Through the Bible - Amos

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa... in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1)

An unlettered shepherd carries a heavy word to a comfortable nation that refuses to listen until it is too late.

A Shepherd Sent to a Self-Indulgent Nation

As we continue through the entire Bible, a book a week, we come to Amos, another of the minor prophets. Amos lived during a time when his countrymen were pursuing excessive luxury, given to self-indulgence. I'm sure we can't identify with that at all in our nation. But as you look at the people God sent him to, that is exactly how they were living.

We know little about Amos except that he was from Tekoa, about twelve miles south of Jerusalem, which means he was from the southern kingdom of Judah. Yet he was sent to the northern kingdom. A very interesting thing about him is that he was not of the school of the prophets. As he says in Amos 7:14, he was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. God called this man from his work as a shepherd and farmer and said, "Go speak to the northern kingdom, even to the king, because judgment is going to come upon these people."

A Successful Exterior, a Wicked Interior

The northern nation of Ephraim looked very successful at this point. They had everything going for them financially—known for their wine, their vineyards, their strong cities. If you looked only at the exterior, you would think God's blessing rested upon them. Yet God says, "I'm going to judge you because of your wickedness."

Although the blessings seemed to be upon them, internally they were given to idolatry, immorality, and slothfulness. They oppressed the needy and were a wicked, perverted people. Because they were living in affluence, they figured Amos was nuts. "Everything's fine here. Why are you coming to talk to us? Go speak to Judah in the south—they're the ones that are crooked." Isn't it like that so often? It is so easy to point out the sin of others and so hard to recognize that we ourselves are fallen before God.

These people would not listen, yet just about three decades after Amos prophesied, their entire nation was completely destroyed by the Assyrian army. We still call the northern ten tribes the lost tribes of Israel because they were utterly devastated. Amos was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. His name means a burden, or a burden bearer, and he brought this great burden to people who would not hear it. As 1 Peter 4:17 says, "the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God."

Eight Judgments Drawing Ever Closer

Amos chapter 1 begins with eight judgments. Notice how God starts. "Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." Because of their continual sin—one after another after another—God will not withhold His punishment, and He will send fire upon them. Damascus was the capital of Syria, an ally of the northern ten tribes.

Then God speaks judgment upon Gaza, the Philistines to the southwest, and Tyre to the west, and Edom, and Ammon to the east, and Moab. Six times He declares, "For three transgressions and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." Now, when God's people heard their enemies named, what do you think began to build within them? "Right on. Judge our enemies, Lord. Pour out fire upon all those who oppress us."

But notice what God goes on to say. "Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah... I will send fire upon Judah." It's getting closer to home. And then: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." God lists the reasons:

Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek... (Amos 2:6–8)

God always gives a reason for judgment. He is not a hot-headed teenager ready to beat somebody up. He clearly states His case before His people.

You Have Become a Burden to Me

In verse 9, God reminds Israel how He destroyed and dispossessed their enemies so they could dwell in the land. He raised up their sons to be prophets and their young men to be Nazarites. "But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not." God says, "I gave your children to be consecrated unto Me, and you defiled them. I gave you men to speak My word, and you told them to shut up."

We'll see this exactly when we reach chapter 7, where King Amaziah tells Amos to keep his mouth shut. And God says, "Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." You have become a burden to Me. That is a heavy statement. God declares total and complete destruction from which even the courageous and mighty cannot flee.

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (Amos 3:2)

God called Israel to be His people; no other nation had He blessed in this way. Paul asks in Romans what advantage there is in being a Jew—"unto them were committed the oracles of God." But God chastens those He loves, as Hebrews 12 reminds us, and here He must judge His own children for their rebellion.

The Lord Reveals His Secret to His Servants

God then asks, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" This is the same idea Jesus speaks of in Matthew 11—"Take My yoke upon you." Two oxen cannot be yoked together if they are going in different directions. Then come a series of point-counterpoint questions:

Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey?... Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:4–7)

A lion does not roar for nothing; a bird does not fall into a snare with no bait. In the same way, God does nothing without first revealing His secret to His prophets. That is an awesome truth, especially when so many today who follow the Lord sense something is coming. Here was an uneducated farmer, yielded to God, to whom the Lord came in his field and said, "I have a word for you to bring to the north."

