Background Information
According to the first verse, Amos prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah over Judah (792-740 BC) and Jeroboam II over Israel (793-753 BC). (After the reign of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms: the northern ten tribes were called Israel, nicknamed Ephraim, and the southern two tribes were called Judah.)
In the north, the religious shrines had become centers of vice, and by Amos’s day, the people had become pagan at heart. The shrines at Dan and Bethel were about calf worship and idolatry. Into this situation, God chose as his spokesman a simple shepherd and itinerant orchard worker who was an enthusiastic worshiper of Jehovah (God). He was from the working class of people, and he understood human nature.
This Tekoan shepherd launches out in his prophecy like a boiling pot. He takes on such hot topics as social injustice and economic issues. His messages touched people, politics, and purses. This commentary will explore the messages of Amos which concerned various nations.
Highlights of Amos
Amos was like a roaring lion. This true man of God takes on the establishment. Ritualism had supplanted religion. The Israelites sneered at the thought of a rugged country man who poured out his messages like muriatic acid on a concrete floor.
His messages were plain and simple, but potent: he likens their future rescue to a shepherd yanking back a leg or an ear from a lion’s mouth, or to a person escaping with only a table leg or a corner of a blanket. His messages were bad news. He portrays God as being sick and tired with their brand of religion.
Keys to Open Amos
The people whom Amos addressed had plenty of “religion.” They went regularly to shrines for worship (sex and religious shrines). They looked forward to “the day of the LORD,” when God would fulfill all their expectations for their country. Amos listed all Israel’s neighbors, announcing God’s judgment for their crimes against humanity. Israelites liked this kind of talk; they felt superior to all these nations.
But Amos brought unexpected bad news from God: “I hate, I despise your religious feasts” (5:21). God did not want sacrifice or singing. He demanded justice. Having caught the Israelites’ attention, Amos circled Israel like a rabbit being chased by a beagle hound, and he dramatically tracked down Israel. God would judge Israel. The people, their beautiful homes, and their sacred altars all would be destroyed.
Survey of the Book
Amos declared that God was going to judge his unfaithful, disobedient, covenant-breaking people. The shrines at Bethel and other places of worship were pagan; their religion was pagan to the core. It was a time of idolatry, extravagant indulgence in luxurious living, immorality, corruption of judicial procedures, and oppression of the poor. As a consequence, God would soon bring about the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom. Society and religion were as bankrupt as Fannie Mae.
It was a day when there was expansion, freedom, activity, prosperity, and peace. The rich gained their wealth by injustice and oppression. Their abounding wealth, good music, rich furnishings, banquets, and life of luxury and ease were contrasted with the misery and suffering of the poor and slaves.
Sex and religious shrines abounded, with songs, offerings, good attendance, and elaborate ceremonies. Since the Israelites controlled the crucial trade routes, their merchants piled up big profits. Luxuries became readily available—new stone houses, ivory-inlaid furniture, top-grade meat and fine wine, the best body lotions. Gross immorality was aided and abetted by religious leaders; instead of plain living, they knew extravagance, carousals, lolling on soft couches, and they were idling precious time away while their country was going to ruin.
Inspirational Introduction
Amos was not a man of the court like Isaiah, or a priest like Jeremiah. He earned his living from tending the flock and groves of sycamore-fig trees. His skill with words and knowledge of history leaves us breathless. Though his home was in Judah, he was sent to announce God’s judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel. He ministered for the most part at Bethel, Israel’s main religious sanctuary, where the upper class of the northern kingdom worshiped.
Perhaps because he was a farmer, Amos used a plain writing style filled with strong country language. Amid such peace and prosperity, one lone voice scraped like a wire brush on raw flesh. Amos spoke bluntly with a farmer’s vocabulary, calling the city socialites, “cows.”
Amos predicted that Israel would be punished, and this commentary will explore all of his predictions. After King Jeroboam, the government deteriorated. Five kings took the throne in the next 13 years, four of whom were assassinated. In 30 years, Israel would be permanently dismantled by Assyrian armies. The conquered Israelites were deported beyond the Euphrates River and never heard from again.
Memorandum
The Israelites’ religious system was centered on two calf-idols. But Amos wasted little breath on that. He focused on the facts that met his eyes and ears in every marketplace: oppression of the poor, dishonest business, bribery in court, privileges bought with money. Through Amos, God showed that he must be master over all of life, including business affairs.
The main text provided is from the King James Version, while some quotes are from the New American Standard 1977 Version.