The Book of
Amos
“In the Bible, Amos the prophet saw the
Day of Judgment fast approaching for Israel. He warned the people to prepare to
meet God. Truth is, the word preparedness should be a key word for
everyone. It is strange that we prepare for everything except meeting God.
We prepare for marriage. We prepare for a career. We prepare for
education. But we do not prepare to meet God. Even though most Americans
see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, by and large, we are making few
preparations to meet God. This is a time for repentance and faith. It is a time
for soul-searching, to see if our anchor holds.” — Billy Graham
Amos was the first
Hebrew prophet to write his prophecy so it would remain for generations to
come. Later prophets would use his techniques in their writings. Amos was not a
professional prophet or trained to be a prophet but was given a message by God
and told to proclaim it to Israel in Bethel. It is as relevant for today as it
was when Amos wrote it. He wrote oracles against the surrounding countries and
then reprimanded Israel. His prophecy brings to bear God’s concern for justice
for the poor and the weak. Amos was decidedly monotheistic. There was one God,
and He was God overall. After God’s passionate dismissal of Israel’s empty
worship (Amos 5:21-24), we read the much-quoted words, “But let justice run
down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). God
required their absolute worship, and they persisted, through time, in the
worship of gods made by the hand of man. God would send them into exile to
places where these false gods were worshipped.
Summary of Chapter 1
Amos’s book begins with an introduction to
Amos, a Judean, and a sheepherder who lived in Tekoa about ten miles south of
Jerusalem. It was about five or six miles southeast of Bethlehem which, would
become important as the birthplace of the Messiah. Amos 7:14 tells us that Amos
was a sheepherder and the tender of sycamore fruit. The fruit had to be pierced
to ripen properly. This could be done while watching the grazing sheep. Tekoa
and the surrounding area was a wilderness suitable for raising sheep. It was of
little importance. Tekoa was probably not more than a “wide place in the road”.
God so often chooses “the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise” (1 Cor. 1:27).
Amaziah,
a priest in Bethel, told the king in 7:1, “that the land is not able to bear all his words.” He presents Amos as a man who was trying to turn
the people against the king. His prophecy concerned Israel in the time when Uzziah
was king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the son of Joash, was king of Israel (Amos
1:1). It was a prosperous time.
Amos states it was two years before the
earthquake. Zech. 14:5 mentions an earthquake the people fled from in the days
of Uzziah king of Judah, which may have been a reference to the same earthquake
mentioned by Amos. This cannot be said with assurance.
One might ask why a
prophet out of Judah? Israel had prophets that they refused to listen to and
did with them as they liked. “God had raised them up prophets among themselves
(ch 2:11) but they regarded them not; therefore God sends them one from Tekoa,
in the land of Judah, that, coming from another country, he might be the more
valued, and perhaps he was…”[1]Judah
was the location of Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Jeroboam was concerned that if
the people went to Jerusalem to worship their God they would return to Rehoboam
the son of Solomon, the son of David.
Jeroboam had two
golden calves made with one in Bethel in the south and one in Dan on the
northern border. He did not want to lose political control. His appeal to the people was that traveling to
Jerusalem to worship was unnecessary and inconvenient. They could worship the
golden calves, which were the gods of their ancestors. He caused the people to
stumble and caused confusion and apostasy which would bring about the
destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B. C. (1 Kings 12: 22-33).[2]
2 Kings 17: 21-23 says, “For he tore Israel from the house of David, and
they made Jeroboam, son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from
following the Lord, and made the people commit a great sin. For the children of
Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; and they did not depart
from them until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as he had said by all
His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to
Assyria, as it is to this day.”
Even today, as
Christians, we need to be careful because the government has power and
influence on the hearts and minds of the people. We need to be aware and
conscience of the will of God. We must walk in his way, and not allow outward
influences to pull us away from the one God and Savior.
