Amos

AMOS: THE FARMBOY PROPHET

Creative Commons, Shepherd in Făgăraș Mountains

  

BY

 

 

JIM GERRISH

 

 

Copyright © 2025 Jim Gerrish

Light of Israel Bible Publications
Colorado Springs, CO

 

INTRODUCTION 

 

James Montgomery Boice, long-time speaker for the Bible Study Hour, calls the Book of Amos “one of the most readable, relevant, and moving portions of the Word of God” ^1. Still, he feels that not enough attention is paid to it.  Perhaps this is due to the relative anonymity of the prophet himself. He was not of royal blood. He was not the son of a prophet (cf. 7:14). It appears that he was just a common farm laborer.

He did not hail from Jerusalem or any of the main cities. Rather, he came from the village of Tekoa, which was about 12 miles (19 km.) southeast of Jerusalem. This village sat on the edge of the great Judean Wilderness, which led down to the Dead Sea. The prophet Amos really hailed from “the back side of nowhere.” American pastor and college lecturer Brian Bell says: “Here we have a southern farm boy called to speak to his rich, prosperous, materialistic, upper-class northern neighbors.”²

Yet, Amos gained notoriety for his stern messages to the northern kingdom of Israel. His name means “burden,” and he boldly shared his burden with the people and their rulers. Amos has gained the distinction of being the first of the writing prophets.³ It is generally agreed that his ministry began around 760 BC.⁴  That would have placed him in the time frame of other prophets such as Hosea and slightly before Isaiah.

 

CHAPTER 1

 

The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. Amos 1:1

Amos was just a shepherd boy. He was not the owner or manager of the sheep, but he was just one of the shepherds. It is interesting that Amos does not use the common word for shepherd (ro’eh) but instead uses the Hebrew word noqed. This indicates that he did not care for common sheep but for a dwarfed sheep with short legs.¹

Not only was Amos just one of the shepherds, but he also had a side job of gathering fruit from the sycamore trees. Boice says about them: “The sycamore produced a very poor kind of fruit, which only the poorest people ate. This does not suggest prosperity. The…word is ‘tender,’ a tender of sheep (7:15). The words all suggest a poor man who worked hard for his living.” ² The sycamore fruit required a lot of labor. Phillips says of the sycamore: “The gatherers would pinch or bruise the sluggish lumps of fruit to make them ripen, so Amos described himself as ‘a pincher of sycamores’ – not a very high-class profession.” ³      

During the time of Amos, Jeroboam II reigned in Israel (786-746 BC) and Uzziah (767-740) reigned in Judah. With a series of actions, the Assyrians conquered Damascus. This city-state had been a threat to both Israel and Judah. However, with Damascus out of their way, both Israel and Judah entered into a time of great prosperity. Unfortunately, with great prosperity there often comes great sin. This was especially true in Israel. Unlike Judah, Israel worshipped before an apostate priesthood and at the pagan shrines of Dan and Bethel. There was much idolatry and much oppression of the poor, plus many other abuses. John Phillips, Director of Moody Correspondence School says, “City life gave rise to a wealthy, aristocratic ruling class who cared nothing about the woes of the common people.” ⁴

It was to this sin-sick situation that the farm boy prophet, Amos, was sent. Boice reminds us that the use of the insignificant might be one of the book’s greatest lessons. ⁵ How true are the words of 1 Corinthians 1:27-29: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

Amos dates his prophecy as “two years before the earthquake.” This is a reference to a great quake that happened in the days of King Uzziah. The historian Josephus (Antiq. 9:10.4) ties this quake to Uzziah’s sin of entering the Temple and trying to usurp the priesthood (2 Chr. 26:16). It must have been a great earthquake since it was remembered more than two centuries later by the prophet Zechariah (14:4-5).

“He said: ‘The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers’” (1:2). Since Amos grew up on the edge of the great wilderness, he had no doubt heard lions roar many times. Adam Clark says: “The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart, both of man and of beast.” ⁶ That sound reminded Amos of the voice of the Lord as he roared from Zion.

So often, it seems that the Lord speaks and even shouts to us through natural events. God was expressing his displeasure with Israel by sending a serious drought. Bible scholars Pfeiffer & Harrison say, “Carmel means garden land, and it is the most fertile land in the country.” ⁷ When the beautiful and fruitful Carmel withered, one could know that the rest of the country was in trouble.

