Amos: The Man and the Message
A look at the prophet God sent to warn His people that the curses of Deuteronomy 28 were about to fall
The best of times had finally descended on Israel and Judah—and not a moment too soon. Ever since the Jewish kingdom’s division into two (some 170 years prior), life had been difficult for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For more than a century, the two kingdoms had faced constant military threats from a variety of enemies—notably Egypt, Edom, Philistia, and Syria. The incessant hostilities and frequently shifting national borders took their toll on the two kingdoms’ economies.
Furthermore, the domestic political scene was marked by rampant instability. In the northern kingdom (Israel), assassinations, political powerplays, and military coups had been the order of the day, causing monarchical power to shift hands at a dizzying rate.
In the southern kingdom (Judah), life was more stable; but the country still vacillated between faithfulness to the Lord and state-sponsored idolatry. When Queen Athaliah usurped the throne, her wicked machinations almost brought the Davidic dynasty to an end. But God preserved it.
Under such conditions, everyone must have felt that life was a series of loosely connected, never-ending crises. Now, all of that was finally changing. The long, stable reigns of King Jeroboam II in the north and King Uzziah in the south had done much to dissipate the chaos and uncertainty. Threats posed by hostile geopolitical powers had melted away, and the two Hebrew kingdoms were enjoying a prolonged period of peace and security for the first time since King Solomon’s day.
Moreover, both kingdoms had managed to expand their borders, which allowed Israel to seize control of important trade routes. New trade (and thus new wealth) was finally flowing freely through the land of milk and honey, and the economy was rebounding splendidly. Surely, the blessings of heaven were being poured out at last!
The Provocateur
Imagine the shock and outrage, therefore, when a troublemaker from the south—Amos by name—arrived in Israel to harangue the people with a message of judgment from the Most High.
Contrary to conventional wisdom and all empirical evidence, Amos claimed God was angry with His people. So angry, in fact, that He would soon unleash His righteous indignation on them in judgment.
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, would have none of it. He confronted Amos publicly, his face probably contorted with rage as he declared, “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel” (Amos 7:12–13).
Amos replied, “I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ Now therefore, hear the word of the LORD” (vv. 14–16).
To speak so boldly to the priest evinced either great courage or downright foolhardiness. Who exactly was this wandering rambler, anyway?
The Prophet
Relatively little is known about the life and ministry of the prophet Amos. Outside the book of Amos, the Bible records nothing about him. But this one book contains enough clues to sketch a rudimentary picture of who Amos was and what he must have been like.
The name Amos is uncommon in the Bible. It means “one who bears burdens.” The name may or may not have significance, but it certainly resonates with the mission to which God called this man: A Judean, he was given a series of divine oracles and visions to proclaim in and against the northern kingdom of Israel. In this way, he did indeed act as a bearer of burdens.
From the chronological information in Amos 1:1, we know the prophet ministered in the 8th century BC—probably in the 760s or 750s. He identified himself as a resident of Tekoa, an agricultural town located about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. Furthermore, before his call to the prophetic ministry, he was “among the sheepbreeders.”
In his exchange with Amaziah, he expanded on his professional background, noting that he had no ambitions to become a prophet, nor had he come from a line of prophets. Rather, he had been a layman, a “sheepbreeder,” and “a tender of sycamore fruit” (v. 14).
Although the New King James Bible uses the term sheepbreeder in both 1:1 and 7:14, the Hebrew words are different; and each reveals something different about Amos:
→ Naqod (1:1) is not the normal word for an ordinary shepherd who looks after a flock or two of sheep. Rather, it seems to describe someone who oversees and manages the breeding of sheep on a large scale.
→ Baqar (7:14) also could be translated “herdsman” or “cattleman.” It’s possible Amos dealt primarily with sheep but owned or managed herds of other animals too.
Amos also called himself “a tender of sycamore fruit” (v. 14). Sycamore trees produce fruit similar to figs, and cultivating this fruit evidently was one of Amos’s side businesses.
From these three descriptions, many commentators have concluded that Amos was relatively well-to-do. Although he was a “blue collar” man, he probably was more like a business owner than a day laborer. Living in a flourishing economy, he likely enjoyed a comfortable life by the ancient world’s standards.
But God saw fit to interrupt Amos’s comfort and give him an important yet burdensome responsibility: Go and speak to My wayward people. Ordinarily, we might expect a prophet from Judah to speak to the people of Judah. But God had other plans: He sent Amos northward, to Israel, with a message of judgment.
The Prophecy
Amos began his oracles with an announcement of God’s judgment against the Gentile nations (1:3—2:3) and against Judah (2:4–5). This message, doubtless, thrilled his audience of northerners. But their excitement must have diminished rapidly as Amos then trained his rhetorical crosshairs on the northern kingdom.
God had grown exceedingly angry with Israel, Amos declared. And now, impending divine judgment was all but certain.
What had Israel done to so arouse God’s anger? For starters, the rich misused and abused their material prosperity, pursuing their own self-interest, rather than using their wealth to bless others. Even worse, to enrich themselves they actively exploited the poor, the downtrodden, and the marginalized members of society.
The political and judicial systems were infected with decay and corruption, and bribery ran rampant. Sexually immoral behavior had begun to pervade the culture, with some people defying the Law of Moses by committing brazen acts of sexual perversion.
But perhaps gravest of all was the sin of religious hypocrisy. Israel embraced formalism—a pompous, outward show of religiosity that lacked any underlying faith or sincerity of heart. People depended on their religious system and ceremonies to conceal their abundant wickedness.
But the Lord God was not fooled. He saw through their façade and indicted them. In this way, Amos’s words somewhat foreshadowed the later teachings of Jesus Christ: Both prophets were concerned chiefly with the inner life of the heart, not with the external trappings of religion.
In the second part of his book (7:1—9:10), Amos recorded a series of five visions that he received from the Lord. Their arresting imagery conveys the certainty of looming judgment. Amos shared these visions to impress on Israel the urgency of the kingdom’s situation: The covenant curses Moses warned of (Dt. 28:16–68) were about to fall.
The Promise
Although Amos’s message against Israel is grim and bleak, it concludes on a note of hope: Though Israel had shown itself faithless, the Lord remains faithful. He will punish His people for a time, but He will surely restore them.
The book’s concluding denouement (Amos 9:11–15) assures the Jewish people that divine judgment will not be the end of their story. A glorious future—one characterized by abundant good fortune and national restoration in their Promised Land—awaits them. Their restoration will surely come to pass, not because of their merit or accomplishments but because of the grace of a trustworthy, merciful, and compassionate God who loves, forgives, and blesses His people for His name’s sake.
The mercies in God’s faithful character which involve both righteous judgement and restoration give us reason to be hugely grateful!