Rush City Baptist Church

Amos – The Pastoral Prophet

Sunday, March 30, 2008

INTRODUCTION: The book of Amos is a prophetic writing of nine chapters, containing chiefly the announcements of judgment upon the northern kingdom of Israel because of her social injustices, moral degeneracy, and spiritual apostasy.  The prophet foretells not only the coming destruction of Israel, but also the expectation of judgment on the surrounding nations.  He sees justice and ethical conduct between men as the foundation of society, and maintains that worship by a people whose lives are characterized by selfishness, greed, immorality, and oppression is an offense to God.

Amos gives more information concerning himself than do many of the other prophets.  The book begins with the opening statement, “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” (1:1). Before Amos began prophesying, he had been one of the shepherds of Tekoa, a town in the hill country of Judah, about five miles SE of Bethlehem and ten miles S of Jerusalem. The word used in 1:1 is not the usual Hebrew word used for shepherd, but a rare world suggesting either a sheep breeder or the manager or owner of large herds of sheep.  Amos was also occupied in growing sycamore fruit.  The sycamore-fig tree was a broad heavy tree, 25 to 50 feet high, which produced a fig-like fruit three or four times a year. As the fruit formed it needed to be slit to allow the juice to run out so the rest of the fig could ripen into a sweeter, more edible fruit.

There is no way to know how long Amos continued in his role as a prophet.  God called him from his home in the south in Judah to go to the north into Israel and give warning concerning the sin of the northern kingdom.  He evidently returned home after making his proclamations and penned the words that are recorded.  Whether he continued in any prophetic ministry after returning to Judah is not indicated, but it is quite possible that God permitted him to return to his former occupation.  There is little difficulty in dating the prophecy due to the chronological data of the superscription (1:1), which place the book in the period of Jeroboam II of Israel (782-753 B.C.) and Uzziah of Judah (767-739 B.C.).  His ministry was two years before a notable earthquake. 

Amos lived in times of material prosperity. The long reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam had brought stability, prosperity, and expansion to the two kingdoms. The southern kingdom of Judah had subdued the Philistines to the west, the Ammonites to the east, and the Arab states to the south.  Uzziah’s political influence was felt as far as Egypt.  The northern kingdom of Israel, to whom Amos’ message was directed, was at the height of its power. Syria had not recovered from her defeat in 802 by Assyria.  Assyria, however, had been unable to press here advantage further.  Given a free hand, Jeroboam was able to extend his boarders northward into Aramean territory and to reclaim Israel’s lands in the Transjordan.

Because of the control this gave Israel over the trade routes, wealth began to accumulate in her cities.  Commerce thrived (8:5), an upper class emerged (4:1-3), and expensive home were built (3:15).  The rich enjoyed an indulgent lifestyle (6:1-6), while the poor became targets for legal and economic exploitation (2:6-7).  Slavery for debt was easily accepted and standards for morality had sunk to a low ebb.  Meanwhile religion flourished.  The people thronged to the shrines for the yearly festivals (4:4), enthusiastically offering their sacrifices (4:5).  They steadfastly maintained that their God was with them, and considered themselves immune from disaster (5:14).

The message God gave Amos was primarily one of judgment, though it ended with words of hope.  The Lord God Almighty, the sovereign ruler of the universe, would come as a warrior to judge the nations that had rebelled against his authority. Israel in particular would be punished for her covenant violations against him.  Though the nation would be destroyed, God will preserve a repentant remnant from among the people.  One day this remnant will be restored to political prominence and covenant blessing. And then through them God will draw all nations to his name.  This message was delivered in three groups of oracles.  Chapters 1 and 2 consist of eight judgments against the surrounding nations, including Judah and Israel.  The second section, chapters 3-6, consists of three sermons against Israel for her sins.  The sermons of judgment are easily identified since each begins with the prophetic formula “Hear this word” which stands at the head of chapters 3, 4 and 5.  Each of the three denunciations is concluded with an emphatic “therefore” (3:11; 4:12; 5:16; 6:7), which announces the nature of the judgment to follow.  The third oracle, chapters 7-9, consists of five visions.  The prophecy is concluded with a promise of restoration and glory for Israel (9:11-15).

The central theme of Amos’ prophecy was Jehovah’s faithfulness to his covenant and to the law, and the strict accountability of his people Israel to a practical observance of their covenant obligations.  Amos earnestly stressed their duty to comply with the legal code of the law, both in letter and in spirit.

