The date in which Amos prophesied is given in the opening verse of the book, “The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1). This verse gives us some very specific information about Amos and the time in which he lived. He was called by the LORD to leave his home in the land of Judah and was sent with a message from God for his people Israel, and the land of King Jeroboam II.
Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, which was a city of Judah, several miles south of the city of Jerusalem. It might seem strange that the LORD would use a native of the southern tribe of Judah to preach to the northern tribes of Israel - and the people of Israel didn’t like it either. One of the priests of Bethel spoke to Amos saying, “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, And there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, For it is the king’s sanctuary, And it is the royal residence” (Amos 7:12-13). They didn’t like the idea of a native of Judah telling them what they should and shouldn’t do. They had their own gods.
While studying Jonah we saw that things did not look good for Israel at the beginning of King Jeroboam’s reign. But through Jonah the LORD promised prosperous times for Israel during the time of Jeroboam. Nevertheless, Jeroboam failed to heed to the Word of the LORD and repent, but rather “Jeroboam ... did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin” (1 Kings 14:23-24).
The book of Amos is focused especially on the judgment of all those who have rejected the LORD and have placed their trust in the gods of the world. The first two chapters deliver judgments on each of the surrounding nations. The phrase, “For three transgressions of __________, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because...” occurs eight times in the first two chapters, each time directed to a different nation: Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah and Israel. Each kingdom is guilty and will face the LORD’s punishment. But the remaining seven chapters deal more fully with the judgment that will come upon the chosen people of northern tribes of Israel for their rejection of the LORD and His Word sent through the prophets.
After the division of the two kingdoms, Jeroboam I did not want the people of the northern tribes to return to Jerusalem for sacrifice and worship, so he created worship centers of his own in the northern cities of Dan and Bethel. He set up idols of golden calves for his people to worship saying, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28).
The same kind of idolatry was still going on in the days of Jeroboam II. While there was external power and prosperity of the kingdom, internally the nation was corrupt and weak. The rich oppressed the poor (2:6-7; 3:9-10; 4:1; 5:7-12; 6:4-6), the people were proud and self-confident, even spurning the possibility of any danger (6:1,13), and their worship was watered down and not done with a true and loving heart. They were outwardly practicing religion, but it was not done in faith nor toward the true God (4:4-5; 5:21-24; 8:14).
So the LORD sent Amos to pronounce judgment on the house of Jeroboam (7:9) and the coming end of the kingdom of Israel (7:17; 8:2). Within a generation both of these prophecies were fulfilled. Jeroboam’s son and successor was killed after only 6 months as king of Israel, and about forty years after these prophetic words of Amos the kingdom of Assyria came down, besieged Israel’s capital city of Samaria and deported its people into distant land, never to return again (cf. 2 Kings 17:1-18 for a description of the end of the people of Israel).
Although this book is full of judgment for the sins of Israel, the people are not left without hope. The last eight verses of the book point to promise of good things yet to come for those who believe. The last verses of the book conclude: “Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” (Amos 9:8), “I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11), “I will bring back the captives of My people Israel” (Amos 9:14).
With these verses Amos points the people once again to the promise of a Savior who would come from the tribe of Judah and be a descendant of King David. But as the apostle James points out in the book of Acts (15:13-21), this does not refer to a physical repossession of the land of Israel, but instead points to the rebuilding of the Church through the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. Luther writes, “He is violent, rebuking the people of Israel fairly throughout the whole book, up until the end of the last chapter, where he foretells Christ and His kingdom and thus brings his book to a close.”
The authenticity of the book has never seriously been questioned, and is further established by several New Testament references: Acts 7:42 (Amos 5:25-26); Acts 15:15-17 (Amos 9:11-12); compare also Revelation 10:7 (Amos 3:7).
I. Eight pronouncements of Judgment by the LORD (1-2)
II. Three sermons of Judgment by the LORD (3-6)
III. Five visions of Judgment by the LORD (7:1-9:10)
IV. Five promises of blessing by the LORD (9:11-15)
Note: This study was prepared for the Bible Class at Zion Lutheran Church,
Lawrenceville, GA by Pastor Nathanael Mayhew