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Amós 1

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1 Las palabras de Amós, que estuvo entre los pastores de Tecoa, las cuales vio sobre Israel en días de Uzías rey de Judá, y en días de Jeroboam hijo de Joás, rey de Israel, dos años antes del terremoto.

2 Y dijo: El SEÑOR bramará desde Sion, y dará su voz desde Jerusalén; y las estancias de los pastores serán destruidas, y se secará la cumbre del Carmelo.

3 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Damasco, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque trillaron a Galaad con trillos de hierro.

4 Y meteré fuego en la casa de Hazael, y consumirá los palacios de Ben-adad.

5 Y quebraré la barra de Damasco, y talaré los moradores de Bicat-avén, y los gobernadores de Bet-edén; y el pueblo de Siria será transportado a Kir.

6 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Gaza, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque llevó cautiva toda la cautividad, para entregarlos a Edom.

7 Y meteré fuego en el muro de Gaza, y quemará sus palacios.

8 Y talaré a los moradores de Azoto, y a los gobernadores de Ascalón; y tornaré mi mano sobre Ecrón, y el remanente de los palestinos perecerá, dijo el Señor DIOS.

9 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Tiro, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque entregaron la cautividad entera a Edom, y no se acordaron del concierto de hermanos.

10 Y meteré fuego en el muro de Tiro, y consumirá sus palacios.

11 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Edom, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque persiguió a cuchillo a su hermano, y rompió sus misericordias; y con su furor le ha robado siempre, y ha guardado perpetuamente el enojo.

12 Y meteré fuego en Temán, y consumirá los palacios de Bosra.

13 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de los hijos de Amón, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque rompieron los montes de Galaad, para ensanchar su término.

14 Y encenderé fuego en el muro de Rabá, y consumirá sus palacios como con estruendo en día de batalla, como con tempestad en día de torbellino;

15 y su rey irá en cautiverio, él y sus príncipes todos, dijo el SEÑOR.

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Exploring the Meaning of Amos 1

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Joe David

Amos was a prophet in ancient Israel during the reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah. His writings/sayings date from around 760-755 BC.

In his explanations of the inner meaning of the Word, Swedenborg summarizes the meaning of Amos's prophecies in his unpublished work, "The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms". We've used that text, and references made elsewhere by Swedenborg to these verses, and then the more general system of words and their symbolism that he described, to suggest the outlines of the internal sense of these Bible chapters.

In Amos 1:1-2, the verses describe the Lord teaching us about the Word and doctrine from the Word. In this book of the Bible, the prophet Amos symbolizes the Lord. Amos was a shepherd, and of course that metaphor is used to describe the Lord Jesus Christ, too, in the New Testament.

The book of Amos describes the Lord's anger and impatience with the Children of Israel - in the literal sense. Inside, though, it is really a story of the Lord’s great love and concern for us. This is a book of promise: The Lord will triumph over hell’s quest to dominate us and destroy the gift of salvation. This victory is not an occasional interest of the Lord’s; He has an “ardent zeal” to protect us.

In verse 2, the "roaring of the Lord from Zion" and the "uttering of His voice from Jerusalem" teach us several things about Him in this context:

- He has grievous distress for His church and people.

- He has an ardent zeal for protecting heaven and the church.

- He warns of coming vastations.

- He points to the drying up of our “Mount Carmel” and the effects this will have on our “vineyards.”

There are different ways to destroy true ideas and good loves. Verses 3-15 in this chapter describe the different ways that people do this.

Verses 3-5 are talking about people who pervert knowledges from the Word, knowledges which help us form true, useful doctrine. When people successfully corrupt knowledge from the Word, they also undermine the good that would come from that knowledge. But, people who do this will perish, spiritually.

Verses 6-8 describe people who apply the Word to create or reinforce heretical false ideas. That's not a good thing to do; they will perish, too.

Verses 9-10 address people who pervert knowledges [cognitiones] of good and truth, and thereby injure the external sense of the Word.

Verses 11-12 are about people who pervert the sense of the letter of the Word by falsity, by which doctrine perishes.

Finally, verses 13-15 describe people who falsify the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word: they do not resist in the day of combat, but destroy the truth of doctrine.

What are we to make of this? One take-away is that the Lord loves us, and wants to protect us. But how can we avoid these various falsity traps? The Lord wants us to carefully, holistically, read the Word and seek the truths in it - those in the literal sense, and those in the internal sense. From these we should form sound doctrine, and develop good loves that can be built on true ideas.

For further reading, see Arcana Coelestia 2606, 10325, and The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 201.