunted God s lw nd bused God s people. One could prech the entire text of Amos in twenty-minute sermon, but the book pprently contins prts of severl sermons nd other encounters, such s tht with Amzih. It is likely tht the words were recorded, presumbly by Amos, not long fter they were preched. Whether Amos ws returning home to Teko or settling in to new home in exile, Teko becme plce where he nd others of like mind gthered to preserve his teching. The book of Amos does not seem to hve been chnged much by lter editors, though there my be few lter dditions, such s the prologue in 1:1-2. Tht ws the work of southern editors, who listed Uzzih of Judh before the northern king Jerobom (1:1), nd who regrded Jeruslem s the plce of God s dwelling (1:2). Verses such s 3:7 nd 5:13 sound more like editoril comments thn like words of Amos. A few verses (4:13; 5:8-9; 9:5-6) sound like frgments of hymns. Mny scholrs regrd 9:11-15 s lter ddition, since the undulterted hope it offers seems so out of chrcter with Amos primry messge of impending doom. There is something to be sid for tht ide, but it is lso quite possible tht Amos could hve held out word of hope for Isrel. These verses do not deny the punishment tht would rvge Isrel, but see glimmer of light beyond the drkness. Such periodic words of hope re common to the prophets, for fellow 8th century prophets like Hose, Isih, nd Mich lso included hopeful words. It would be hrd to persevere s prophet if God did not give to his messenger t lest hint of hope for something good beyond the judgment. There re very few clues in Amos tht will yield precise dtes for his ministry, though the generl time frme is cler. The opening verse sys he prophesied during the reigns of Uzzih of Judh ( BCE) nd Jerebom II of Isrel ( BCE). If we ssume this is ccurte, his ministry could not hve begun before 786 or extended pst 742. It is likely tht Amos preching covered very short period of time. A more specific clue to the timing of his public ministry my be found in 1:1, which sys tht he prophesied two yers before the erthquke. Isreli rcheologist nd historin Yigel Ydin hs noted tht memorble erthquke occurred in 760 BCE, nd Amos vision in 9:1-6 predicts judgment in the form of n erthquke. A known solr eclipse in June 763 BCE my be reflected in 8:9, where Amos declred On tht dy, sys the Lord GOD, I will mke the sun go down t noon, nd drken the erth in brod dylight. 6 Nurturing Fith July,

7 Digging Deeper continued If these hints re pplicble, Amos preching probbly took plce over short period of time in the neighborhood of 762 BCE. New moons The New Moon festivl went bck to the time of Moses, who commnded tht the Isrelites mrk the beginning of ech month by blowing ceremonil rm s horns nd offering scrifices to God (Num. 10:10, 28:11). Severl texts suggest tht it remined fcet of Hebrew life for some time (1 Sm. 20:24-25, 2 Kgs. 4:23, Is. 1:13, Hos. 2:11). Honest weights Coins were not yet in use in Amos dy: people pid for items by brter, or with broken pieces of copper, bronze, silver, or gold, t different exchnge rtes. These were weighed on blnce ginst stndrdized weights mde of stone or metl. The bse weight ws the shekel, which typiclly weighed bout two-fifths of n ounce. By using hevier shekel weights on their side of the scle, merchnts could overchrge customers who hd to dd dditionl weight to their side of the scle. These stone weights from the First Temple period represent vrious frctions of shekel. Beginning t the top left nd going clockwise, the engrving lbels the stone weights s bek, pim, two shekels, nd nezeph. (Photo by Z. Rdovn) The Hebrew Scriptures routinely criticized the use of flse blnces or inccurte weights. The book of Proverbs holds forth the idel: Honest blnces nd scles re the LORD S; ll the weights in the bg re his work (Prov. 16:11). Likewise, A flse blnce is n bomintion to the LORD, but n ccurte weight is his delight (Prov. 11:1). Amos contemporries, Hose nd Mich, lso spoke ginst plying tricks with weights or blnces. Hose criticized the trder in whose hnds re flse blnces, sying he loves to oppress (Hos. 12:7). Speking for God, Mich sked Cn I tolerte wicked scles nd bg of dishonest weights? (Mic. 6:11). Sweepings of the whet I ve never bought whet by the ephh or sck, so I never worried bout whether chff nd trsh were mixed in with the grin. Mny yers go, however, while living in the mountins, I once bought dump truck lod of firewood logs to feed my wood stove. When I clled to plce the order, I sked for ssurnce tht the wood would be comprised of good hrdwood tht would split esily nd burn for long time. The seller insisted tht he sold nothing else. When he dumped the lod in my yrd, however, t lest hlf of it ws fst-burning poplr or pieces of sweetgum tht were too twisted to split without gret effort. I hd been sold the sweepings of the whet. Tht dy Amos often spoke of tht dy, indicting wht others clled the dy of the 7 Nurturing Fith July,