“And
he said: “The LORD roars out of Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; The
pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the top of Carmel withers” (Amos 1:2). When
the Lord roars the nations experience the intensity of His castigation. Every
living thing will react. Carmel which was lush and flourished year-round would
dry up. Thus, begins the oracles against the nations. “God gives warning before
he strikes.”[3]
Each oracle will begin
with these words, “For three transgressions and for four:” This is a stylistic
device used to denote God’s exasperation with their actions. They may not
worship Him as God, but they will face His judgement as God. There is one God,
and he is God overall. Whether one chooses to acknowledge this fact is beside
the point, because each individual and nation will stand before him in
judgement. He is long-suffering and gives chance upon chance. It is his
compassion and his pity that stays the judgement. One does not want to hear him
say, “Your iniquity is full.” This stylistic device is used to let them know
that their iniquity is full and now the judgment.
Chapter One Oracles
“Thus
says the Lord: Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I
have caused My people Israel to inherit -behold, I will pluck them out of their
land and pluck out of the house of Judah from among them” (Jeremiah 12:14). Although
Jeremiah was written later than Amos the consequences of touching God’s people
continues to remain unchanged. God does not change. “For I am the Lord; I change not: therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6 KJV).
The first judgment is against Damascus which was north of
Israel. They are accused of innumerable transgressions, in other words, “their
iniquity is full.” God brings the indictment and then the sentence. Persecution
is the primary offense. If there is one thing we know about God, he takes the
way his people are treated very personally. We can go to the Old and New
Testament to find this. In Matthew, we are told, “And the king will answer
and say unto them, “Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you
did it to me” (Matt. 25:44 NKJV). Verse 3 God tells them there is no
reprieve. He has turned away judgment before, but now there will be no more turning.
The sentence is immutable. Damascus had cruelly treated the inhabitance of Gilead.
In 2 Kings 8:12, Elisha weeps when God shows him the evil that Hazael will do
to Gilead. He will burn their cities, kill their young men in battle, dash
their children, and rip their women with child to try to make certain there
will be no future generations. Fifty
years after the prophecy in Amos, the king of Assyria went up against Damascus
and took the people into captivity (2 Kings 16:9).
Gaza was a city of the Philistines, and they had come
against God’s people and sought to wipe their name from the earth. Violence was
their tool, and their conscience did not bother them as they attempted to
enlarge their borders at the expense of the lives of God’s people. “Ashdod (or
Azotus), Ashkelon, and Ekron, shall be cut off, and God will make a thorough
work with them in their ruin as they would have made with God’s people when
they carried away the whole captivity; for even the remnant of them shall
perish.”[4]
Tyre delivered the captivity up to Edom. Hiram and Solomon had a treaty
and were as brothers. They broke the covenant and would receive punishment for
it.
It was the pronouncement upon Edom that was bitter. It brings back into
focus the issues between Jacob and Esau. “Thus saith the Lord; For three
transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment
thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all
pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever”
(Amos 1: 11). “Cursed be such cruel wrath, and anger so fierce, so outrageous,
which makes men like the devil, who continually seek to devour, and unlike God,
who keeps not his anger forever. Edom’s malice was unnatural, for thus he
pursued his brother whom he should have protected….”[5] Israel’s
conduct towards Edom was brotherly (Duet.23:7) , but the bitterness was so
engrained in Edom that their cruelty was insatiable. “The fire of our anger
against our brethren kindles the fire of God against us.”[6]
Ammons violence against God’s people was equal to that of the violence
of Damascus against them. Their kings and princes were taken into captivity.
Questions:
Chapter 1
1. Who was Amos, and in
what years did he prophesy?
2. By whose authority
did he prophecy?
3. What kings were in
power over Judah and Israel?
4. What was significant
about each king’s reign?
5. What is known about
the earthquake?
6.Using an exhaustive
concordance discuss Amos’s use of the word roar in verse 2.
7. Why do you think God
roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem?
8. What does the
stylistic device “For three…and for four transgressions” indicate?
9. Look for some
history on:
Damascus:
Gaza:
Tyre:
Edom:
Ammon:
10. What were their
offenses?
