Amos 1
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The Book of Amos
Purpose
To confront the northern kingdom’s apostasy (spiritual rebellion) and oppression of the marginalized (those in society who do not have power)
Author
Amos
Date
Around 755 BC
Setting
The shrine at Bethel in Israel's northern kingdom, during the reign of Jeroboam II
Amos spoke to people who worshiped idols. He said, "prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12). He also warned the rich people who treated the poor unfairly. He said that justice should flow "like an ever-flowing stream" (5:24).
Why did this shepherd from Tekoa go to Bethel to speak such strong words of judgment? Amos was not a prophet by trade (7:14). God called him to speak. Amos describes God’s voice as a "roar" (1:2; 3:8). Amos’s message joins two things that belong together: right worship and right action toward others. God’s people still need Amos’s help to see this connection.
Setting
In 931 BC, the kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom kept the name Israel. The southern kingdom was called Judah.
Jeroboam I was the first king of the northern kingdom. He did not want his people to go south to Jerusalem to worship. So he built places of worship at Dan and Bethel. He used images of young bulls to represent the Lord. This was like what Israel had done earlier at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32; 1 Kings 12:25–33).
This choice showed that the northern kingdom had rejected God’s word. They no longer let God shape their worship or their way of life. Over time, Israel’s worship became like the worship of other nations. Israel also began to mistreat weak and poor people.
Jeroboam I built places of worship with calf images at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:29). The northern kingdom also worshiped the baals. The baals were local forms of the Canaanite storm god.
Because of this, worship of Yahweh, the Lord, became mixed with the religion of Israel’s neighbors. Many Israelites still worshiped Yahweh. But they also worshiped local gods. They thought these gods could give them what they wanted, such as rain or fertile land.
Elijah challenged the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel because the people were trying to worship both Yahweh and Baal. Elijah told them they had to choose one or the other (1 Kings 18:21, 24). Amos gave a similar message.
When Amos came to Israel, shortly before 753 BC, the rich were becoming richer. The poor were becoming poorer. Around 801 BC, Assyria had captured Damascus. But Assyria soon had to leave because of problems in other places. Egypt was also becoming weaker during this time. This left Israel and Judah with less pressure from powerful nations.
As a result, both kingdoms became stronger. They took back some land they had lost to Aram (2 Kings 14:23–29; 15:1–7; 2 Chronicles 26:1–23). Israel and Judah became more wealthy. But this wealth mostly helped the people who already had power. People with little power suffered even more.
Because of this, Amos traveled from Tekoa in Judah to Bethel, a place of worship in the northern kingdom. There he warned Israel about its apostasy (turning away from God) and its cruel treatment of people.
Summary
Amos told Israel that words alone are not enough in worship of the Lord. True worship must include faithful obedience.
After a short introduction (Amos 1:1–2), the first part of the book gives eight charges against sin (1:3–2:16). The first seven charges are against the nations around Israel. The eighth charge is against Israel itself. Amos first speaks against Israel’s enemies. He condemns their war crimes and their false worship. This helps his hearers agree with him.
Then Amos says, “The people of Israel, too, have sinned.” The next part of the book has three prophetic messages (3:1–5:17). A prophetic message is a message from God spoken through a prophet.
The first message says that Israel misused its special place as God’s chosen people (3:1–2). The second message accuses Israel’s wealthy people of living for pleasure while they hurt the poor (4:1–3). The third message is like a funeral song. It speaks of the coming death of the nation (5:1–2).
Between these messages, Amos uses many ways to call Israel back to God:
He asks strong questions (3:3–6).
He speaks with sharp irony, saying the opposite of what he means to show Israel’s sin (4:4–5).
He reminds Israel of its past (4:6–11).
He uses wordplay (5:5).
He calls the people to repent.
He also warns them about the judgment that will come if they refuse to repent.
The third part of Amos has two prophetic messages of woe (5:18–6:14). A message of woe warns people that judgment is coming. The first message warns people who talk about the day of the Lord as good news for Israel. They think God will make Israel strong again. But Amos says that day will bring judgment, not safety (5:18–27). The second message warns people who trust in their wealth, houses, or strong cities to save them (6:1–14).
The fourth part of the book includes five prophetic messages based on visions (7:1–9:10). A vision is something God shows a prophet. Amos first describes two judgments that God would stop (7:1–6). These visions may have helped his hearers listen to him. Then Amos gives two visions of judgments that God would not stop (7:7–9; 8:1–3). Between these visions, the book tells a short story from Amos’s life (7:10–17). The final vision shows the complete destruction of Israel and its religious system (9:1–10).
Finally, Amos promises that better days will come (9:11–15). God will bring healing and restoration. Jerusalem will be rebuilt. David’s royal line will be restored in the land. The people will live in the peace of God’s kingdom.
Date and Location
Amos’s ministry was short. It may have lasted only one year. He spoke at Bethel, the royal place of worship in the northern kingdom (Amos 7:13). This happened shortly before Jeroboam II died in 753 BC (1:1).