8 Digging Deeper continued LORD, dy when God would visit the erth to judge the ntions, punish the wicked, nd rise up the righteous. The dy is often described s entiling cosmic uphevls, nd it would be good news for some but bd news for others, including some who would be surprised. For other references to tht dy in Amos, see 5:18-20; 8:3, 9, 11, 13; nd 9:11). Bred, wter, nd the word of God Like Amos, the book of Deuteronomy drws connection between food, wter, nd God s word: He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with mnn, with which neither you nor your ncestors were cquinted, in order to mke you understnd tht one does not live by bred lone, but by every word tht comes from the mouth of the LORD (Deut. 8:3). 8 Nurturing Fith July,

9 The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Who were the Isrelites swering by? Amos illustrted Isrel s bndonment of God by pointing to other deities or entities by which people swore oths, but some of his references re not self-evident. Who were they swering by? Some scholrs hold tht Ashimh of Smri my refer to Syrin goddess clled Ashimh who ws worshiped in Hmth (2 Kgs. 17:30), but tht requires chnge in the vowel pointing of the received text. Others suggest tht Ashimh might be loclized pronuncition or misspelled nme for the populr Cnnite goddess Asherh. A better option my be to note tht the Hebrew word shimh ( shmt in the feminine construct form of the text) derives from verb tht mens to sin or to trespss. The noun form, then, mens guiltiness or sin. Swering by the guilt of Smri my be reference to the golden clves tht Jerobom hd instlled t Dn nd Bethel, or to idols depicting Bl nd Asherh tht were housed in Smri itself. The serious error of such n oth is mde evident in comprison to Yhweh s oth by the pride of Jcob perhps the idel Isrel in v. 7. Amos mentions two other oths. Some swore by the god ( elohim) of Dn lmost certinly reference to the golden clf in the temple there. When Jerobom first built the temple nd put golden clf inside, he my hve thought of the clf s symbol of Yhweh, but such prctices esily led to thoughts of different god loclized in nd bout the northern city of Dn. Yet others, Amos sid, swore by the wy (derek) of Beer-sheb. This phrse hs cused much consterntion. The word derek typiclly mens rod or wy. One might think it could refer to populr pilgrimge route, though it would seem strnge to think of rod when sying s the wy of Beer-sheb lives, the typicl oth formultion tht Amos cited. Thus, it is often suggested tht Beer-sheb my hve been home to syncretistic derek cult. More significnt thn the specific entities involved re the cities: Dn, Smri, nd Beersheb represented the northernmost, centrl, nd southernmost regions of Isrel nd Judh together. Amos chrge is tht ll Isrel hd bndoned Yhweh in fvor of other gods, in cler violtion of Exod. 20:1-6 nd Deut 5:6-10, not relizing wht they hd lost in the process. 9 Nurturing Fith July,

10 Rejoice lwys, pry without cesing, give thnks in ll circumstnces; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fst to wht is good; bstin from every form of evil. 10 Nurturing Fith July,