Amos prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah and Jeroboam, king of Israel. This places him between 767 BCE and 747 BCE.
At this point, the kingdoms are still relatively intact and although threatened, not subject to another empire. It is disconcerting to me to read these prophets out of time context, although I realize that this is just one of my many hangups. If you want to read the historical accounts of Uzziah, they are in 2 Kings 15:1-7. Kings lists him as Azariah while 2 Chronicles 26 calls him Uzziah. It is okay to be confused.
Uzziah was a pretty good king at first. He reinforced the walls of Jerusalem, apparently maintained a good, decent fighting force. But his downfall, like mine, was pride. He wanted to be the one to burn the incense rather than the priests. He got leprosy and had to live apart.
This is the king Amos is prophesying to.
The repetitive phrase in Amos is For three sins... even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. My Bible commentary says this is meant to invoke the story of Abraham, Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember the story -- Abraham negotiates with the Lord to save the city if he (Abraham) finds 100, 50, 10, 1 good man?
My Cole, who is studying for his exams that start on Friday, says this is hyperbole -- a literary term that means exaggeration, meant to evoke strong feelings and is often a repetive device. Clearly is in Amos.
NT -- Revelation 2:1-17
Here is a map of the 7 churches of Revelation:
In today's scripture, John is writing in particular to Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum.
To Ephesus, he commends them for their good deeds and hard work but says they have slipped and fallen.
To Smyrna, John tells them that he knows they are being persecuted and that they are suffering. He asks them to be faithful, even if they die for it.
Pergamum gets a strong rebuke. They are eating foods sacrificed to idols and following teachings of the Nicolaitans.
Here is a great link to that heretical teaching.
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