JUDGMENT OF ISRAEL’S NEIGHBORS 

 

SYRIA

 

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth,” Amos 1:3 

Amos cleverly began his ministry by listing the sins of Israel’s neighbors. That probably got Israel’s rapt attention since some people like to accuse others and talk about the sins of others. There were probably a lot of “amens!” from the crowd. Likely several folks cried out, “You got that right! Preach on, brother!” Amos first pointed to the sin of Syria, with its capital of Damascus. Syria has been one of the most ancient and persistent enemies of God’s people. Even in modern times, the nation of Syria bitterly attacked Israel in three major wars. We can understand why, with the fall of the Assad government and resulting confusion in 2024, Israel took it upon herself to destroy much of Syria’s military facilities and equipment.

The preaching style of Amos is interesting. He reports God saying, “For three sins…even for four, I will not relent.” Three is a generally accepted number for completion. Perhaps that is why so many sermons have three points. But by saying “four,” it really puts things over the top. It is like saying, “this is the last straw!” The direction of his preaching is also interesting. Boice says, “The first four nations form an ‘X’ making four points of the compass relative to the people Amos is addressing.” ⁸  He might have chosen this order regarding the severity of their sins. Moab is the last country dealt with, and nothing is said about the severity of its sin.⁹

The specific sin against Damascus was that their people threshed Gilead (God’s inheritance) with threshing sledges that had teeth of iron. John Roberts Dummelow, British scholar and clergyman, describes them: “The threshing-sledge, a thick wooden board with pointed pieces of iron or of basalt on the underside, and a heavy weight or a driver above, is the figure for the harshest severity.” ¹⁰

That might be compared to folks being run over by a modern farm harrow with its many iron teeth. Such an act would cruelly tear the bodies to pieces. This was so harsh that it got the attention of the Almighty God. People may think that God does not see their acts of cruelty, but he notes every one of them. This atrocity was perpetrated by Hazael, king of Damascus (842-796 BC). We know from 2 Kings 8:12 that Hazael was quite capable of such things. Apparently, Hazael desired to gain the Israelite territories east of the Jordan River.

Because of the cruelty of Damascus, God says: “I will send fire on the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad” (1:4). Ben Hadad was the successor of Hazael. There were two or three kings of Syria with the title Ben-Hadad (son of the god). The true God would punish them all for their cruelty. “‘I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,’ says the LORD.” (1:5). Finally, in 732 BC, the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 BC), destroyed the kingdom of Aram-Damascus. It was his policy to uproot conquered people, so he sent the people of Aram away to Kir, an area in Media.

GAZA

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses.” Amos 1:6-7 

Gaza’s outstanding sin was that of capturing and selling Israelites to their most bitter enemy, Edom. They apparently sold whole communities of captives in this way. Irish biblical scholar J. A. Motyer comments: “Nothing calls forth the omnipotent power of the Lord more than when one person uses another simply for his own profit.” ¹¹ We read about one of these serious raids in 2 Chronicles 21:16-17. Phillips speaks further of these attacks: “They swept away the entire population – men, women, and children – and delivered their captives to the Edomites, from whom the Hebrews could expect no mercy.” ¹²

For such atrocities, Gaza fell to Tiglath-Pileser in 734 BC. Well-known Bible commentator and religious broadcaster Warren Wiersbe says, “The slave masters were themselves taken into exile and slavery.” ¹³  In Joel 3:1-6, it is interesting that even in the end of days, nations will still receive judgment for the wickedness of such slavery.

“‘I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines are dead,’ says the Sovereign LORD” (1:8). Assyrian kings and armies swept over much of the land once controlled by Israel, Judah and the Philistines. The following Assyrian king, Sennacherib (705-681 BC), fulfilled the prophecy of Amos on all the Philistine cities, essentially ending their story.

TYRE

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, I will send fire on the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses” Amos 1:9-10

Tyre was a Phoenician city-state that once had very good relations with Israel, especially in the time of King Solomon. However, this verse makes clear that in later times, Tyre was also involved in the slave trade against Israel. Motyer feels that they may have been handling only the business side of the slave trade.¹⁴ It is of note that there is no record of Tyre ever waging war against the Israelites.¹⁵

These verses make clear that Tyre violated her treaty of brotherhood with Israel. That treaty is mentioned in 1 Kings 5:12. This ancient city was located on an island 600-700 meters from the mainland and, for that reason, was virtually unconquerable. Nebuchadnezzar held a thirteen-year siege of the city (585-575 BC), and later, it was conquered and destroyed by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

EDOM

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Edom, even for four, I will not relent. Because he pursued his brother with a sword and slaughtered the women of the land, because his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked, I will send fire on Teman that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.” Amos 1:11-12

The story of Edom represents a deep and bitter family problem between Jacob and Esau, or the chosen and the not chosen. It was a problem mentioned before the twin boys were born (Gen. 25:21-26). It is a problem noted many times in the Bible. The whole Book of Obadiah deals only with the ancient hatred of Edom. Not only did Edom attack Israel, but they happily joined with those who were attacking her (Psa. 137:7; Obad. 1:11).