Always, before God brings judgment, He sends a prophet to call the people to repentance. If they repent, God relents. But these people would not. "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"

The Plumb Line and the Completeness of Judgment

God calls heaven and earth to witness, as He did through Isaiah, and gives the cause: "they know not to do right... who store up violence and robbery in their palaces." Everything in their palaces was gained by robbery and violence. So God speaks of the completeness of the coming judgment, using a shepherd's image: just as a shepherd recovers only two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion's mouth, so few of Israel will be left.

God Himself is the coming Judge: "I will visit the altars of Bethel." Remember, Bethel means "the house of God." It was the first place Abraham built an altar, but after the civil war Jeroboam set up a golden calf there, so the people worshiped false gods in the very place they had once worshiped the true God.

Five Corrections They Would Not Heed

In chapter 4, God shows why they deserved judgment—the ease of the women, the slothfulness of the people, and their corrupt worship—and then lists five escalating corrections, each followed by the same refrain: "yet have ye not returned unto me."

First, famine: "I have given you cleanness of teeth"—they had nothing to eat. Second, drought: "I also have withholden the rain from you." Third, economic recession: blight, mildew, and the palmerworm devoured their gardens and vineyards. Fourth, plague: "I have sent among you the pestilence." And fifth, destruction: "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Each one was meant to turn them back, yet they would not return.

Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12)

That is heavy. "I brought you famine and drought and recession and plague and destruction, and yet you have not turned to Me. So prepare to meet your Maker."

When God Removes His Protection

As we consider our own nation, think back to Columbine and the school shootings, to 9/11 and the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, to the hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires. There was a time in our history when we would see such things and recognize God speaking, and call out to Him for blessing rather than cursing.

Now, I am not saying God directly flies planes into buildings. Rather, the Lord removes His protection, and the enemy has his way. Remember Job: Satan came before God, and God gave him permission, removing His hedge. Who brought the whirlwind that killed Job's children? The enemy—but God allowed it by removing His protection.

So with the northern ten tribes. God's hand is not short that He cannot reach, nor His ear blocked that He cannot hear—but their sin separated them from God. When they sinned, the Lord turned His face, and the enemy came in like a flood. Notice the progression: things grow worse and worse until God says, "It is time to meet your Maker."

The God of Grace Still Calls

Some think there is no grace or mercy in the Old Testament, but they are not reading carefully. The God of grace is always extending His hand. He takes up a lamentation: "The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise." Only a tenth would remain alive after the judgment, just as Isaiah 6:13 describes. Then comes the gracious call:

Seek ye me, and ye shall live. (Amos 5:4)

If you want to right the wrongs of a nation, seek the Lord and live. But seek not Bethel nor Gilgal, which had become places of false worship. God repeats the call: "Seek the Lord, and ye shall live." Yet history tells us they did not heed it. About thirty years later they were completely consumed and taken into captivity. God did not flip a coin one day; after hundreds of years of calling, of famine, drought, recession, plague, and removed protection, the people still would not listen, so the king of Assyria came and destroyed them.

God declares their offenses: they tread upon the poor, take bribes, turn aside the just, and store up wealth they will never enjoy. "Ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them." They lived so large they had winter houses and summer houses and ivory furniture—yet they would not even live in them, because they had departed from God.

Two Woes: The Pious Hypocrites and the Slothful Sinners

The first woe: "Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light." These people, living in wickedness, said, "We can't wait for the day of the Lord." Amos answers, "You don't know what you're talking about."

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. (Amos 5:19)

There is no refuge in the day of the Lord. In Revelation, men hide in caves and beg the rocks to fall on them, longing for death, and death flees. You finally escape the lion, but the bear kills you; you find rest in your house, but the serpent bites you.

The second woe falls on the slothful sinners: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." God tells them to look around at Calneh, Hamath, and Gath—nations He had already judged. "Do you think you are greater than them because you are called My people?" That was the mindset of the day: the Gentiles are fuel for hell, so we are fine—eat, drink, and be merry. But they "put far away the evil day, and caused the seat of violence to come near," lying on beds of ivory, feasting and inventing instruments of music like David, anointing themselves with the finest ointments—"but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Therefore they would be the first to go captive.

Amos the Intercessor

Chapter 7 begins the last section of the book—five visions God brought to Amos. In the first, the Lord forms swarming locusts to devour the land's growth. Amos cries out, "O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." And the Lord relented: "It shall not be." Then God shows a consuming fire, and again Amos cries, "O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee," and again the Lord relents.

