| Amos
BOOK
: Amos
Description
: Mostly
announcements of God's judgment on the northern kingdom
Author:
Amos a ‘farm worker'
Date
written : probably about
750BC
Chapters
: 9
Brief
Synopsis:
•
Amos the shepherd-vinedresser brings words
of rebuke and judgment on neighbouring nations AND Judah and Israel
.
•
He focuses on Israel spelling out their
sins, what the Lord has done to try to get them to repent, and what
the Lord will now do because they have not repented.
•
Finally he spells out the hope of God's
restoration of His people.
1:1,2
Introduction
Ch.1-2
Judgments on the Nations
Ch.1.
Judgment on Aram , Philistia , Phoenicia , Edom & Ammon
Ch.2
.Judgment on Moab , Judah & Israel
Ch.3-5
Oracles against Israel
Ch.3
Judgment on the Chosen People
Ch.4
Judgment on an Unrepentant People
Ch.5
Judgment on an Unjust People
Ch.5-6
Announcements of Exile
Ch.7-9
Visions of Divine Retribution
7:1-6
Judgment Relented - A swarm of locusts & a consuming fire
7:7-
9:10 Judgment Unrelented
Ch.7
The plumb line
Ch.8
The basket of ripe fruit
Ch.9
The Lord by the altar
9:11-15
Restored Israel 's Blessed Future
Key
Verses:
Amos'
Background
1:1
The
words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa--what he saw concerning
Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah
and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel .
7:14,15
Amos
answered Amaziah, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son,
but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But
the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, `Go, prophesy
to my people Israel
The
classic formula of ch.1 & 2
1:3-4
This is what the LORD says: "For
three sins of Damascus , even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.
Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, I will send
fire upon the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
Note
the formula:
“For
three sins… even four” – a common expression meaning “For as many sins
as this…”
“Because
she threshed…” – their sin noted
“I
will send fire….” – the judgment declared .
A
key principle in respect of judgments
3:7
Surely the Sovereign
LORD does nothing without revealing his plan t o his servants the prophets.
Condemnation
of Israel for not taking notice of His discipline
4:6
"I
gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,"
Again
note the formula
•
God had brought discipline
•
But they had not responded
•
Also in v.8,9,10 & 11
Israel
's
sins spelled out
5:7,10,11,12,26
You
who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground
…. you hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells
the truth. You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain…..
You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor
of justice in the courts…… You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god-- which you made
for yourselves.
Yet
the positive is spelled out as well
5:14,15
Seek
good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will
be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain
justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.
At
the end, there is hope in God's mercy and grace
9:11-
"In
that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken
places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be,
•
Amos is remarkable in its clarity – the
simplicity may go with the nature of the man, a shepherd / vinedresser.
•
In chapters 1 & 2 he spells out the
sins of each nation and brings the warning of a judgment.
•
Thereafter he focuses mostly on Israel
, the northern kingdom and again spells out
•
What the Lord has done to discipline
and warn them, and
•
What the Lord will do in terms of
judgment.
•
At the end we find that judgment is not
all there is on God's heart for His people – He always desires to restore
them and bring them back into a living relationship with Himself.
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