Wiersbe comments: “Temen and Bozrah were strong cities that today don’t exist…nothing is left today except ruins. When the Romans attacked Jerusalem in AD 70, they destroyed what was left of the Edomite (Idumean) people, and Edom was no more.” ¹⁶

AMMON

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders,” Amos 1:13

This is a war that is not recorded in the Bible, but it is still an awful crime against humanity. It was noticed by God and is recorded in his books. Bible scholars Jamieson, Faussett & Brown comment: “Ammon’s object in this cruel act was to leave Israel without ‘heir,’ so as to seize on Israel’s inheritance.” ¹⁷  Phillips writes, “When the prophet foretold invasion, destruction and captivity for Ammon, he specifically mentioned the capital city of Rabbah, which is now Amman, the capital of Jordan.” ¹⁸

The little country of Ammon came into existence by an incestuous relationship between Lot’s younger daughter with her intoxicated father (Gen. 19:30-38). Her son Ben-Ammi founded the nation, which was bounded by the Arnon and Jabbok rivers on the east side of the Dead Sea.

God says to Ammon: “‘I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah that will consume her fortresses amid war cries on the day of battle, amid violent winds on a stormy day. Her king will go into exile, he and his officials together,’ says the LORD” (1:14-15). Wiersbe sums it up: “Amos announced that a storm of judgment would come…This took place when the Assyrians swept over the land in 734 BC.” ¹⁹

 

CHAPTER 2

 

MOAB

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom’s king,” Amos 2:1 

Here, the prophet continues with his word to the lands lying east of Israel. Moab was a small country situated mostly on a plateau by the Dead Sea. The little land was nestled between the Arnon and Zered rivers. Much of it can be seen from Jerusalem today. The Moabites were also some more of Israel’s close kin folks. However, through her long history, her kinfolks became some of her most bitter enemies. The Moabites as we might remember also sprang from the incestuous relationship with Lot’s older daughter and her father (Gen. 19:30-38).

Moab comes under judgment for the sin of burning the king of Edom’s bones. English Bible scholar, Peter Pett says: “It was not honorable cremation that was being condemned, but an act of flagrant and vicious mistreatment of the dead…It was an attempt to strike at the very root of YHWH’s final right to decide what became of men beyond the grave.” ¹ To make matters worse, Moab and Edom were also related to each other just as they were to Israel. God was watching over these descendants of Abraham just as he watches over all people.

I suppose we cannot be too hard on Moab, since the church dug up the bones of Wycliffe the Bible translator after 44 years and burned them.²  Man’s inhumanity to man never ceases to shock us.

“‘I will send fire on Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet. I will destroy her ruler and kill all her officials with him,’ says the LORD” (2:2-3). True to God’s prophetic word Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab in 582 BC. At that point, it ceased to be a nation.

JUDAH

“This is what the LORD says: ‘For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.’” Amos 2:4-5 

At the mention of Judah, the listeners of Amos must have broken into wild cheers. Israel and Judah had never gotten along well. There had even been outright wars between these two parts of God’s heritage. The cries of approval were probably going up, “Amen! Now you are really preaching brother Amos!”

Judah’s most obvious and pressing sin was that they had failed to uphold the sacred law of God, which he had given to her above all people on the face of the earth. How sad that the people of God had forgotten all about God. A preacher once said of God’s word: “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.’” ³ Holy Jerusalem had even fallen into idolatry. How sad!

God often speaks of fire to punish his people (Josh. 6:24; 8:8; and Josh. 11:9). For Judah there would not just be fire and destruction of their holy city but the people themselves would be destroyed and even carried into captivity.

