Exegetical Paper: Amos 9:5-10
-I will be examining Amos 9:5-10
The message that the author is trying to convey in Amos 9:5-10 is that YHWH has proven himself to the people to be a trustworthy and loyal God. He helped resurrect Israel, the Philistines and the Arameans. In turn these people, particularly the Israelites, have betrayed his trust by acting sinfully toward the kingdom of Israel. The Lord YHWH will judge those people of Israel who are called to do right but who choose to do wrong. The wrongdoers being those that have acted sinfully.
Amos, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the altar at Bethel. God has come for one thing and one thing alone, judgment. There is no escaping the Lord now, for wherever he stands, one can be seen. YHWH has an inescapable presence. Those whom he opposes can find no shelter; wherever they go, his eyes will follow. Wherever sinners flee from YHWH's justice, it will overtake them. Not only does God have an inescapable presence, he also has the power to do virtually anything imaginable with the Earth. As mentioned in Amos 9:5-6: "The Lord, the LORD Almighty, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn?the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt?he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the Earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land?the LORD is his name." Those whom sin or rebel against God will seek an unwanted response. Whether that unwanted resonse be an earthquake, volcano or any other natural disaster. If one is respectful of YHWH they will be respected back in turn and will someday be broug ...