(a) Describe any three practices which Amos condemned in the religious life of Isreal and indicate the three things he recommended in their place.
People trooped out every Sabbath and other ceremonial days to all the worshipping centres, e.g. Bethel, Dan, Gilgal and Bersheba to worship God falsely. Amos found out that their actions amounted to lip service owing to multiplication of sins and trangressions. This attitude, Amos condemned totally. Amos also frowned at the worshippers' attitude that the places which were supposed to be sacred were turned to where they shared clothes, take people's pledges and also for cult prostitution with the main aim to profane the name of God.
Amos also saw that the solemn assembly of the people was pretentious. They did this in order to practice the heathen orgies from foreign nations. They danced to the music of these foreign gods under the camouflage that they were worshipping true God. They made free will offerings and paid their tithes. These items were those that they got from the poor and because of that, God pronounced that He would no longer accept their (false) assemblies. All the holy days were no longer kept holy.
The Sabbath, the festival of the new moon and other holy days were no longer meant for such. Instead. the days had been turned to time of acquiring wealth and oppressing the poor. It was the wish of the people that the days were increased, so that they could acquire more wealth. Because they had made contact with foreign religion, they could not but swear in the names of the heathen gods. The Lord would definitely punish them for this sinful act since God could no longer tolerate it.
Amos, considering the religious practices in Israel, made the following recommendations:
(i) They must come back to God in order to make national survival possible.
(ii) The people should do away with foreign religions and their practices which were not the ways of God.
(iii) The day of the Lord would be for them a day of gloom and darkness and not of glory if they failed to do the wishes of God.
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