ISRAEL

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.” Amos 2:6 

At the mention of “Israel,” we can imagine that things got really quiet. Perhaps someone began to complain, “Now you have quit peaching and have gone to meddling!” How could the preacher talk against God’s own people? Wiersbe tells this story: “‘I don’t know why you preach about the sins of Christians,’ a church member said to the pastor. After all, the sins of Christians are different from the sins of unsaved people.’ ‘Yes,’ replied the pastor, ‘they’re worse!’” ⁴

Israel was enjoying a time of great success. However, we learn in these verses that much of that success was coming at the expense of the poor and downtrodden. Here we see the innocent sold for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes. “For the paltriest sum, even a pair of shoes, the tribunals of that day could be bought.⁵ What we have pictured is bribery of the courts and law enforcement. Quite simply, the wealthy and influential citizens controlled the courts and legal system. Even the smallest bribe would turn the verdict against the poor. They had no resources to hire fancy lawyers and defend themselves.

“They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name” (2:7). Boice sees this as “a picture of multiple and overlapping corruption.” ⁶ They had forgotten scriptures like Proverbs 14:31 and 17:5 which tell us that if we oppress and mock the poor we reproach our Maker.⁷

With all the oppression there also came all the shame of cultic prostitution. Even fathers and sons were using the same prostitute. We know that mankind has invented religion when it offers all the wicked things that people desire. People naturally lust after food and sex. False religion offered plenty of both. The best meats were offered to the pagan gods and the cultic shrines swarmed with “holy” prostitutes. Unfortunately, Israel with its open idolatry had already become far removed from the law of God which prohibited such things (Ex. 20:14; 22:16; Deut. 22:28-29; 23:17-18).

“They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines” (2:8). These brazen people involve the poor in their cultic worship by lying around on garments that belong to the poor and needy. God’s law of mercy required that garments taken in pledge must be returned by nightfall. God says: “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate” (Exod. 22:26-27). The Israelites made themselves drunk on the wine they had illegally taken from the poor. They apparently did not feel any pain of conscience.

God now reminds Israel of something very important. “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below” (2:9). God had driven the Amorites out of the land for the very same offenses of which Israel was now guilty. Phillips remarks: “Injustice, immorality, idolatry, ingratitude, and intolerance were Israel’s crowning sins that called for God’s wrath.” ⁸

“I brought you up out of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to give you the land of the Amorites” (2:10). God had led Israel through the wilderness as a loving Father but the people soon forgot all about his care. The Amorites mentioned here probably stand for all the Canaanites.⁹ They were so tall and strong that the Israeli spies may have thought they were all giants (Num. 13:32). However, God destroyed them and gave their land to Israel.

“‘I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel?’ declares the LORD. ‘But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.’” (2:11-12). God not only led the people miraculously for forty years in the wilderness. He gave them plenteous provisions of food and clothing. He made sure that even their shoes did not wear out. In addition, he gave them prophets, even the great Moses himself. How could they forget all his benevolence?  Yet, they abused both the Nazarites and the prophets.

The Nazarite carried on a very strict life which forbade the fruit of the vine, in grapes, raisins or wine. It also forbade the cutting of one’s hair (Num. 6:1-21). Churches of Christ leader and Bible commentator, James Burton Coffman reminds us that there were two types of Nazarites, the Nazarite of days, which was a temporary vow, and the Nazarite for life.¹⁰ God gave the Nazarite as an extraordinary example of purity and dedication for Israel. Yet, the rebels of the nation made the Nazarites drink wine and thus broke their vows. They did not even respect the prophets of God and refused their prophecies (cf. Isa. 30:10-11).

“Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain” (2:13). Pfeiffer & Harrison say: “Israel would experience the grinding pressure that a fully loaded wagon exerts on the ground over which it travels.” ¹¹ Pett says, “They will find themselves face to face with YHWH’s steamroller.” ¹² We can almost hear the creaking and groaning of a heavily loaded cart as it smashes everything it runs over.

“The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life” (2:14-15). This verse speaks of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-609 BC) and its conquest of the northern ten tribes in 722 BC. The Assyrians were a cruel and ruthless enemy. They were well-trained and experts at siege works for conquering cities. They were the first major power to fully utilize cavalry and weapons of iron. The Israelite army hardly had a chance against them.

“‘Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day,’ declares the LORD” (2:16). We can imagine the people and what was left of their army running helter-skelter in a desperate attempt to save their lives. Obviously, some folks would not have time to put on their clothes before fleeing. All this disaster came upon Israel because they had forsaken their God. 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the LORD has spoken against you – against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: Amos 3:1 

The prophets often exhort their people with the word “hear.” Amos begins three of his chapters (3, 4, & 5) with the word and also uses it in other places. Even God’s own people often seem to have a big problem hearing their Lord. The writer of Hebrews calls out to us all: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…’” (Heb. 3:7-8). At least in this verse, Amos is speaking to both houses of Israel. Later in his eighth chapter, Amos promises that the famine of the last day will be a famine of hearing God’s word (Amos 8:11-12).

