Roaring from Zion: A Growth Series Reflection

This is the first post in a series of Growth Series reflections. In this post, Eamon Bryant writes about what he gleaned from taking Roaring from Zion: An Intro to the Book of Amos, which was taught by Tony Nguyen during the summer 2021 session of our Growth Series courses.

When I was approached and asked to write about my experience with Roaring from Zion: An Intro to the Book of Amos class, my gut responses were, “I have no time to add one more thing to my plate,” and, “Surely, others are more qualified to write this.”  I thought about it and prayed about it and Anastasia, to her credit, never made me feel like it was a requirement.  Instead, she assured me that to share what I’ve learned about Amos and what God was teaching me during this class could further reach out to our congregation and share the blessings of the Summer Growth Series with them.  From that stance, I thank you for reading and hope it offers you something new when you next read Amos. 

This summer was a whirlwind for my family and taking time out to study through the book of Amos was challenging in many ways.  The largest hurdle for me, admittingly, was making the time for the text, reflection, and sharing with the group.  Nevertheless, Tony was a gracious and organic guide.  What I was grateful for, was that this wasn’t just a guide through Amos, it was a call to familiarize and gain fluency when reading the Word.  Something, I have not always been attentive to.   

We began the class by reading the end of the book of Amos, which is the restoration of Israel after destruction and exile.  God’s promises fulfilled for his people. Each participant had a reason for attending, but most of us came to the course not having really studied Amos before, even if we had read it previously.  I know for me, it stood out as a book within the minor prophets that I knew by name but could not remember its content.  Sort of a, “blink and you might miss it” while flipping through the Bible, kind of book.  I knew almost nothing about it.  The class took both the idea of regularly reading through Amos and watching helpful commentaries/summaries in preparation for our class nights.  In very brief summary, the primary lessons of Amos are social justice and divine intervention. 

“There was even a call to repentance and against complacency, and I could feel the almost desperate desire of a loving father to see his children return to righteousness...” 

The first few chapters of Amos highlight the sins of the nation’s surrounding Israel, and what will become of these nations for injustices they have committed. The prophet Amos shares these crimes with us as a warning that consequences come to all who stand against God’s kingdom.  The shock comes to Israel that they are included in this list, indeed they are guilty of the same offenses as the pagan/Gentile nations. Israel was guilty of injustices against its poor and innocent members.  During this time, Northern Israel and Judah were living in prosperity…they had good trade, no one rose against them often, and those with wealth continued to glean more at the expense of the poor.  The poor weren’t given fair trials, the prophets were commanded not to prophesy and people regularly defiled the temple.  Israel felt they could do whatever they wanted, however they wanted, whenever they wanted.  Unrepentant and selfish, God’s chosen people had become their own worst enemy. 

A plumb line

For me, this was my first moment of clarity.  Israel knew better, and moreover, they were God’s chosen who had been rescued from Egypt during a “Day of the Lord.”  Their actions were willfully disobeying God.  So, the warning came to Israel, that another “Day of the Lord” was coming, this time they would bear the weight of it, instead of being rescued by it.  There was even a call to repentance and against complacency, and I could feel the almost desperate desire of a loving father to see his children return to righteousness, even though they must experience consequence.  Amos himself was given a glimpse of a word from God, that Israel would not be spared, but a plumb line would be used to right them. 

It is in this moment we learn that Amos was an unlikely prophet, a fig dresser and a herdsman.  He may have even benefitted from Israel’s prosperity.  Yet, he obediently brings the warning to its ruling class, that judgement is coming.  Amos meets with Amaziah, the priest.  Who, after hearing all of Amos’s warnings tells Amos to go back to Judah and stop speaking out against what is going well for Israel as a prosperous nation. Amos responds by letting Amaziah know just what will befall him, his family, and King Jeroboam.  Israel would be destroyed and carried away. 

For me, this was a very sobering part of the text.  Amid injustice, the response of the ruling powers was a cry to keep quiet and leave well enough alone.  I see this book as a warning even to us today that we should not participate in the things that are against God’s kingdom and that it won’t go well if we do.  That refusing to recognize the suffering of those around us, especially caused by us, will have great consequences.  Again, that we as a people must be careful with what we choose to do, with what we have been given, and how we treat those around us.   

It led to questions of: How am I treating the poor and innocent lives in our modern era? Where do I selfishly refuse to change while causing harm to my neighbors that I am unwilling to address in times of plenty in my life?  Where can I be a better steward of the blessings loaned to me by God?  For me, this is the even greater call to “love your neighbor as yourself.” I believe Jesus was fully highlighting Israel’s storied history as He said that.   

I shared that we read the end of Amos first, and in this we see as God lovingly showed that he would restore Israel in Amos 9:13-15:  

“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the  Lord, 
    ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper 
    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; 
the mountains shall drip sweet wine, 
    and all the hills shall flow with it. 
 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, 
    and  they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; 
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, 
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 
I will plant them on their land, 
    and they shall never again be uprooted 
    out of the land  that I have given them,’
says the  Lord  your God.” 

It wasn’t just lessons of the book of Amos, but about how to experience God’s Word. The focus was familiarity of the text.  The same kind you might have with a friend you know well, one that shapes and forms your thoughts and life. Tony gave us free reign to put as much time as we felt we could into learning about the book of Amos.  It was difficult, but the idea was not to “talk” at us, but really have each person glean God speaking to them through the text.  As Tony shared with us, to have a fluency: “to readily be able to embody the truth that it brings.”  This wasn’t something I always considered when reading the Word.  In fact, I have often read a book, just to have read it. As such, I am grateful for my time with this class.  It gave me greater understanding from a part of the Bible I have woefully overlooked.  It challenged the way I choose to interact with our world and the injustice that is present.  It gave a call to seek greater and deeper understanding of the text God has given to us. 

I hope that this encourages you to look at Amos for yourself, and perhaps to delve even into another part of the Word you may have not in a while or at all.  Thank you for reading and blessings to you! 

-Eamon