THE MINOR PROPHETS

 

The Prophet Amos

Prepare to Meet Thy God

Lesson #4

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.     We are entering into the study of the third minor prophet, a prophet named Amos.

 

B.      Amos was a unique prophet.

1.       His father was not a prophet.

2.       He was not trained in the prophetic schools.

3.       He was a citizen of Judah who was commissioned to prophesy to the nation of Israel.  (NOTE:  He and Hosea are the only minor prophets who prophesied to the Northern Kingdom).

 

C.     Amos’ message was powerful and reached into the very palace of Jeroboam king of Israel (Amos. 7:10).

 

The Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel:  the land is not able to bear all his words.

 

D.     Before we enter into an overview of this nine-chapter book, let’s look at some of the passages that are familiar and interesting to those who know this book.

1.       “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).

2.       “Hate the evil, and love the good…” (Amos 5:15).

3.       “…establish justice in the gate…” (Amos 5:15).

4.       “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos. 5:24).

5.       “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion…” (Amos 6:1).

6.       “…and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David” (Amos 6:5).

7.       “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).

 

I.                    THE AUTHOR

 

A.     The author is named in Amos 1:1.

 

The words of Amos…

 

1.       His name means:  “burden” or “burden-bearer.”

2.       His name is representative of his mission, that is, to bear a prophecy of judgment to the nation of Israel (Amos 7:15).

 

And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

 

B.      Some facts we know about Amos.

1.       He was from the town of Tekoa in Judah (Amos 1:1).  This town was located about 10 miles south of Jerusalem.

2.       He was a herdsman (Amos 1:1; 7:14).

3.       He was “a gatherer of sycamore fruit” (Amos 7:14).

4.       He was not a schooled prophet (Amos 7:14).

5.       He was faithful and courageous, and would not be deterred from proclaiming his message to the nation of Israel.

 

C.     Even though verse 1 does not declare Amos’ message was the “word of the Lord,” we find the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord” used some 40 times in the book.  His message was from the Lord as much as the prophecies of Hosea and Joel.

 

D.     “God selected a rustic and rough-hewn man of integrity to be a prophet, and he sent him from a small southern village into the wealthy, sophisticated city of Bethel as a messenger of truth and righteousness.  Amos may not have had impeccable manners, his fashion of dress may not have been flawless, and his accent of speech may well have been colored by his rural upbringing, but it is unquestioned that he was faithful to that divine imperative which, in essence, placed a farm-boy in the pulpit of the sanctuary at Bethel” (The Living Messages of the Books of the Old Testament, Elkins & Warren, eds., “The Living Message of the Book of Amos,” Alan E. Highers, p. 339).

 

II.                 THE DATE

 

A.     The date coincides with the kings who were ruling when Amos prophesied (Amos 1:1).

 

…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.

 

B.      This would have been around 755 B.C. to 750 B.C.

 

C.     Amos was a contemporary of Hosea.

 

III.              THE RECIPIENTS

 

A.     Again, the first verse reveals the recipients of the book.

 

…which he saw concerning Israel…

 

B.      The name “Israel” is found 30 times in 26 verses.

 

C.     Samaria, the capital city is mentioned 5 times in 5 verses.

 

D.     The cities of Bethel and Dan are mentioned in the book.

1.       These were the cities wherein Jeroboam I put the two golden calves he had made (See 1 Kings 12:28-30).

2.       Bethel is found 7 times in 6 verses.

3.       Dan is found in Amos 8:14.

 

IV.              THE OCCASION OF THE BOOK

 

A.     During the reign of Jeroboam II, the nation of Israel was living in great prosperity (Amos 6:4).

 

B.      The nation engaged in many transgressions.

1.       The nation had turned to idol worship (Amos 5:26).

2.       They forsook the law of God (Amos 2:4).

3.       They oppressed the poor and needy (Amos 2:6; 8:4).

4.       They did not give heed to the prophets (Amos 2:12).

5.       They were lazy and slothful (Amos 6:1).

6.       NOTE:  They were going through the motions of Judaism.

a.       Amos 4:4-5

b.      God, however, refused this worship (Amos 5:21-23).

 

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.  Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them:  neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.  Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs:  for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

 

7.       The nation needed to repent.

a.       The nation had oppressed God (Amos 2:13).

 

Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

 

b.      They had no concern for their sins and transgressions (Amos 6:6).

 

…but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

 

C.     God had given them many warnings in the past.

1.       The prophets (Amos 3:7).

2.       All kinds of afflictions.

a.       Famine described a “cleanness of teeth” (Amos 4:6).

b.      No rain (Amos 4:7).

c.       Blasting and mildew (Amos 4:9).

d.      Pestilence (Amos 4:10).

e.       Some of them had been overthrown (Amos 4:11).

 

V.                 THEME

 

A.     Prepare to Meet Thy God (Amos 4:12)

 

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

 

B.      God’s judgment is referred to as the Lord’s roaring.

1.       Two verses:

a.       Amos 1:2

 

And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

 

b.      Amos 3:8

 

The lion hath roared, who will not fear?...

