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<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>SEPTEMBER 25, 2016<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><u>Amos 6:1a, 4-7<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><u><o:p> </o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split
into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called
Judea with two tribes). The reign of
King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous and a time of
great inequality between rich and poor.
Amos was a cattle herder and cared for fig trees in Judea, but he was
called by Yahweh to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel
from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works
are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and
Ezekiel). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">In today’s reading, Amos (speaking for Yahweh) harshly criticized
the wealthy in Israel and predicted their doom.
His mention of the “ruin of Joseph” (v.6) is a colloquial reference to the
impending destruction of Northern Israel by Assyria in 722 BCE. The “back story” to this reference is: according
to Numbers 18, the Tribe of Levi was not allocated land because they were
priests and received tithes from the other tribes. Therefore, there would have
been only 11 tribes receiving land. To fix this, Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and
Manasseh, were each allocated lands and counted among the 12 Tribes of
Israel. Because the Tribe of Ephraim became
the largest and most prosperous of the Northern 10 tribes and King Jeroboam was
an Ephraimite, the nation of Northern Israel was sometimes referred to as “Ephraim”
or “Joseph.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><u>1Timothy 6:6-19<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">The Letters to Timothy and Titus are called “Pastoral
Letters” because they concern the internal life, governance and behavior of the
early Christian churches and their members. Most scholars agree they were
written in the early Second Century in Paul’s name by some of his followers (Paul
died in 64 CE). Writing something in
someone else’s name was a common practice in the First and Second Centuries. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">Today’s reading is from the last chapter of the letter. The
author cautions against love of money, encourages the active “pursuit” of
righteousness and “fighting the good fight of the faith.” (v.12) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Joe Parrish <JoeParrish@compuserve.com><br>
To: Propertalk <Propertalk@stsams.org><br>
Cc: PROPERTALK.topic <PROPERTALK.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Tue, Sep 13, 2016 11:02 am<br>
Subject: FW: Scripture in Context for September 25, 2016<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Tom O'Brien [<a href="mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net?">mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net</a>] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 13, 2016 9:47 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Tom O'Brien <<a href="mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net">tgobrien@comcast.net</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Scripture in Context for September 25, 2016</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Dear Friends, </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Attached is Scripture in Context for September 25, 2016. I hope you and others find it helpful and interesting. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Prior offerings are at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.scriptureincontext.org">www.scriptureincontext.org</a></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Blessings, </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Tom </span></div>
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