Amos: the Person
Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, a village about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. It is worth noting that by glancing at Amos’s vocation, you will notice that he was indeed not a prophet by trade or by lineage. Amos was the most dangerous kind of prophet, the kind that God calls. He did not have a rabbi to impress or a living to make, so he could say whatever God told him without any reservation or fear that he wouldn’t have enough money to keep the candles on.
In verses 14-15 of chapter 7, Amos also states, "I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet... but the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel."
This was the time of the Divided Monarchy, which took place shortly after King Solomon died, ca 922 BC. The 10 northern tribes consolidated into the nation of Israel, and the 2 southern tribes consolidated into the nation of Judah. These two kingdoms co-existed for 200 years, which led up to Israel being conquered by Assyria in 720 BC.
Amos: The Book
Book Theme: Judgment is coming!
Amos prophesied during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel. It’s important to know that this was a time of great economic prosperity for a good portion of the population. Samaria, the capital city of Israel, especially enjoyed enormous wealth and luxuries.
The main theme and purpose of the book of Amos are that God’s people had taken for granted the fact that they were Chosen and loved by God, so they saw themselves as immune from His judgment. (Does that sound familiar?)
Teach
Without God’s holiness, righteousness, and justice, His grace, mercy, and redemption would not be necessary.
- Without God’s perfect holiness, we wouldn’t need grace when we come up short.
- Without God’s perfect righteousness, we wouldn’t need his mercy when we don’t measure up.
- Without God’s perfect standard of justice, we would never need to be redeemed from injustice.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
I want us to notice how Amos paints God’s posture as he begins preaching:
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion
and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,,
and the summit of Carmel withers. Amos 1:2.
The truth of the matter is that God isn’t messing around anymore. Amos makes it known that when the King of kings speaks, all would do well to hear him out.
Injustices of the Land: Amos 1-2
Around the land:
Damascus: Cruelty at war, brutal military tactics
Gaza: Slavery. The Philistines captured villages to sell the entire populace into slavery
Tyre: Slavery and raided towns to sell people into slavery.
Edom: Murder. Committed border raids and exterminated entire populations.
Ammorites: Genocide. Sought to exterminate the population of Gilead by slaughtering pregnant women.
Moab: Cruelty to Edom
Within the land:
Judah: Rejecting the Law of God
Israel: bribery, greed, adultery, immorality, selfishness, ingratitude, drunkenness, and rejecting God’s revelation
What do these passages teach us about God?
- God is sovereign over all the nations of Earth.
- God is impartial in His judgment of Sin
It is worth noting that 8 groups of people are called on their sins.
The first 6 groups are groups of gentiles that are guilty of “sins against humanity.” In other words, God calls them on their mistreatment of their fellow man.
These sins include:
- Brutality, slavery, murder, and mass murder
Notice that the final 2 groups that Amos calls out are God’s chosen children, Judah and Israel.
- I think it is worth noting that they are not guilty of sinning against other people but rather God himself.
Amos gave 3 sermons to deliver a word from God. (Amos 3,4,5)
Sermon 1: A message of explanation (Amos 3:1-15)
“I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Amos 3:2
Sermon 2: A message of accusation (Amos 4:1-13)
Amos 4:1 (CSB)
Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who are on the hill of Samaria, women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring us something to drink.”
What were they accused of? Amos 4:6,8,9,10,11.
Sermon 3: A message of lamentation (Amos 5:1-6:14)
God's people did not realize that the Day of the Lord would be a time of judgment for them as well as for their enemies. They are like Christians today who “long for” the return of Christ, yet may not be prepared to meet the Lord.
