View All Pages

Amos

Amos was the first of the so-called writing prophets. The writing prophets is another name for the Latter Prophets. Amos preached in Israel after Jeroboam II had completed his wars of conquest.

The nation was enjoying great superficial prosperity. The merchant class and those with money and power were taking advantage of the poor and abusing religion in the process.

Amos was a native of Tekoa, a small village about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. He was a shepherd and a “dresser of sycamore trees.” Amos saw numerous violations of the Sinai covenant taking place in Israel. He traveled north from Judah to preach to the northern kingdom of Israel.

The ideas he preached were these:

  1. The God of Israel, is the God who is concerned with all people
  2. The LORD is a righteous, highly moral deity who demands right living by those who worship him
  3. No person who is right with the LORD will treat others like a thing to be abused
  4. The inevitable result of the abuse of privilege will be judgment. Though people may be unjust, the LORD of all the earth will see that justice is done.

The Day of the Lord

In some of the most vivid imagery found in prophetic literature, Amos described the day of the LORD, or the day of Yahweh. In popular thought, the day of the LORD was to be a day of triumph and celebration when the LORD would give Israel victory over its enemies.

No so, said Amos. It would be a day of darkness when the unrighteous will receive God’s punishment. It will be a day of “. . .darkness, not light, as if someone fled from a lion and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.”

The Israelite’s religious services were such farces that they had no effect on the way people lived. The only thing that could satisfy the LORD was to “. . .let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

In general, the main theme of the preaching of Amos is that a righteous God demanded righteous living to accompany sincere worship. For Amos, right living involved giving every person their due.

The visions of Amos

  1. The locust plague
  2. The judgment by fire
  3. The plumb line
  4. The basket of summer fruit
  5. The LORD by the altar

For a time, Amos had hope. As time went by, however, he became convinced that there was no hope. He believed that judgment had to come on Israel.

In the midst of Amos’ visions is the story of a confrontation between Amos and Amaziah. Amaziah was the head priest of the king’s shrine at Bethel. Amaziah told Amos to go back to Judah and mind his own business. Amos replied, in effect, that he was minding the LORD’s business and that Amaziah would not escapte the judgment, even though he was a religious leader.

Amos represented what was best in the prophetic tradition: courage, honesty, compassion, and the ability to see the inevitable result of the things that were wrong in Israelite society.