Among thousands living in rebellion, here is one man interceding. God would later say through Isaiah, "I sought for a man... that should stand in the gap before me... but I found none." Fortunately for these people, He found one—though they would never know it, never realizing that one man stood in the gap as they were about to be consumed.

The Plumb Line and Amaziah's Hardened Heart

In the third vision, God holds up a plumb line to reveal the crookedness of His people. Then comes a historical interlude. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sends to King Jeroboam, saying Amos has conspired against him, and tells Amos: "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah... but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel."

Amos answers that he was no prophet but a herdsman whom the Lord took from following the flock. "I'm going to do what the Lord told me to do." Then he speaks to the king:

Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword... and Israel shall surely go into captivity. (Amos 7:17)

Had Amaziah received the prophetic word, this would not have come to pass. But he hardened his heart. Every single day you and I interact with people who close their ears and harden their hearts as we share the word. The Proverbs say the one who stiffens his neck will be broken in an instant, without remedy. We must be clear, as Amos was, in telling people what their rejection of God means. Sometimes we tell them only of God's love, grace, and mercy, but we also need to make plain that rejecting His gracious gift carries consequences. We must give proper place to both the call and the caution.

The Basket of Summer Fruit and the Final Visions

In the fourth vision, God speaks through a basket of summer fruit. Hebrews 1 says God spoke in various ways by the prophets—to Isaiah through visions, to Israel through the thundering cloud at Sinai, to Moses through a burning bush, and here to Amos through a bowl of fruit. "Amos, what seest thou?" "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord says, "The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more." The summer fruit was the last harvest. This was Israel's final harvest.

Then comes the fifth vision, of the doorposts, in chapter 9.

A Remnant and a Restoration

Always, when God speaks of judgment, He reminds us that His judgment is for purification, and that He always keeps a remnant. Even Elijah forgot this. After defeating the prophets of Baal, he ran from Jezebel and prayed, "Lord, kill me now"—though if he truly wanted to die, he should have stayed for Jezebel. In the cave God spoke, not in the whirlwind, fire, or earthquake, but in the still small voice, and reminded Elijah, "I have reserved seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." There is always a remnant.

So Amos closes with hope. God will raise up again the tabernacle of David, and the restoration will be so abundant that "the plowman shall overtake the reaper"—the harvesters still gathering one crop as the plowmen begin the next, so bountiful is the fruit.

And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them... And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. (Amos 9:14–15)

This prophecy is partially fulfilled in our day. We can be certain it speaks of our time because God says "they shall no more be plucked up." After their return from exile they were exiled again in A.D. 70, but we have seen them come back into the land—this Wednesday marks the sixtieth anniversary of Israel becoming a nation again. They shall never be rooted up again, which means all the jihadist threats and the nations of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will never succeed in removing Israel from that land. We see the beginnings now, but a fuller, future fulfillment is yet to come.

A Gracious God Who Still Speaks

Within God's prophetic judgments is always a promise of a remnant and restoration. It blows my mind every time I read it. We deserve total annihilation, as did Israel, and yet God says, "I will restore." As we saw last week in Joel, "I will restore the years that the locusts have eaten." What a gracious and wonderful God we serve—He does not overlook sin, yet He is slow to anger, not willing that any should perish.

Sometimes He uses cataclysmic events to bring us to repentance. Some of you were saved through a sickness, an accident, or a trial that finally turned you to the Lord. God sought to do the very same with the northern ten tribes through famine, drought, recession, plague, and destruction—but they would not heed.

We are living in a day when God is still speaking, primarily through His word, but also through events in our nation and world that line up with His prophetic outline. When we see these things, we should recognize that God is on the move—and we must give both the call and the caution. We must take the word into the world, ready to give a reason for the hope within us with meekness and fear. But when people reject it—and they constantly do—we should be clear about what that rejection means, just as Amos was with Amaziah. No one will stand guiltless before God; every mouth will be stopped. Yet we as God's people should never look forward to the great and terrible day of the Lord. This world is heading quickly toward judgment, for it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. So may we be even more serious and bold about sharing the gospel.

Closing Prayer

God, I thank You for Your word. I pray You would help us to take heed to what You've spoken to us in this passage, and that You would give us boldness as we go from here—even as we meet tomorrow with family members who don't know You. Give us an opportunity to share the truth with them. Give us boldness, just as the church prayed nearly two thousand years ago when their leaders and their nation told them to keep their mouths shut—they cried out, "Lord, give us all boldness." So, Lord, give us boldness to speak Your word and Your truth, even if people don't like it. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.