The action of removing shoes reflects holiness of the place. Moses was commanded to do this as he came closer to the burning bush (Minnicks, Para 1-3)
One is that Moses had been educated in the Egyptian royal house, and this experience gave him the ability to write the book. There are also several texts in the book itself that support the idea that Moses wrote the book (Swindoll, Para 1&2)
When Moses was born, the Egyptians - afraid that the Jews would outnumber them -- decided to murder all the boys born to the Jews. And, they also made them work harder, so as to break their resolve (Marshall, Para 6-8)
"It was a familiar sight: the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, and the Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, side-by-side as General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the ousting of Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013." (Makar) Ever since the foundation of Egypt in 1952, religious leaders have gotten actively involved in state politics as a result of their connection to political leaders
. parliamentary democracy," which in turn opened the door for a mixed-market economy and eventually membership in the European Union (Themelis, 2013)
Egypt has a long and rich history that can be traced back to the Lower Paleolithic Period though the Dynastic Period played a vital role in the nation's history. The nation's history has conveniently been divided into periods, kingdoms, and dynasties despite increased fluctuations in the precise dates of these historical components (Chan par, 6)
Greece dominated the territory of the old state of Israel at a time when the land between Euphrates River and Tigris dominated Israel. The three most important aspects that reflect the significance of geography to Greece are the mountains that divided the country into several relatively small regions, the proximity to the sea of all Greeks, and the Mediterranean climate (Hicks, p
Much of the country's history is attributable to its link to Egypt, which influenced ancient Israelites in relation to the exodus to these people from slavery in Egypt to Canaan. Actually, a large portion of Israel's history is shaped by the animosities between Israelites and Pharaoh of Egypt, which culminated in freedom from slavery and formulation of the nation of Israel (Zank par, 7)
And it is also worth noting that some of the other images may carry some additional hints as to what Amos considers to be the cause of this terrible apostasy on Israel's part. For example, Andersen and Freeman in their commentary note that the closing image has important parallels in the prophets who are Amos' closest contemporaries, as they observe that "several eighth-century prophets connect the abuse of wine with false prophets (Isaiah 28; Micah 2:11; Hosea 4:18)" (Andersen and Freedman, 333)
Apart from the sexual crimes, however, it seems that the main crimes are ones related to social justice specifically in dealing with the poor: the poor are referred to here as being sold into slavery, oppressed, and exploited when they are in debt. Shalom Paul in his commentary notes that the imagery of the treatment of the poor is meant to invoke a sense of deliberate degradation and defilement: "they step upon the heads of the poor as though they were stepping upon the ground beneath them, that is, they treat the underprivileged with contempt and abuse" (Paul 80)
Israel herself, guilty among the other Syro-Palestinian criminal nations, is placed at the climactic point in the compound of oracles and is excoriated in far more detail than any of them. (Stuart 316) This is not to diminish the gravity of divine judgment upon other nations in the previous six oracles delivered by Amos