An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 176: Why Clean Teeth Are Bad (Amos 1-5)

Amos 1-5
Why Clean Teeth Are Bad.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Amos 1
“The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”

This is the first mention I’ve heard of an earthquake, although I wonder, perhaps it’d be possible looking back to other commentaries of the time of Jereboam and Uzziah if there isn’t mention of God’s judgement shaking the earth.

Anyway, Amos is a herder, and the word of God that he imparts concerns judgements on the neighbouring nations to Israel and Judah – Syria, Edom, Ammon, the Philistines and Tyre. All are guilty of various infractions, and there’s a neat rhetoric device employed in this chapter where each section is introduced with the formula “For three transgressions of [place], and for four”, God will punish them, usually with a “wall of fire”. The transgressions are all types of violence and warfare – “threshed Gilead with instruments of iron”, “he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity”, “they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead” and so on. I hate to say it, but things are much the same now in that part of the world as they were at the time of Amos.


Amos 2
“Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime”

The formula continues, of three transgressions and of four, this time the Moabites and then the Israelite kingdoms themselves, Judah and Israel. It’s interesting that God should be angered with the Moabites not for a transgression against His covenanted people, but against the Edomites, otherwise an enemy gentile nation.

Amongst the Israelites, however, they have committed transgressions such as “a man and his father will go in unto the same maid,”, selling the righteous for silver and giving strong drink to the Nazarites, who as I recall have a few major taboos – never to cut their hair, and never to drink. There is the standard kind of reminder of God’s power, about He brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and some threats to remove the strength from the strong, speed from the swift and give fear to the brave.


Amos 3
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

The gist of God’s grievances with the Israelites is laid out in this chapter, summed up nicely in the short verse 3; “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” You can almost feel God saying “I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.” He’s singling out the Israelites for special punishment because of all people, they are the ones He chose to make a covenant with and therefore they are the ones who should know better. And what He threatens is to bring up an enemy that will destroy the land and the “palaces of ivory” and scatter the people, but He will save a remnant, like (and here’s an image and a half) a shepherd that manages to save an ear or a couple of legs of his sheep after the lions have been at it.


Amos 4
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.”

God addresses the “kine of Bashan”, which would appear to be the calf idols to which people have turned, and promises to take them away “with hooks”. There is a list of punishments that have been dealt out by God to the Israelites to no effect, each example ending with the formula “yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD”. This includes famine, drought, war, plague and even a Sodom and Gomorrah style destruction, apparently. An odd phrase – “I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities” which is not good dental hygiene but would seem to imply lack of food, followed as it is by “and want of bread in all your places”. The teeth are clean because no food has passed them, and this is a bad thing, see?


Amos 5
“Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.”

Again there are more warnings to turn away from Idols and instead turn to “him that maketh the seven stars and Orion”. Presumably the original ancient Hebrews didn’t name a constellation after a Greek hero, so I wonder what this was originally. God speaks out against religious hypocrisy here – “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies” He says, refusing offerings of meat and music from people that are not sincere in their religion, who do not back it up with good deeds. The core of Amos’s teachings show through in this chapter, I think – that doing good makes one closer to God than all the burnt offerings with no good deeds to back them up.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dr Simon Reads... Appendix N. Part One: Poul Anderson

An Atheist Explores the Qur'an Part 121: Closing Thoughts

An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 140: The Fall and Rise of (Slightly Tarty) Cities (Isaiah 21-25)