A very good treatise on the theology Israel’s writing prophets in their historical context. Though he uses history extensively to set the background for the prophets’ words, Gowan’s chief purpose is to trace prophetic theology, focusing on theme of Israel’s punishment as the death and resurrection of the people of God.
This book is a scholarly examination of the prophets at the introductory level. I would recommend it for people who are interested in learning the message of the prophets in their historical context, but are not familiar with all the scholarly language that makes some works impossibly boring to get through. There are lots of striking visual teaching aids which helps bring the prophetic story to life.
Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites is a 4-part PBS series on the history of Israel from Abraham through the second century A.D. The last part of the first video and beginning of the second focus on the exile of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, making it beneficial for a study of the prophets.
Lecture on Amos by Yale professor Christine Hayes; part of the “Introduction to the Old Testament” series. If you like a good, academic-style presentation of biblical history, this is your video. Highly informative, good understanding of the message of Amos in his particular historical context.
Do you read the Bible? You need the Holman Bible Atlas! This was my first step past mere basic Bible study when I started reading Scripture some years ago, and it remains one of the most useful tools in my library to this day. This atlas provides maps of all those places with the funny names that we read about in the Bible, as well as some very important background information.