The Hebrew religion and myth

Hebrew prophet: Amos using the new Oxford Annotated Bible and The Old Testament, Paulist Press, NY CHAPTER 16 1 What makes this person a 'Prophet' in the context of the Hebrew understanding of 'prophets and prophecy'? (500 words) 2 How is this prophet's message relevant to Australian society/ culture and the Australian Catholic Church today? ( 500 words)

Running head: CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES
Christian Scriptures
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Question One
The use of the word ‘prophet’ is a very interesting fact in the Hebrew religion and myth.
This has been repeated several times bringing out the significance of the act of prophecy. The
concept of prophecy has been attributed to several countries like Mesopotamia and other
countries in the East. Still, Amos has emerged as one of the leading prophets in the mythical
outset of the Hebrew people (Linville 2017). Very little has been known about the birth and early
life of Amos.
Still, it has been seen that Amos was a stern believer of the fact that God had the
sovereign power under his control and this made it compulsory for all human beings to do social
justice. Otherwise, all the people will be punished for their activities (Matthews and Benjamin
2016). This is why God designed the system to judge all the people in the equal manner while he
is rich or poor. The beliefs of Amos in Godly supremacy made him very popular in the Hebrew
culture. He also believed that no person will be left unpunished if he or she did not commit social
justice. Even the chosen people of God would not be let gone (Hasel 2019). They would have to
pay the penalty for their behavior also.
It is believed from the common folk that Amos had great visions about the divine
destructions and he said all possible effects of their activities. The mention of Amos could be
found in the Old Testament and he was considered as one of the twelve Minor Prophets. His
activities could be spotted within the timeline of 760 BCE and 755 BCE (Linville 2017). He
prophesied that no one should break the laws of God otherwise he would be heavily punished
instantly or on the Day of Judgment. His main talking point was regarding the disparity of wealth
between poor and rich. All his prophecies relied upon the omnipotence of God and his divine
judgment (Paulistpress.com 2020).

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In the ‘prophets and prophecy’ God has promised to raise a prophet who will be like
Moses and save the civilization of Israel through his comments. During those years, prophets
were the people who guided human beings by the messages of God (Hasel 2019). They stressed
on the fact that all human beings should follow the God’s path of guidance in proper manner.
In this context, the supreme prophecies made by Amos should be exhibited. The divine
power of God had been advocated by Amos. He believed that God was in the full control of the
universe so everyone must follow all the messages of God so they could achieve divinity. Amos
also believed that human beings should build up the ethical relationships with God so they could
achieve the divine favor indeed (Eidevall 2017).
This kind of approach was completely related to worship of God. Therefore, human
beings would be able to achieve the divinity if they believed in the words of Amos. The concepts
towards Deity might change from time to time but their beliefs should always remain the same.
Another reason of believing Amos as a true prophet is he believed in just nature of human beings
rather than rituals of worship (Bovard 2019).
Question two
Amos was considered as a prophet with a global acceptance. Here he is also taken as a
divine prophet and has immense influence on the Catholic society of Australia in the modern
times. The relevance of Amos’ message is as strong in the recent years as it was more than two
millenniums ago. The primary message of Amos was God was supremely powerful with divine
power (Ridge 2018). He had all the power that was needed to control the life on earth. God is
always just and He will judge all the people based on their activities. These activities must cater
to the social justice. God is also very impartial by all aspects. He will, therefore, judge all the

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nation states in the world also. God will save the human individuals who are suffering from
apathy and protect their lives if they do the right thing for the world. The act of helping human
beings and acting in honest ways is the key to salvation for individuals. They will only be able to
spend the easeful life when they will commit good deeds.
This is why Australian Catholic Church society in the current times only thrives to do
good to all the individuals (Paulistpress.com 2020). Otherwise, it would be impossible for them
to make people understand their roles in the well being of the society. The members of the
Australian Catholic Church society trust in this way of spiritual success for all individuals. The
lack of mercy for Israel was the outcome of the activities these Israelites did (Ridge 2018).
The day of climatic judgment was the outcome of their activities. Thus it has been a very
fearsome thing for Australian society that they too will be punished for any kind of unethical or
unjust behavior. Amos has described this day of impending judgment through the image of
darkness. Australian society has always been focused in success in society, economy and other
factors. The thought of darkness is definitely something dreadful for them.
Australia’s attempts have always been towards the success and prosperity. According to
the prophecies of Amos, the new earth will be created only when there will be ultimate
prosperity (Coogan et al. 2018). Australia’s attempts have been attempted towards this ultimate
prosperity so they will look to conduct their day to day operations in the justified and honest
manners. They believe in the ultimate supremacy of God. God will shower the human beings
with happiness and success if they act according to the messages of Amos.
People will also achieve the divinity if they act rightfully. They also trust the impartial
nature of God as Amos prophesied. They know God will not let go His own men if they commit

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sinful acts. So, they continue with their activities of welfare for all people in the society (Coogan
et al. 2018). The harmonious fellow feeling of Church society also urges them to work for the
indigenous nd aboriginals of Australia helping them to cope up with all the dangers.

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References
Bovard, M., 2019. Reexamining Amos’ Use of Rhetorical Questions in Hebrew Prophetic
Rhetoric.
Coogan, M.D., Brettler, M., Newsom, C. and Perkins, P. eds., 2018. The New Oxford annotated
Bible with Apocrypha: new revised standard version. Oxford University Press.
Eidevall, G., 2017. Amos: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Yale
University Press.
Hasel, G.F., 2019. Understanding the book of Amos: Basic issues in current interpretations.
Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Linville, J.R., 2017. Amos and the Cosmic Imagination. Routledge.
Matthews, V.H. and Benjamin, D.C., 2016. Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the
Ancient Near East (Fully Revised and Expanded Fourth Edition). Paulist Press.
Paulistpress.com (2020). PaulistPress. [online] Paulistpress.com. Available at:
https://www.paulistpress.com/Products/CategoryCenter/OLTE/old-testament.aspx [Accessed 23
Feb. 2020].
Ridge, D.B., 2018. On the Possible Interpretations of Amos 7: 14. Vetus Testamentum, 68(4),
pp.620-642.