Prepare to Meet Your God, O Israel

THE IMMINENT DESTRUCTION of the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria was prophesied by Amos. Israel’s failure to repent despite God’s repeated efforts to get the attention of the people is highlighted in Amos 4, and chapter 5 is a warning of the punishment to come upon Israel and God’s rejection of their feasts and sacrifices.  We also explain why the “cows of Bashan…on the mountain of Samaria” (Amos 4:1) are divine, not bovine, and why the reference to “Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god” (Almost 5:26), quoted by the apostle Stephen in Acts 7:43 (“You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan”), is not connected to the Star of David.