Amos
Book Type
The third book of the Minor Prophets; the thirtieth book of the Old Testament; the thirtieth book of the Bible.Introduction to the Book of Amos
The prophet Amos rebukes injustice wherever it is found—even among God’s chosen people. Amos mostly presents oracles of judgment and disaster, but these end with a promise: After judgment, God will restore Israel. Amos calls on God’s people to repent of their sin against Him and others.“Prepare to meet your God,” Amos proclaimed to those who worshiped idols (4:12). Let there be “a mighty flood of justice,” Amos admonished the rich who oppressed the poor (5:24). What brought this shepherd from Tekoa to Bethel to pronounce such powerful judgments? Amos did not make his living as a professional prophet (7:14); the “roar” of God (1:2; 3:8) had moved him to make the journey. His message calls for righteousness—right worship that yields right social ethics. God’s people still need the prophet’s help to make that connection.Amos is the first of the four eighth-century BC prophets, which also included Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. Along with Hosea, Amos’s ministry was to Israel even though he was from Judah. He was a layman who did not consider himself a professional prophet (7:14–15). Through words and visions, Amos spoke against the superficial religious institutions of his day.Theme & Overview
The prophet Amos calls for social justice as the indispensable expression of true piety.According to the NIV Quest Study Bible, the book of Amos, written during a time of economic growth and prosperity for both Israel and Judah, presents God’s perspective on injustice and sends out a call for righteousness. Amos tells how God feels when the wealthy and the powerful exploit the poor and the defenseless. With strong, poetic imagery, the book of Amos speaks passionately about God’s concern for the poor. It urges a return to righteousness and justice by returning to the Lord. Watch for parallels between Amos’s time and ours. When the poor are mentioned, think of the homeless, racial minorities, single parents, the elderly, and others who are often exploited. The theme of Amos is the universal justice of God. The Israelites clearly expected a “day of the LORD” when all their enemies would be judged (1:2–2:5). What they were not prepared for was that the judgment of that day would fall on them as well (2:6–9:10). Far from enjoying favored status, they would be held more accountable than their neighbors.Author
Amos, specifically named in the first verse.Recipients
Though Amos was from Judea, he was called to minister to Jews in the northern kingdom of Israel who lived during the reign of Jeroboam II. This king did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 14:24) and lived during the same time as the prophet Jonah (2 Kings 14:25). Despite the evil of the time, the Lord saved Israel by the hand of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:27). Those living in this area and time experienced an evil ruler, yet God was still at work in their land. Amos called the people to repentance during this difficult time.Amos directed his message to all the Israelite people, but especially to the rich, powerful, and self-indulgent (see especially 5:18–6:8). While Amos clearly considered Israel’s split from Judah and the Jerusalem sanctuary as the primary cause of its moral and spiritual decline, he was aware that Judah was also slipping away from a pure worship of the Lord (2:4–5). Thus, the book includes condemnation of those “who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem,” as well as indictment of the smugly secure in Samaria (see 6:1).Date
Amos wrote during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam II, with this book written two years before a significant earthquake in the area believed to have occurred approximately 760 BC, indicating a date of around 762 BC.Background
Although Amos appears toward the middle of the Prophetic books, he is likely the earliest of the “writing prophets” (that is, prophets who have biblical books named after them). Amos came from the town of Tekoa in Judah and had a brief prophetic ministry directed at the northern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of King Jeroboam II in Israel and King Uzziah (Azariah) in Judah (the southern kingdom). Both kings reigned from the 780s to the 740s. Amos’ ministry probably dates somewhat later in their reigns, perhaps sometime between 760 and 750 BC.While Jeroboam II did evil in the northern kingdom of Israel, leading God’s people astray (2 Kgs 14:24), Uzziah in the southern kingdom of Judah did what was right in Yahweh’s eyes—for a time (2 Kgs 15:3; 2 Chr 26). Uzziah had a fruitful reign until his strength led to pride, and his pride to his downfall (2 Chr 26:16–21). Within this context, Amos speaks his words of truth.Amos was not a professional