2018, July 15 ~ Amos 7:7-15 and Ephesians 1:3-14
Amos 7:7-15
After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel) and the South (called Judea). The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788 to 747 BCE) was very prosperous but was a time of great inequality between rich and poor. Amos was a cattle herder who also took care of fig trees in Judea, but he was called by YHWH to prophesy against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE.
Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel).
In today’s reading, Amos told Israel that it was not measuring up to YHWH’s plumb line and that it would be destroyed if it did not reform. He then disputed with the King’s appointed priest, Amaziah, who told Amos to stop prophesying in Israel, and to go back to Judea. Amos responded that he was not a “professional” prophet but had been called by YHWH to prophesy to Israel.
In 722 BCE, just as YHWH told Amos to say, the Assyrians conquered Israel. Samaria was the capital of Israel, and because Assyrians intermarried with Samaritans, Samaritans were looked down upon by Judeans.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they didn’t always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.
Because the letter contains a number of terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gives new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus. The first three chapters are theological teachings and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.
In today’s reading, the author emphasized the shared beliefs for Jesus Followers, and that the Christ is the mediator of divine blessings. Because some of the vocabulary in this letter is different from most of Paul’s letters, scholars are divided about whether this letter was written by Paul (who died in 62 or 63) or if it was written later in the 1st Century by an admirer of Paul.