Introduction to Amos

Amos was a farmer from Judah and lived in a town near Jerusalem.  He was called by God to deliver a message of judgment primarily to the nation of Israel.  He writes during the same basic time period as Hosea as can be identified through his mention of the king of Judah when he writes.  This was a time of peace and prosperity in both Judah and Israel.  Egypt had been subdued.  Assyria’s power was not in full bloom and her capitol city, Nineveh, had recently experienced spiritual revival under the ministry of Jonah.  Judah and Israel had been separated long enough that they too were at peace with one another.  Unfortunately, this reality did not fill their hearts with gratitude and worship towards God.  Instead, the leadership and the people became corrupt and filled with pride.  Amos is called to warn them that God will judge them and bring all of this prosperity into poverty and turn the peace into a time of great conflict.  The structure of the book can be seen in the outline as it clearly divides into sections that progress from God’s promise of judgment to His execution of that promise.  We all long for peace in our lives and we all enjoy the prosperity that generally accompanies peace.  Unfortunately, those seasons in our lives are not usually the seasons of greatest spiritual growth.  For the most part, the times when we are the most likely to grow in our walk with God is during times of suffering.  It does not have to be that way and can be avoided, but history and our personal experience seems to demonstrate this reality more often than not.

EIGHT JUDGMENTS: Amos goes through a series of eight judgments on different nations.  In each of the judgments he gives the reason for the judgment in the form of three sins plus one.  He does not site four sins in every instance but he does point out some specific sins in every case.  His longest and most detailed rebuke is dedicated to the nation of Israel which was the nation to which he was called.  In his rebuke of all these different nations he condemns violence, injustice, dishonesty, idolatry and all forms of immorality.  These are the things that we are must constantly be on the lookout for in our lives.  All sin is offensive to God but when we sin is ways that bring harm to others or replace God in some way, God becomes very angry.  Amos also explains what God will do to these nations because of their sinfulness and it is not a very pretty sight.  It becomes very clear that God will inflict great pain and suffering on their lives that will make them regret their sins very deeply.  When we are tempted to sin it always looks very attractive and wonderful.  What we almost never see is the excruciating pain that sin inflicts on our lives until it is too late and we are in the midst of the worst nightmare of our lives.  A wise person will count the cost of their actions and then cry out to the Lord for strength to stand against the temptation of sin so they can pleas God and avoid His wrath.

THREE MESSAGES:  Amos receives three distinct messages from God to proclaim to the nation of Israel.  Each of them starts out with an appeal to simply hear the Word of the Lord.  So often our problems stem from the fact that we simply are not willing to hear God’s Word and respond to His instruction.  The idea of hearing goes far beyond simply listening.  We must not only pay attention to God’s messages to us but commit ourselves to obeying them.  Any time we receive instructions we always take into consideration the source of the instruction.  If a small child tells me to do something I may choose to help the child if I determine that it is best for him and is within my realm of possibilities to accomplish, but I will certainly not consider myself obligated.  However, if my boss tells me to do something I will have a much different response.  When we listen to God’s Word but do not obey His instruction; we are basically saying that He does not have the right to rule in our lives.  Israel had received great blessings when she was set free from slavery in Egypt and brought into The Promised Land.   They were very irresponsible with God’s gift and were about to be punished for it.  Besides being irresponsible they were also Idolatrous and worshiped the gods of the nations around them.  God does not tolerate the idolatry of His people and He will bring judgment on all who do not place Him above all.  The final message of condemnation is because of their immorality.  Their ethical sins as well as their promiscuity were grave offenses before the Lord.  God urges His people to live within the standards of His will.  When we refuse to do so either by irresponsibility, idolatry or immorality we can expect God’s discipline.  

FIVE VISIONS: Amos is given a series of visions about God’s coming wrath on the nation.  Each of them is designed to reveal how God will bring about judgment as well as why this judgment is being inflicted upon them.  Locusts are the first image depicted.  We saw this same analogy brought out in the book of Joel, locusts were one of the plagues in Egypt and there is a type of locust mentioned in Revelation that will plague the nations of that day.  Fire is the next analogy.  Fire is a common sign of judgment and is usually what happens when an invading country attacks.  Jerusalem has been burned repeatedly throughout history as have many other cities.   These visions speak of physical destruction.  A plumb line is the next vision that provides the image of God’s standards being measured against the sinfulness of the people.  God has declared His standard in the Bible as well as in our conscience and creation all of us will be measured according to that which has been revealed to us.  The truth is that all of us stand condemned before God’s perfect standard.  Summer fruit that is about to spoil is the next vision depicting the end of that which had such great promise.  The final vision is of the destruction of the temple which is quite a literal vision.  Amos closes the book with a wonderful promise that despite all of the sinning and judgment; God will call Israel back to Himself.  He will send Jesus back to this earth as the descendant of David to rule over the nation and restore the nation in fulfillment of all of His promises.  God is in control of all of the events of this world.  The times of judgment as well as blessing are under His control and He will work to accomplish His will in a very faithful way.