Book of Amos Quiz: Justice, Judgment, and the Plumb Line

1. Who was Amos, and why was his call unusual?

1. Amos was a Jerusalem priest who was sent north to Samaria — his priestly training gave him authority to speak in the northern sanctuaries
2. Amos was a scribe in the royal court who became a prophet after seeing a vision during the New Year festival at Bethel
3. Amos was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees from Tekoa in Judah — not a prophet or a prophet's son. He insisted God called him directly from his work to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel
4. Amos was a wealthy landowner who used his social position to give him access to the royal court — his message of justice came from his experience of economic exploitation

2. How does Amos open his ministry, and what rhetorical technique does he use in chapters 1-2?

1. Amos begins with a hymn of praise — establishing God's greatness before delivering the indictment of Israel's sin
2. Amos begins with a vision — the divine throne room from which the judgments against all nations are issued simultaneously
3. Amos delivers a series of 'For three sins... even for four' oracles against surrounding nations (Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah) — drawing in the crowd's approval. Then he delivers the same formula against Israel, his primary target — the longest and most detailed indictment of all
4. Amos opens with a biographical account of his calling — establishing his credentials before anyone could question his authority to speak to the northern kingdom

3. What social sins does Amos specifically condemn in the northern kingdom?

1. Failure to observe the Sabbath and annual festivals — the religious calendar had been neglected under commercial pressure
2. Idolatry and false worship — Amos is primarily concerned with the religious syncretism of the Bethel sanctuary
3. Military aggression against neighbouring nations — Israel's imperialistic expansion under Jeroboam II was the main subject of Amos's condemnation
4. Selling the innocent for silver, trampling the needy, sexual exploitation of the poor, lying on garments taken in pledge, drinking wine taken as fines in the house of their god — economic injustice against the vulnerable was the primary charge

4. What is the famous call for justice in Amos 5:24?

1. 'But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!'
2. 'Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph'
3. 'I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them'
4. 'Seek me and live... Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is'

5. What does Amos say about Israel's religious festivals and sacrifices in 5:21-23?

1. 'I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps'
2. Amos criticises only the Bethel and Dan sanctuaries — worship in Jerusalem was still fully acceptable, and Amos's target was the northern syncretistic worship sites
3. Amos praises Israel's worship as exemplary — even in sin, their ritual devotion maintained the proper form that God required
4. Amos says the festivals were acceptable in themselves — the problem was that the worshippers did not understand their theological meaning, not that God rejected them

6. What is the plumb line vision in Amos 7, and what did it mean?

1. A plumb line was used to measure the walls of Jerusalem for their final destruction — God was checking whether the demolition work had been thorough enough
2. God showed Amos a plumb line held against the wall and declared: 'I will test my people Israel with a plumb line; I will spare them no longer.' The plumb line measured Israel's moral straightness — they were found crooked and judgment would come
3. The plumb line represented the law — God was holding the Mosaic covenant against Israel's behaviour and finding they had deviated from its standards
4. The plumb line was a symbol of restoration — God was using it to measure the foundations for a new temple that would be built after the exile

7. What happened when Amaziah the priest confronted Amos at Bethel?

1. Amaziah told Amos to go prophesy in Judah and stop prophesying at Bethel ('the king's sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom'). Amos replied with his call story and then pronounced judgment on Amaziah personally — his wife would become a prostitute, his children killed, and he would die in exile
2. Amos and Amaziah had a formal theological debate — the elders of Bethel adjudicated and ruled in Amaziah's favour, but Amos appealed to God directly
3. Amos submitted to Amaziah's authority — recognising that the institutional priesthood had legitimate authority to restrict prophetic activity within temple precincts
4. Amos was arrested and held in prison for a year — his silence during imprisonment became a prophetic sign to the community

8. What does the closing promise in Amos 9:11-15 declare, and how is it used in the New Testament?

1. 'In that day I will restore David's fallen shelter — I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins — and will rebuild it as it used to be... I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.' James quotes this at the Jerusalem Council to include Gentiles in the church
2. The closing promise declares that Israel will defeat all its enemies militarily — Amos ends with a triumphalist vision of Israelite domination over the surrounding nations
3. The closing promise declares the destruction of Samaria in final and permanent terms — there will be no restoration for the northern kingdom
4. The closing promise is addressed to Judah, not Israel — Amos distinguishes between the fate of the north (permanent exile) and the south (restoration)