Amos 1

The lion roars (vs. 1-2)—Folks, get out of this guy’s way. Amos, I mean. He was nothing but a sheepherder (v. 1) and a “tender of sycamore trees” (7:14), so there is nothing professional or polished about him. God needed somebody to go and prophesy to Israel, and He didn’t need a silver-tongued orator, He needed somebody to shuck down the corn. And that’s Amos. His first words give an indication of the tone of his preaching: “And he said: ‘The LORD roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers’" (v. 2). He prophesied mainly to the northern kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam II, a very prosperous, worldly time for Israel. Jeroboam II ruled for 41 years, from 825-784 B.C., or perhaps a little later, the date is unsure. If we knew exactly when that earthquake was (v. 1), we could date Amos a little more definitively, but this is the only reference to that cataclysm in Scripture. Uzziah was the king of Judah during most, if not all, of Amos’ prophecy; he ruled 52 years, and was by and large a good king, though his pride got to him later in life (II Chronicles 26). You can read about Jeroboam II in II Kings 14:23-29—not a long account for a king who reigned 41 years, but there isn’t much good to say about him. He apparently was an effective military man, however, and as noted, Israel flourished under his reign—something Amos will be very clear about in his preaching.

Prophecies against nearby Gentile peoples (vs. 3-15)—Interestingly, Amos starts his work by denouncing several Gentile nations—God’s judgment upon them. For those who think Jehovah did not care how the non-Jewish people acted before the cross, they simply need to spend some time with the Old Testament prophets, several of whom prophesy against Gentiles, and few of them exclusively to Gentiles (at least their books are written wholly to foreign people, e.g., Obadiah, Nahum). In this section, Amos censures Damascus (the capital of Syria, vs. 3-5), Gaza (a principality of the Philistines, vs. 6-8), Tyre (a Phoenician stronghold, but generally acting with supreme independence, vs. 9-10), Edom (vs. 11-12), and Ammon (vs. 13-15). Various sins are recounted from cruelty (v. 3), to apparent selling people into slavery (vs, 6, 9), covenant-breaking (v. 9), brotherly betrayal (v. 11), and sheer barbaric brutality for personal gain: “they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory” (v. 13). Five times Amos records the Lord saying “I will send a fire…which shall devour…” the palaces of the offending people as part of their punishment (vs. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14). Captivity is promised for Syria (v. 5), and the king and princes of Ammon (v. 15). Other than the fire, there is no special punishment for Tyre and Edom, but for Gaza, “the remnant of the Philistines shall perish” (v. 8). How many Philistines do you know today?

Amos starts out each denunciation with the formula “For three transgressions…and for four, I will not turn away its punishment” (vs. 3, 6, 9, 11, 13). There is nothing significant about this expression, in fact, it was used by Homer and Virgil as well. So it simply indicates the severity and extensiveness of the crime involved.

Amos isn’t quite through condemning foreign powers, but he’ll arrive in Judah and Israel in chapter 2. It’s almost as if he’s circling like a vulture—around and around and around, and then he finally hones in on his real target, Samaria and the northern kingdom.