Recipients
Amos spoke to all the people of Israel. But he spoke especially to the rich and powerful people who lived for their own pleasure (see especially Amos 5:18–6:8). Amos saw Israel’s split from Judah as a main reason for its moral and spiritual decline. Israel had separated from the temple in Jerusalem, the main place where God’s people worshiped the Lord. But Amos also knew that Judah was turning away from pure worship of the Lord (2:4–5). So the book condemns “those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria” (see 6:1).
The Prophet Amos
All we know about Amos’s life comes from the book that bears his name. The opening words of the book say that he was a shepherd (Hebrewnoqed). He came from Tekoa, now called Teku’a. Tekoa was a small, strong town about eight kilometers (five miles) south of Bethlehem in Judah.
Earlier scholars often described the prophet Amos as a poor shepherd who represented the lower classes in Judah. Wealthy landlords treated these people with injustice and abuse. More recent studies suggest a different view. The Hebrew word commonly used for a shepherd is ro‘eh (as in Psalm 23:1), not noqed.
Outside the book of Amos, this word appears only in (2 Kings 3:4). There it describes Mesha, king of Moab. Mesha regularly gave Israel a large payment of wool and sheep. For this reason, noqed probably means someone who owned sheep. It may not mean a hired shepherd who worked for someone else.
Amos 7:14 gives another clue. Here Amos uses a different word for shepherd (boqer, literally "herder"). This might mean that Amos owned cattle. If so, he may have had a good amount of wealth.
Amos also describes himself as "a tender of sycamore-fig trees" (7:14). eople used the fruit from these trees as food for animals. The Hebrew word used here is boles ("one who cares for sycamore figs"). This word does not appear anywhere else in the Bible. But because Amos also calls himself a boqer, the word may mean that he raised sycamore figs. It may not mean that he worked in orchards owned by other people.
This new view does not picture Amos as a simple herder who cared for another person’s sheep and trees. Instead, Amos may have owned and managed animals and trees. This view also fits the book of Amos well. The book is written in strong Judean Hebrew. It also shows that Amos understood Israel’s history, politics, and economy in his own time.
Meaning and Message
Moses showed that God is just and deeply cares for weak and poor people (see, for example, Deuteronomy 24:10–22). But Israel turned away from God and became morally corrupt. This allowed powerful people to oppress the poor and weak. The people wrongly began to see wealth as a sign that God approved of them. They cared more about how they looked than about true obedience. This went against God’s call for his people to be holy.
True worship of the true God leads people to treat others rightly. But false worship and false beliefs damage human relationships. What people believe about God shapes how they live. Right worship leads to good works. Faith should lead to real change.
Morality is not only about personal purity or honesty. It also includes how we treat other people. This is because every human life is made by God and bears his image (Genesis 1:26–27). We serve God by serving the people and creatures he has made.
Amos called people in every generation to treat weak and suffering people with care. For this reason, his words have inspired many social reformers. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. used Amos’s warnings and calls to justice in his preaching. His preaching helped support the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
Amos 1:1
words: This is the usual way to introduce a prophetic message (Jeremiah 1:1; see also Haggai 1:12). It emphasizes the form and content of the message.
sheepherders (Hebrew noqed): This word appears only one other time in the Old Testament, describing the king of Moab as a sheep breeder (2 Kings 3:4). Amos uses a different Hebrew word for his job in Amos 7:14 (boqer, meaning “herdsman”; see Amos Book Introduction, “The Prophet Amos”). Amos was not a professional prophet serving the court or temple.
Amos received this message through visions, that is, through God’s direct revelation (see Isaiah 1:1).
Amos describes the earthquake during Uzziah's reign (Zechariah 14:5) as an act of God's judgment (Amos 3:14–15; 6:11, 14; 8:8; 9:1, 9).
Uzziah, also known as Azariah, ruled from 792 to 740 BC. He was the most powerful king of Judah after the kingdom split.
Jeroboam II, who ruled from 793 to 753 BC, was from Jehu's family line of kings. He took advantage of a time when no strong power controlled the region. During this time, he regained land that the Arameans had taken earlier.
Amos 1:2
This message speaks about judgment on the day of the Lord (the time when God acts to judge and restore).
Mount Zion, the place of the temple in Jerusalem, was the natural place for a message from the Lord to come.
Mount Carmel rises near the Mediterranean Sea and usually has plenty of water, even during dry seasons. If the grass on Mount Carmel dried up, it would be a clear sign of a severe and widespread drought.
Amos 1:3-2:16
This prophecy's eight judgments start with the most obvious enemy, Damascus, and end with the least obvious, Israel itself. This order would have captured Israel's attention as they listened to God's judgment on their enemies. However, Amos eventually revealed God's judgment on Israel, too.
Amos 1:3-5
Damascus, the capital of Aram, treated the people of Gilead with great cruelty. Gilead was Israel’s land east of the Jordan River.
