Week 31 Amos
Back in April when I was reading the Kings and Chronicles I thought about reading some of the prophets at the same time.
Jeremiah prophesied during the last years of Judah so he could be read right at the end of II Chronicles, or the end of II Kings.
And Jonah predicted some successes for the northern kingdom in II Kings 14:25. So I could have read his story right then for a nice change-of-pace.
Not a bad idea, but it’d take a whole new complicated reading plan. I did about a ten-second cost-benefit analysis and I figured it wasn’t worth the effort.
So in the spring I read the long histories. My summertime reading is the prophets.
Amos was one of the prophets who prophesied before the exile. He tells us that he had his prophetic visions about Israel: in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.
This can be a bit confusing for a bible reader because there were two Jeroboams who were kings in Samaria. The story of the first Jeroboam – the son of Nebat – is in I Kings 11. I remember him because he is often described by expressions like Jeroboam-the-son-of-Nebat-who-made-Israel-sin.
Amos’ Jeroboam – Jeroboam II – lived many decades after the first Jeroboam and he doesn’t show up until II Kings 14.
This is a useful reminder that bible books aren’t in chronological order.
Note: quote from Amos 1:1 (NASB)