prophet and did not come from a prophetic background. He was a shepherd and likely was the owner of his flock, not merely a hired hand. He also tended sycamore figs (Amos 1:1; 7:14–15). Little else is known about him.In 931 BC, the kingdom of Israel split into two lesser kingdoms: the northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah). The king of the north, Jeroboam I, did not want his subjects to go to Jerusalem (in the south) to worship, so he established shrines at Dan and Bethel. Drawing on an earlier precedent (Exod 32), Jeroboam used images of young bulls to represent the Lord (1 Kgs 12:25–33). This move typified the northern kingdom’s rejection of God’s revelation in defining both their worship and their ethics. Because pagan religions focused on acquiring power, paganized Israel became an abuser of the powerless.The calf shrines that Jeroboam I established at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:29), together with the presence of the baals (local representations of the Canaanite storm-god), reduced the worship of Yahweh (the LORD) in the northern kingdom to a pagan religion like that of Israel’s neighbors. The purpose of this worship was only to receive some desired benefit. When Elijah challenged the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, it was because the people wanted to worship both Yahweh and Baal. However, Elijah left them without that alternative (1 Kgs 18:21, 24). The message of Amos was similar.Israel and Judah, around 753 BC. At the time of Amos’s ministry, Israel under King Jeroboam II (793–753 BC) was prosperous and proud, but judgment was soon to come.
When Amos arrived in Israel (shortly before 753 BC), the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. Egypt was also in decline. Around 801 BC, the Assyrians had captured Damascus but were forced to withdraw due to problems elsewhere. In the resulting power vacuum, both Israel (2 Kgs 14:23–29) and Judah (2 Kgs 15:1–7; 2 Chr 26) flourished, recovering some of the territory they had lost to Aram. The two kingdoms increased in prosperity, but the greater prosperity merely increased the power of those who already had it. Those who had no power were even more oppressed.In response to this situation, Amos traveled from Tekoa (in Judah) to the northern shrine at Bethel, where he called Israel to account for its apostasy and inhumanity.The Purpose & Audience (Reasons for the letter)
Moses uniquely depicted God as ethical and as caring deeply for the powerless (see, e.g., Deut 24:10–22). But Israel’s apostasy and moral corruption permitted oppression of the poor and powerless. Material prosperity erroneously came to be seen as a sign of God’s favor, and the people prized appearances over substance. This violated God’s requirements for a holy people.Proper worship of the true God yields ethical behavior toward others. But corrupt worship and theology will corrupt human relationships. Theology yields morality, right worship yields good works, and faith yields practical change. It is not enough to give lip service to God. Morality cannot be defined simply as personal purity or integrity; it also includes social obligations born of the conviction that all human life is God’s creation and bears his image (Gen 1:26–27). Service to God is expressed through service to his creatures.Because this cry for humane treatment of the downtrodden applies to all people in every generation, Amos has inspired great social reformers. For example, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used these denunciations and exhortations in his own preaching as a stimulus for the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.Several key teachings make up the message of Amos. 1. God is impartial and fair, judging each nation appropriately. Neither Jew nor Gentile is exempted from divine judgment. The Gentiles are punished for moral outrages that we would now call “crimes against humanity,” while the Jews are judged by the demands of the Mosaic law (see 1:3–2:3; see 2:4–5). 2. God despises human pride, especially when it is demonstrated through confidence in military power, wealth, and indifference toward other people (6:1–8). 3. God is especially harsh against anyone who abuses or cheats the poor (8:4–6). 4. God is not impressed by worship services with music and celebration if the people have unrepentant hearts (4:4–5; 5:21–24). 5. Religious leaders who oppose a genuine work of God are subject to special judgment (7:10–17). 6. People who are blinded by their confidence in their special status before God assume they have no reason to fear divine judgment, but they are totally misguided (5:18–20). 7. When troubles begin to mount up against a nation, the people should see this as a warning from God and repent before it is too late (4:6–12). 8. Even after judgment, when it seems that all hope is lost (9:1–4), God is able to bring about redemption and salvation (9:13–15). 9. Israel’s hope (and humanity’s hope) is in the line of David, which God will raise up to establish his kingdom (9:11–12). We now know that this hope is fulfilled in David’s descendant, Jesus Christ.CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLEAmos reminds us of the sovereignty of God in his involvement with his people. God will bring his judgment, a reality that certainly came to pass. Amos’s emphasis on the day of the Lord had implications for Amos’s contemporaries, but it also reminds the modern reader of a coming day referred to repeatedly in the NT—the day of Christ’s return.Key Verses (ESV)