 

2.       Some, therefore, have referred to Amos as “The Gospel of the Lion’s Roar.”

 

C.     It is interesting that Amos is the first prophet to make mention of “the day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18).

 

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.

 

D.     Punishment is mentioned numerous times in the book.

1.       Amos 3:2

 

…therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

 

2.       Amos 3:11

 

…An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

 

3.       Amos 5:27

 

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.

 

4.       Amos 6:14

 

But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you…

 

5.       Amos 9:5

 

And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn:  and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

 

6.       Some denied that the punishment would come, but God assured them that it would (Amos 9:8-10).

 

Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.  For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.  All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

 

E.      In the last chapter, Amos assures his readers that no one would escape (Amos 9:1-4).

 

F.      Even though Amos prophesied doom, he still encouraged the nation to repent.

1.       “For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live” (Amos 5:4).

2.       “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live…” (Amos 5:6).

3.       “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion…” (Amos 5:8).

4.       Amos 5:14-15

 

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live:  and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate:  it may be that the Lord God of host will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

 

 

VI.              KEY VERSE (Amos 4:12)

 

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

 

VII.           OUTLINE (Taken from Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Ronald. F. Youngblood, ed., “Amos, Book of,” p. 50)

 

i.                    Introduction (Amos 1:1-2)

ii.                  The Eight Judgments (Amos 1:3-2:16)

iii.                The Three Sermons of Judgment (Amos 3:1-6:14)

A.     The First Sermon:  Israel’s Present (Amos 3:1-15)

B.      The Second Sermon:  Israel’s Past (Amos 4:1-13)

C.     The Third Sermon:  Israel’s Future (Amos 5:1-6:14)

iv.                The Five Visions of Judgment (Amos 7:1-9:10)

v.                  The Five Promises of the Restoration of Israel (Amos 9:11-15)

 

VIII.        MISCELLANEOUS

 

A.     The repetition of the phrase:  “Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions….and for four.”

1.       Damascus (Amos 1:3)

2.       Gaza (Amos 1:6)

3.       Tyrus (Amos 1:9)

4.       Edom (Amos 1:11)

5.       Ammon (Amos 1:13)

6.       Moab (Amos 2:1)

7.       Judah (Amos 2:4)

8.       Israel (Amos 2:6)

 

B.      There are several “firsts” in the book of Amos.

1.       The virgin of Israel (Amos 5:2)

2.       The threat of exile against Israel (Amos 5:27)

3.       The concept of “the day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18)

 

C.     Amos’ words were not met with favor (Amos 7:10-17).

1.       The Report to King Jeroboam (Amos 7:10-11)

2.       The Rebuke of Amos by Amaziah (Amos 7:12-13)

3.       The Reply of Amos to Amaziah (Amos 7:14-17)

a.       His Commission (Amos 7:14-15)

b.      The Condemnation (Amos 7:16-17)

 

D.     The Prophecy with New Testament fulfillment.

1.       Amos makes an interesting prophecy as he concludes his book (Amos 9:11-15).

2.       One of the prophecies involves “the tabernacle of David” (Amos 9:11).

 

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.

 

3.       At the Jerusalem conference, James references this text as a fulfillment of the Gentiles being brought into the church (Acts 15:13-18).

 

And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up again.  That the residue of the men might see the Lord, and all Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.     God loved Israel.  He had sent two power prophets to exhort them to repent, Hosea and Amos.

 

B.      Sadly, Israel rejected both.  In 722 B.C., the Assyrian army came against the 10 Tribes and brought them into Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chron. 15:26).  They never did return to the land of Israel as a nation.

 

C.     There are many lessons that can be learned from Amos.  One of them is that going through the motions of a religion is not enough.

1.       Israel went through the motions (Amos 4:4-5).

2.       God rejected their worship (Amos 5:21-23).

3.       LESSON:  It is possible not to relate “religion to morality or faith to practice or doctrine to life” (Living Messages, Highers, 342).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAYINGS ABOUT WOMEN

 

“Who can find a virtuous woman?  for her price is far above rubies.”    (Prov. 31:10)

 

“Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:  but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Prov. 31:30)

 

“Where there is a woman, there is magic.” (Ntozake Shange)

 

“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and give it a wink.”        (Gina Carey)

 

“Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked.” (Leslie Littlejohn)

 

“It’s better to be strong than pretty and useless.” (Lilith Saintcrow)

 

“The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.” (C. JoyBell C.)

 

“One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion” (Simone de Beauvoir)

 

“There are women who make things better... simply by showing up. There are women who make things happen. There are women who make their way. There are women who make a difference. And women who make us smile. There are women of wit and wisdom who- through strength and courage- make it through. There are women who change the world everyday... Women like you.” (Ashley Rice)

 

“Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adoring of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”                 (1 Pet. 3:3-4)