Theory question 104
True Religion and Social Justice(a) Outline Amos' vision of a basket of ripe fruit. (b) State three practices that Amos condemned.
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(a) The Lord showed Amos a basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1).
God asked what he saw; Amos said, "A basket of summer fruit" (Amos 8:2).
God said, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them" — Israel was ripe for judgement (Amos 8:2).
Temple songs would become wailings; dead bodies would be many, cast out in silence (Amos 8:3).
He condemned those who trample the needy and bring the poor to an end (Amos 8:4).
They wished the new moon and sabbath were over so they could sell grain, make the ephah small and the shekel great and cheat with false balances (Amos 8:5).
They bought the poor for silver and the needy for sandals, and sold the refuse of the wheat (Amos 8:6).
God would turn their feasts into mourning and send a famine of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:10-12).
(b) Any three: cheating in trade with false weights (Amos 8:5); oppression of the poor (2:6-7; 4:1); bribery and injustice in the courts (5:12); empty religious worship (5:21-23); luxury and drunkenness (6:4-6); sexual immorality (2:7); idolatry at Bethel and Dan (8:14).
Outline Amos 8:1-12, then three practices.