Amos 2:4: "Thus says the Lord: 'For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.'" Amos 3:7: "For the LORD GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets."Amos 9:14: "I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit."Key Passages (NLT)
Am 1:1 This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel.Am 2:4–8This is what the Lord says: “The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They have rejected the instruction of the Lord, refusing to obey his decrees. They have been led astray by the same lies that deceived their…Am 4:1–4Listen to me, you fat cows living in Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who are always calling to your husbands, “Bring us another drink!” The Sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness: “The time will come when you will be…Am 7:14–15But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’Am 9:11–15“In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine.” The Lord has…Structure & Outline 1
StructureThe book of Amos can be divided into three sections. The first (Amos 1–2) briefly introduces the prophet and conveys eight messages of judgment, each introduced with a phrase stating the words belong to Yahweh. The first six messages condemn foreign nations for injustice and oppression (Amos 1:3–2:3). The seventh tells of judgment against Judah for rejecting God’s law (Amos 2:4–5), while the eighth message—the longest—takes aim at Israel (Amos 2:6–16). The kingdom is judged for injustice, sexual immorality, and rejection of God’s guidance, including a rejection of his prophets.The second section (Amos 3–6) includes three messages of judgment introduced by a command to hear this word. These messages are all directed at the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos accuses them of oppressing the poor (e.g., Amos 4:1; 5:11) and worshiping improperly, especially at the wrong place—Bethel, rather than Yahweh’s ordained place of Jerusalem in Judah (e.g., Amos 4:4–5). King Jeroboam II of Israel, and most of the kings of Israel before him, encouraged worship of Yahweh at Bethel rather than Jerusalem—this politically motivated decision was tantamount to heresy. But despite the words of rebuke and discipline, Israel refused to turn back to God (e.g., Amos 4:6–11).The third section of Amos (Amos 7–9) presents three visions of the judgment that awaits Israel. Between the first and second visions, a brief narrative episode tells of a priest from Bethel who attempts to stop Amos from prophesying in Israel (Amos 7:10–17). Here, we see the pitiful effects of the disunity among God’s people, created from selfish ambition and spurred by the separation of worship sites. The third vision tells of what will come after judgment (Amos 9:11–15).Outline • Indictments against the nations, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1:1–2:16) • Judgment on Israel (Amos 3:1–6:14) • Visions of judgment and restoration (Amos 7:1–9:15)Outline 2
Amos includes nine chapters with three main sections. The first section (Amos 1—2) emphasizes the Lord's judgments against various nations. These include Israel's enemies (Amos 1:3—2:3), but also Judah (Amos 2:4—5), and Israel (Amos 2:6—16). The second section provides further accusations against Israel for various sins (Amos 3—6). Chapter 3 addresses Israel's guilt and punishment. Amos 4:6–13 condemns Israel for not returning to the Lord despite all that had occurred to them. Amos calls the Israelites to seek the Lord so they could live and prosper once more (Amos 5). This chapter also includes the well-known passage cited by Martin Luther King, Jr. regarding the concept of letting "justice roll down like waters" (Amos 5:24).Chapter 6 is a proclamation of woes and warnings.The third section includes a variety of visions given to Amos (Amos 7—9). The first two visions include locusts and fire (Amos 7:1¬–6). A third is of a plumb line (Amos 7:7–9). There is then a narrative break describing Amaziah, a priest of Bethel, accusing Amos (Amos 7:10–17). Two additional visions are then given: a fruit basket (Amos 8:1–14) and an altar (Amos 9:1–10). The Lord concludes with the promise to restore Israel in the future (Amos 9:11–15).