8 Oracles (1-2).  Amos’ theme is that Israel and the other surrounding nations were about to be violently judged for their sins.  Their sin was of violating their covenants with God.  For Israel and Judah, they had violated the Mosaic covenant by failing to observe the terms of God’s law.  For the surrounding Gentle nations, Amos had in mind their rebellion against God’s universal covenant with humanity made at the time of Noah.  In exchange for God’s promise never to destroy the earth again with a flood, the nations were to refrain from shedding blood.  The charges brought against them demonstrate their violation. 

Having shown that the Lord is sovereign over the universe and holds all nations accountable for their rebellion against him, Amos now addressed the northern nation of Israel (2:6-16).  His message was that God would also judge them, because they had broken his covenant, despite his gracious acts on their behalf.  Israel had violated God’s law fivefold: (1) social injustice (2:6).  They sold the poor who could not pay their debts into slavery (2 Kings 4:1-7).  The law called for generosity (Deuteronomy 15:7-11); (2) legal perversion (2:7a).  They exploited the poor in the courts by means of bribes.  The law called for honesty (Deuteronomy 16:18-20); (3) immorality (2:7b).  A father and son were going in to the same woman, either a temple prostitute or a slave taken as a concubine.  The law called for purity (Exodus 21:7-9); (4) abuse of collateral (2:8a).  They were taking the clothing of the poor as collateral.  The law called for decency (Deuteronomy 24:10-13); and (5) idolatry (2:8b).  Israel was worshiping other gods.  The law called for loyalty.

Instead of announcing Israel’s punishment for her sin, as was done in the judgments against the surrounding nations, God intensified Israel’s guilt by contrasting her rebellion with his own gracious acts toward them.  Without God’s intervention, Israel would never have conquered the Amorites (Numbers 13:28-33) nor survived the Exodus and wilderness wanderings.  Because of these sins God would not turn back his wrath.  This judgment was fulfilled when the northern kingdom came to an end only a few decades later with the Assyrian captivity in 722.

3 Sermons (3-6).  After announcing the judgment that would come against the northern kingdom, Amos gave a series of three messages to explain more fully the reasons for God’s judgment.  Each message describes in more detail the religious, legal, political, and social rebellion which had brought God’s wrath against the nation.  Within the messages are appeals for repentance and instruction as to how individuals could escape the awful calamity that was coming.  The first sermon detailed the doom of Israel (3:1-15).  In this message Amos declared that Israel would be punished because of her unique relationship with God.  The second sermon described the depravity of Israel (4:1-13).  In the second message Amos declared that God would exile the upper-class women because of their economic exploitation, and judge the nation as a whole for its religious hypocrisy and obstinate refusal to repent, despite God’s repeated chastisements.  The third sermon was a dirge over Israel (5:1-6:14).  This last sermon presents one overall truth: the mighty sovereign God would judge the nation as whole for its legal injustice and religious hypocrisy, but he offered life to individuals within the nation who would yet repent and seek him.

5 Visions (7-9).  In the closing section Amos begins to describe the results of this coming judgment.  Through a series of five visions he pictures God’s total destruction of the land, its buildings, and its people.  The five visions were of devouring locusts (7:1-3), of fire (7:4-6), of a plumb line (7:7-9), of a basket of ripe fruit (8:1-14), and of the Lord judging (9:1-10). After all God’s judgments are passed, when the nation had received full punishment for her sins, the Lord will move in mercy to renew and refresh his people (9:11-15).  God will restore David’s kingdom over both the north and the south, and through it he will bless all nations of the earth.  He will reverse the covenant curses and bring unprecedented prosperity to the land.  The dispersed people will return to their land, there to dwell securely and enjoy its goodness.  Then Israel will truly be God’s people and God will be their God.

The modern message of Amos first warns against having a small concept of God.  Amos wrote, “he who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the Lord is his name—he flashes destruction on the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin” (5:8-9).  This small concept of God is demonstrated by people who think their religious system is pleasing to God even though they are engaging in sinful practices condemned by God.  Amos wrote these harsh words, “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.  Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.  Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.  Away with the noise of your songs!  I will not listen to the music of your harps” (5:21-23).  Instead, the quality of our worship of God can be measured by our treatment of people.  Amos offered the alternative, “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24).