By the time Ahab died in 853 BC, Damascus had taken Ramoth in Gilead (1 Kings 22:3). Around 801 BC, Assyria captured Damascus. After this, the city never again had the power it once did.
Amos 1:3
For three transgressions of Damascus, even four: This phrase describes ongoing rebellion against the natural order set by God. The Hebrew phrase does not describe an exact number. Instead, it points to a pattern of repeated wrongdoing.
they threshed: Threshing grain was the process of separating the grain heads from their husks. People did this by pulling wooden sledges with sharp edges over the cut grain (Isaiah 41:15; see Micah 4:13). This image helps explain how harsh and violent the actions of the people of Damascus were.
Amos 1:4
I will send fire upon: In ancient times, invading armies often burned cities after they conquered them (see also Amos 1:7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2, 5). The destruction of Damascus would therefore be an act of God’s judgment on the city.
Hazael ruled as king of Damascus from about 843 to 802 BC. He took the throne by killing the previous king. Ben-hadad, Hazael’s son, ruled after him from about 802 to 792 BC.
Amos 1:5
Aven and Beth-eden were both linked with Aram and Damascus. The name Aven means “evil” or “wickedness.” It refers to the valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains, also known as the plain of Damascus. Beth-eden was a small city-state north of Aram. In other biblical texts, it is simply called Eden (2 Kings 19:12; Ezekiel 27:23).
The Arameans originally came from Kir (Amos 9:7), probably in southern Babylonia. When Damascus fell, Assyria forced the Arameans to return to Kir (2 Kings 16:9). Just as Egypt symbolized captivity for Israel (see Deuteronomy 28:68), Kir became a symbol of captivity for Aram.
Amos 1:6
The Philistine city of Gaza was located on the seacoast at the southwest edge of Palestine. It served as a gateway for trade between Africa and Asia. Its wrongdoing was engaging in slave trading. Philistia had attacked Israel or Judah and sold entire villages into slavery to Edom.
Amos 1:7
I will send fire upon: Uzziah defeated Philistia (2 Chronicles 26:6). Later, in 701 BC, an invasion by Assyria nearly erased the Philistines as a distinct people.
Amos 1:8
The Philistine cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon were located on or near the coast, while Ekron was inland. Gath is not mentioned here because Hazael had conquered it earlier (2 Kings 12:17), followed by Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:6).
the remnant of the Philistines: They kept their ethnic identity during the Assyrian period, but this distinction disappeared by the time of the Persians (Zechariah 9:5–7).
Amos 1:9
Tyre and Sidon were the main seaports of Phoenicia.
Tyre's crime, like Philistia's (Amos 1:6–8), was selling entire villages of Israelite captives to the Edomites as slaves. This captivity was more painful due to a sense of betrayal (see 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1, 11; 16:30–31). Tyre was known for its reputation of "anything is for sale." Isaiah described the city as a prostitute selling her goods (Isaiah 23:15–17).
Amos 1:10
fire upon the walls: The main part of Tyre was built on an island, making it almost impossible to capture (see Ezekiel 26:1–28:19).
Amos 1:11
Edom was another betrayer (see Amos 1:9; Genesis 36; see also Genesis 25:23–30; 27:39–40).
The word brother refers to Edom’s close family relationship with Israel, since both peoples came from Isaac’s sons (see Genesis 25:25–30). The word brothers can also describe groups that are bound together by a treaty (see Amos 1:9).
In this passage, Edom’s guilt lies in its ongoing hostility toward Israel and Judah. Edom repeatedly attacked Israel’s borders and took advantage of times of weakness by raiding and stealing (Jeremiah 49:7–22; Obadiah 1:1–9).
Amos 1:12
When Babylon destroyed the major cities of Teman and Bozrah, Edom lost its ability to continue fighting. Babylon conquered Edom shortly after Judah in 553 BC (see Jeremiah 27; 49:7–22; see also study note on Obadiah 1:18).
Amos 1:13
Israel saw the people of Ammon as relatives who betrayed them. The Ammonites, like the Moabites (Amos 2:1), were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew (Genesis 19:37–38). Ammon was a constant threat to Gilead (see Judges 10:7–9).
In ancient times, conquering armies often harmed pregnant women (2 Kings 8:12; 15:16; Hosea 13:16). They also raped women and killed children in the towns they captured (Isaiah 13:16, 18; Lamentations 5:11; Hosea 10:14; 13:16; Nahum 3:10; Zechariah 14:2).
Amos 1:14
Rabbah was the main city of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 12:26).
The Assyrians defeated Ammon in the 800s BC (Amos 1:13). Later, in the 700s BC, the Babylonians attacked Ammon and forced many of its people to leave the land.
Amos 1:15
Their king: The Hebrew term malkam might refer to the Ammonite god Molech. In ancient times, people believed that when a nation was conquered, its god or gods went into exile with them (see Amos 5:26–27; 1 Samuel 5:1–2; Isaiah 46:1).
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