Amos The historical

Amos the Prophet The historical background A wandering people At the start of what is a series looking at some of the prophets of Israel, it might be helpful to do a little history which gives us a feel of the background. When I recently visited Israel and went in to the desert, it was interesting to note the Bedouin still living there in tents in a very primitive way. I wondered if the reaction to these roaming people was the same as the reaction in England to gypsies. Here in England the wandering gypsy is a figure of loathing and resentment. I was surprised therefore that these wandering tribes of people were actually held in quite high regard. My Jewish guide said to me ‘They live like Abraham used to live.’ King David This was of course how the Jewish people came into existence, from these wandering tribes a nation was formed, and they had as their King David. He himself was drawn from a humble background as a shepherd, yet he was to bring together a nation in a remarkable way. He unified the tribes and he brought the centre of religious worship to Jerusalem. It was to Jerusalem that he brought the Ark of the Covenant. King Solomon Then when he died it was the son of David, Solomon who was given the honour of fulfilling his father’s dream, to build in Jerusalem a Temple, in which to house the Ark of the Covenant . Solomon was the Son of David and Bathsheeba, from that liaison which was so wrong and which resulted in the death of her husband to satisfy the lust of the king. Solomon was noted for his wisdom. It was he who ruled that a baby should be cut in half because two women claimed the child to be theirs. When one woman protested and said that in such circumstances she would rather the child be taken by the other woman, Solomon then knew which mother was lying. Solomon was visited by The Queen of Sheeba, he set up trade and became famous. However his reign had a large cost for the people. His great temple and development cost the people in taxes and hard