Amos 3; Amos 7-9; Joel 2-3

The Bible dictionary has an entry for Amos on p. 607. I liked the following excerpt: “His emphasis was upon the moral character of Jehovah…. Amos shows that the offering the Lord most cares for is a righteous life….”

The Joseph Smith translation of Amos 3 has two changes:

* In Amos 3:6, Joseph Smith changed the sentence, “[S]hall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” to the following: “[S]hall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not known it?” Amos 3:6 reminds me of Alma 5:40, which reads, “For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh of God, and whatsoever is evil cometh of from the devil.” When something really bad happens, it is common for people to blame God for it. Certainly we do know that we are here to be tested; you might want to look up “Test, Try, Prove” in the Topical Guide (p. 522) to see a few verses about that. I like the fact that Joseph Smith’s change strengthens the idea that God is not the creator of evil.

* In Amos 3:7, Joseph Smith changed the sentence, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Joseph’s version reads: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” If you have a close friend, it’s likely that you talk with your friend about important decisions before they are public knowledge, unless there is some good reason why you need to keep it private. I like the emphasis in this verse on that kind of communication, because to me it is indicative of the courtesies of close friendship.

In Amos 7, the JST changes verses 3 and 6. Instead of saying that the Lord repents, Joseph Smith changed them to say that Jacob will repent. The idea is plain: Why would the Lord need to repent?

The verses that seem the most important to me in Amos 7–9 are found in Amos 8:11–12: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”

I think these verses apply to the Great Apostasy, but don’t they also apply to anyone who doesn’t have a religious life? I am not talking about Church attendance as much as I am talking about an attitude of service and of strengthening the bonds of family and friendship: of doing the right thing, to the best of your knowledge and ability, and of trying to worship God through the actions of your daily life. Sunday behavior should not differ substantially from what you do during the week; you shouldn’t be like the Zoramites. (See Alma 31:23, where it says that after the Zoramites prayed each Sunday, “they returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.”) I am also talking about a lot of the silliness that passes for wisdom in popular culture.

We don’t know exactly when Joel prophesied, according to the entry about him in the Bible dictionary (p. 714). However, he does prophesy about the last days. As the Bible Dictionary notes, Peter and Moroni both quoted Joel, making him of particular interest. I strongly recommend that you look at the entry.

The JST footnotes are similar to the ones in Amos, in that Joseph Smith moves the need for repenting from the Lord to the people who live in the last days.

The verse that jumps out at me is Joel 2:28–29: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” I think this has been, and is being, fulfilled as a result of the restoration of the gospel.

The other thing that stands out to me is at the end of Joel 3. In particular, Joel 3:19 reads, “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.” The Bible Dictionary has entries for Edom and for Egypt on p. 660 that you might want to read. To me, this verse has a very contemporary feel.

Sunday School Notebook -September 2006 - Susan Morgan