Amos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
The Man
Who was Amos?
Amos give us the following information about himself:
The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1)
Here we are told that
- Amos came from the city of Tekoa;
- The prophecies he received came by way of visions;
- The prophecies he received were messages for the ten tribes in the north;
- During this time, Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II was the king of the ten northern tribes.
- Amos delivered these prophecies two years before some notable earthquake.
Tell me more about the city of Tekoa.
This was more a region than a city. It was on the edge of the civilized part of Judea and was south of Jerusalem. It was in this region, that herdsmen tended their flocks and farmers cultivated their crops. Because of this, we are not surprised to read that Amos was a shepherd and that he cared for sycamore-fig trees. (Amos 7:14-15)
Amos tells us that he received his prophecies by way of visions. In what other ways did the prophets receive visions?
See here.
Is the book of Amos then a collection of revelations which he received from God?
It is. The book itself, however, is woven together by Amos into a complete work which makes a single unit. Keil writes (p236):
His book is not a mere collection of the addresses delivered in Bethel, but a carefully planned, complete work, in which Amos, after the occurrence of the earthquake in the time of Uzziah, gathered together all the essential contents of the prophecies he had previously uttered at Bethel.
How do Amos’ prophecies reflect his background, occupation, and culture?
Amos was a shepherd and fig farmer from Tekoa. There are several places where his occupation shows itself. Mitchell gives this list (p10):
- YHWH roars (Amos 1:2),
- war is a fire (Amos 1:3),
- wrath rends (Amos 1:11),
- the Amorite is destroyed fruit and root (Amos 2:9),
- violence is stored (Amos 3:10),
- the women of Samaria are cows of Bashan (Amos 4:1),
- distress is wormwood (Amos 5:7),
- the Pleiades and Orion represent creation (Amos 5:8),
- violence bursts or breaks like light (Amos 5:9),
- Israel takes horns (Amos 6:13),
- lack of the word of YHWH is famine (Amos 8:11),
- the plowman overtakes the reaper, and the mountains drip sweet wine, in the good time coming (Amos 9:13), and
- the Hebrews are planted in their soil, never to be uprooted (Amos 9:15).
The comparisons also are numerous:
- the Amorites are compared to cedars and oaks (Amos 2:9);
- the earthquake to a wagon full of sheaves (Amos 2:13);
- the remnant of Israel to two legs and a bit of an ear (Amos 3:12), and a brand plucked from the flame (Amos 4:11);
- the vengeance of YHWH to an unquenchable fire (Amos 5:6);
- the peril of Israel to that of one who escapes a lion and a bear to die by a serpent (Amos 5:19);
- justice to water and righteousness is a ever flowing stream (Amos 5:24);
- the coming woe to mourning for an only child (Amos 8:10); and
- the captivity of Israel to the shaking of grain in a sieve that retains every good kernel (Amos 9:9).
Target Audience
To whom was Amos speaking?
Amos, along with Hosea and some of Isaiah, was a prophet who received words from the Lord directed to the ten tribes of Israel in the north.
What was the economic situation of the ten tribes in the north when Jeroboam II was king?
Jeroboam II was in the fifth dynasty of kings who ruled the ten tribes in the north:
- Jehu
- Jehoahaz
- Jehoash/Joash
- Jeroboam II
- Zechariah
This was the golden age of the ten northern tribes. The situation was such that the major players Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria were all relatively weak during this time. Furthermore, we read that Joash, Jeroboam II’s father, had defeated Syria several times. (2 Kings 13:25) Then, the book of Kings gives us this information:
In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath [the northern boundary] as far as the Sea of the Arabah [or the Dead Sea, the southern boundary], according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. (2 Kings 14:23-25)
Here we see the kingdom of the ten tribes ruling the same territory that was ruled by David and Solomon.
What was the religious situation of the ten tribes in the north when Jeroboam II was king?
There was a great focus on the externals of religious life with no attention given to the inner character which is so pleasing to God.
Earlier, you had mentioned an earthquake. What do we know about this?
Earthquakes were common in this area. The one mentioned in Amos 1:1 must have been unusually powerful and memorable; it is also mentioned in Zechariah. (Zechariah 14:5)
The Message
What was the message God gave to Israel through Amos?
Amos’ message is focused on the inconsistency of worshipping God in an external, ritualistic way while living immoral lives. Harper (cxii):
It was, still further, the conviction of the people [of the ten northern tribes] that Yahweh’s favor was secured and his anger averted by following out, in its various forms, the ceremonial or cultus which prevailed at this period. The holding of festivals, the presentation of sacrifices, was something, on the one hand, indispensable to religion; and, on the other, altogether satisfying to the deity. What did he desire? Gifts, pilgrimages, and praises; since other things than these could hardly be expected. Yahweh demands these; nothing more. The increasing costliness of these requirements promoted injustice and inhumanity.
The corollary of the preceding is contained in the words just used, “nothing more.” The people understood that moral delinquencies (in so far, indeed, as they recognized the existence of any such) were entirely overlooked by Yahweh; provided, of course, they performed faithfully the routine of sacrifice. That they were not entirely ignorant of moral duties is clear, not only because certain moral distinctions were already known to all the world, but also because a code, largely moral in its character, had recently been formulated. But notwithstanding their actual knowledge of right and wrong, at least in certain particulars, they did not believe that morality was a necessary factor in religion. It was, in fact, unnecessary, if the routine of worship was strictly observed. This conception was fundamental in the early Semitic religions,† and signified that moral defects were, upon the whole, comparatively unimportant.
Harrison writes that Hosea was focused on God’s love in his dealings with His people while Amos focuses on God’s righteousness. Introduction to the Old Testament, p895.