Amos

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Amos

 

Today we are going to study about Amos. Turn if you will to the book of Amos. Amos was a herdsman from the city of Tekoa, located about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. Tekoa was a small town on the edge of the wilderness. During the reigns of King Uzziah in Judah and King Jeroboam II in Israel, Amos was given a vision.
 

He went from being an humble shepherd from a little town on the edge of nowhere, to being a prophet of God appearing before kings. 

 

The first section of his book is a pronouncement of judgment on the nations that are neighbors with Israel, and on the nation of Israel itself. 

Amos 1: 2 - 2: 16

Each one starts with the same phrase: for three transgressions of something and for four, I will not turn away its punishment. 

 

This means God had been overlooking the sins of this nation for a short time, but now they have pushed Him too far. 

 

Their punishment is now certain, and for the most part, that punishment was their destruction. 

 

Damascus, or Syria, had attacked a portion of Israel and had cut down everyone in their path, like a farmer taking a sickle to wheat. The Syrians took no prisoners. 

 

Gaza, which is the Philistines, conquered whole communities in Israel and sold them as slaves to the Edomites. 

 

Tyre had conquered communities in Israel and sold the people as slaves to the Edomites. They also didn’t honor their agreements made during the reign of Solomon. 

 

Edom attacked Israel without pity. They kept alive their hatred of their kinsmen, and traded in Israelite slaves. 

 

Ammon killed pregnant women while they enlarged the borders of their kingdom. 

 

Moab had attacked Edom and burned the King of Edom to death. 

 

Judah had turned their back on God’s commandments. They lie and follow after lies.

Israel sold righteous people and poor people off as slaves. They oppressed the poor. They even used cloaks taken from the poor as padding while they worshiped idols. They encouraged Nazirites to break their vows and insisted that all prophets be silenced.

Amos’ second message was to Israel and Judah alone. 

Amos 3: 1 - 6: 14

 

We will take some time to look at some of the highlights. God holds Judah and Israel to a greater responsibility because He had chosen them as a special people. 

Amos 3: 2

 

But how can they be His people when they don’t agree? 

Amos 3: 3

 

The problems the Israelites faced were not random events. God was punishing them for their sins. Those prophets the people were silencing were there to warn the people. God was not acting as a secret assassin. 

Amos 3:7-8
 

He had punished them with famine.

Amos 4: 6

 

He had brought partial droughts. 

Amos 4: 7 - 8

 

He had brought crop disease and locusts. 

Amos 4: 9

 

He had caused them to lose in war. 

Amos 4: 10

 

He had caused many disasters.

Amos 4: 11

 

He had done all of this, and the people never turned back to Him. At least their ancestors in the time of the Judges saw the need for God. 

 

Amos details the sins of Israel. They don’t know how to do right. 

 

The ruling class doesn’t know how to do right. 

Amos 3: 9 - 10

 

The women don’t know how to do right. 

Amos 4: 1
 

The religious people and leaders don’t know how to do right. 

Amos 4: 4 - 5

 

A small remnant will be saved of this people. 

Amos 3: 12

 

These people don’t want to hear about it. They don’t want to hear any rebukes. 

Amos 5: 10

 

They are wrapped up in their wealth, and they take comfort in their ill-gotten riches.

Judah is not any better. They think that they are protected. 

Amos 6: 1

 

They are a society wrapped up in self-pleasure. 

Amos 6: 3 - 6

 

They will face judgment as well. 

 

In the third prophecy, recorded in Amos 7: 1 - 17, God shows Amos a vision of locust swarms destroying the second season’s crop. This is the one people use to survive the winter and to plant next year. God is showing that He will destroy the people at their most vulnerable time. Amos intercedes, and God relents.

God then shows Amos a vision where Israel is destroyed by fire. 

Amos 7: 4 - 6

 

Amos intercedes once again, and God relents. 

 

Finally, God shows Amos a plumb-line. This is a device to check and see if a wall is truly straight up and down. God is measuring Israel against His word. Amos sees how far Israel has deviated from God’s word, and does not intercede this time. He sees that Israel has gone too far.

A debate then ensues over this bad news. Amaziah, a self-made priest, charges Amos with treason against the king of Israel. Amos is accused of being too negative of a preacher, and the people don’t like it. Isaiah describes the people the same way. 

Isaiah 30: 9 - 11

 

Amaziah lies and says Amos is claiming that the king will die and Israel will be taken captive. He tries to run Amos off, telling him he couldn’t speak such bad things in their chief city, the headquarters for their religion and where their king lives. Besides, Amos would make more money where people liked him. 

 

This has never changed over time. People did this in the first century and the still do it today. The Jews wanted to silence the Apostles. 

Acts 4: 17 - 18

 

We hear today from people that we shouldn’t say bad thing about other people’s religion because that’s not nice. People don’t want face to face confrontations.
II Timothy 4: 3 - 4

 

Amos doesn’t back down. He didn’t become a prophet because of a lifelong ambition. He wasn’t born into a family of prophets. Amos had been happy and content as a herdsman, but God had grabbed him and decided to use him. He wasn’t in it for the money or the fame.  He couldn’t be bought. Amos was going to tell them every single thing the Lord had to say about them.

 

This is very much like Paul. 

I Corinthians 9: 16

 

Amaziah would face many things in his future. His wife would become a prostitute. His children would be killed in a war. His land would be divided by others. He would die as a captive in a foreign land. Amaziah doesn’t reply when told these things. 

 

What kind of preacher would you rather have? 

Amaziah would never be so rude as to disturb the peace of a congregation by pointing out their errors. He would not bother people by calling on them to repent. No one would leave his preaching with feelings of guilt. Everything would be sweet and pleasant. 

 

Amos would not always be pleasant. In fact it would be down right uncomfortable as you are made to see yourself in the clear light of the gospel. His stern rebukes would cause some guilty feelings and even unrest in the congregation.
 

Which kind of preacher would you prefer? God prefers Amos.