Amos Declares a Message of Judgment

“The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.  Thus says the Lord:  ‘For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.” Amos 1:2-3 (ESV).

In Amos’ pronouncements of the Lord’s judgment upon Israel’s neighbors, the people must have rejoiced that their enemies were to receive punishment for their brutality and cruel treatment to the people around them.  Six neighboring nations were singled out for the “three transgressions, yea, four.”  Punishment would fall upon Damascus (1:3-5), Gaza (1:6-8) Tyre (1:9-10), Edom (1:11-12), Ammon (1:13-15) and Moab (2:1-3).  At the time of Amos’ prophecy, the coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea (now Palestine) was occupied by these nations.  Assyria was a threat to them, but Amos showed by his pronouncement that the calamities about to befall them were not caused by the aggressor nation but came as a direct result of their rebellion against Creator God because of their inhumane treatment to others.  Perhaps those hearing Amos’ pronouncements against these six nations were glad that they would be punished, for they were their enemies.  But then Amos pointed out both Judah and Israel as recipients of God’s wrath.  Judah’s sin was not obeying the statutes of the Lord and following lies (probably a reference to worshiping idols).  Israel’s apostasy was gross social injustice, “they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals…trample the head of the poor…turn aside…the afflicted” and practice illicit sex, idolatry and graft (see 2: 6-8).  Amos sums up the Lord’s anger and judgment by these strong words:  “The lion has roared; who will not fear?  The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”(3:8).  This was a strong  way of saying that the Lord God has announced judgment and unless immediate corrective action (repentance) occurred, disaster would come soon.

Are you thinking, as I am, what would Amos say about America today?  In his “Deserted Village” written by English poet Oliver Goldsmith in 1770, he said:

                Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills a prey,

                Where wealth accumulates and men decay.”

America and many nations today are guilty of the same sins that Judah, Israel and the surrounding nations committed.  We are more enlightened on the truth and statutes of God, and therefore may be even more guilty than they.  Repeatedly God gives opportunity for His people to make things right and to live according to His ways.  But the refrain is repeated time and again as it was in Amos:  “yet you did not return to me, declares the Lord” (4:6b, 8b, 9b, 10b, 11b). And as we hear the condemnation of not returning to the Lord, we likewise see His longsuffering toward us and His often-repeated invitation, seek the Lord and live” (5:5a, 6a) and this even stronger appeal:  “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you” (5:14).

Will we, even now, commit to be “the remnant of Joseph” (5:15b) who returns to God and  stands firmly on His principles?  “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate” (5:15a).  These are God’s requirements for us to receive His mercy. 

Amos, Shepherd and Prophet

“The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds 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, kind of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” –Amos 1:1.  “Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, ‘I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.  But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.  Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.” –Amos 7:14-15.

These devotionals for the past nine days have examined some pertinent “Proverbs to Live By.”  The rich book of Proverbs could have remained the subject for much longer, for many more axioms are contained in that rich book.  But for a period now we will turn to some of the prophets, beginning with Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa.  

Let us consider the call of Amos. What we know of his call to be a prophet is given in what we call “internal evidence”—his own statement of his calling.  He was born in Tekoa, in Israel, the northern Kingdom.  His ministry of prophesying took place in the southern kingdom of Judah, but had implications for both. His call is recorded in verses 1:1 and 7:14-15.  He was not one from among the royal guild of the prophets, a group paid by the kings and therefore one who would speak to the king’s pleasure.  Amaziah, a priest who lived and worked in Bethel of Judah, told Jereboam, the king of Israel, that “the land is not able to bear all his words,”telling the king that Amos had prophesied his death and the exile of Israel (see 7:10-13).  It was then that Amos fearlessly said he was not a prophet nor a prophet’s son—it was not in his lineage to follow the usual professional prophet’s role.  The implication, too, is that the words of Amos would not placate the ear but declare the judgments of God.  God called him from being a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore figs and gave him a message that must be delivered to the people.  Amos’s call was so clear and positive that he could not deny the claim of God upon his life and he had to deliver the message God gave him.  Hebrew names are significant in that they have meaning that bears out the purpose and work of the person.  Amos means “a load”—and Amos certainly had a burden, a load to bear the message from God to the people, as grim as it was.  On the other hand, there is the thought that the people themselves could have been a burden to Amos, as they did not want to hear and heed his prophecies. 

Very significant in how Amos states his call is “the Lord took me.”  Amos could not get away from the call of God, and so he became a lonely voice prophesying from the desert and in the villages.  His message laid bare the sins of superficiality in religious practice and the decay that accompanies prosperity.  His message delivered about 750 B. C. was very similar to that of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, who preached in the wilderness of Jordan and cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).  Amos was among the earliest of the prophets to declare the coming of the Day of the Lord, a time of judgment and winnowing (see Amos 5:18-20). His calling was to sound a clarion warning to beware and prepare, not to spread pleasing platitudes.