“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins” (3:2). This is an ancient certainty that is still true today, although few people on earth believe it or understand it. God has eternally chosen the nation of Israel. He has chosen Israel for his salvation purposes. The Psalmist says: “He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws…” (Psa. 147:19-20).

However, being chosen by God brings on a lot of suffering and responsibility.  To quote Tevye’s prayer from the play Fiddler on the Roof, “I know, I know. We are your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?” The great F. B. Meyer states: “The closer our relationship with God, the more searching his scrutiny and chastening.” ¹ Dummelow quotes a certain Dr. Arnold who said of his childhood: “I could not make out how, if my mother loved me more than strange children, she should find fault with me and not with them.” ²  Boice says: “Israel has no special position based on which she can sin with impunity…” ³ 

SOME QUESTIONS

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Amos 3:3. 

For two people to walk together for very long indicates that they have an agreement with each other. Every year I fly to see my sister and her family in St. Louis. It is always good to visit with my family but it is also good to see a friend that I have there. This person is a very serious Bible scholar and we have some grand times talking together. We have found that if we walk together for an hour or so we can openly discuss many biblical subjects. Interestingly, this person is Catholic and I am Protestant. We do have the filling of the Spirit in common and that breaks down a lot of barriers. We find that it is only in walking together that we are able to discuss the deeper subjects. We never seem to be able to do that when we are sitting in the house. Apparently, Jesus’ disciples experienced this very thing as they walked along with him. Phillips tells the other side of the story: “But when two people meet and do nothing but quarrel as they walk together, what happens: They come to a parting of the ways.” ⁴

“Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing?” (3:4). Amos had no doubt heard many lions roar in his Tekoa wilderness. Laura Kiniri tells of the first time she heard a lion: “The first time I heard a lion’s roar, it shook me to the bones. I’d been snoozing soundly in my hut in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve…when the full-throated and low-pitched bellow reverberated through my body, launching me upright. Afterward, I was too excited to go back to sleep.” ⁵  Lions do not approach game while they are roaring but they hunt in a stealthy manner until they attack. They may roar after the kill in order to communicate with members of their pride. Hopefully, the prophet’s roar would likewise arouse a sleepy Samaria.

“Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything?” (3:5). Birds get into traps by looking for food and traps do not usually go off by themselves. Everything has a cause and Samaria’s approaching disaster also has a cause.

“When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” (3:6). In ancient times, the sounding of a trumpet alerted the people that possible disaster was on the way. My wife and I lived in Israel during the Gulf War of 1990-1991. Saddam Hussein of Iraq decided to launch hundreds of missiles at Israel in his attempt to intimidate the US. Night after night the missiles fell on Israel’s cities. Each raid began with a siren that was meant to stir us out of bed, so we could run to our sealed rooms and dawn our gas masks. A siren or trumpet in the night is sure to get one’s attention. The prophetic trumpet call of Amos was meant to get Israel’s attention and stir the nation to action.

“Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (3:7). It is interesting how critical biblical events were always witnessed by God’s prophets. The fall of Samaria in 722 BC was predicted by Amos, Hosea and others. The fall of Judea in 586 BC, was predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah and others. The prophets were clear that both Israel and Judah would be taken from their lands and led into captivity. In Judah’s case, the prophet even told the number of years that the captivity would last (Jer. 29:10).

“The lion has roared – who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken – who can but prophesy? (3:8). We have to feel that Amos received a lot of his prophetic inspiration from his memory of lions roaring in the wilderness. That sound would petrify most other living things. The voice of God through his prophet would petrify the sinners of Samaria if only they had ears to hear. 

CALLING WITNESSES

Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.” Amos 3:9     

God does a most unusual thing here. He directs his prophet to invite unbelieving nations that they may come and witness the utter wickedness of Samaria. The Philistines were always considered the “uncircumcised” examples of paganism. Likewise, the Egyptians were the pagans who oppressed Israel for four hundred years. Now the Lord invites them to sit in judgment of his people Israel. Quite simply, Israel has become worse than the worst pagan nations. “The sins of Israel are so blatant that even the heathen would find them remarkable.” ⁶

“‘They do not know how to do right,’ declares the LORD, ‘who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted’” (3:10). Coffman, citing Ralph Smith says: “When people do not do right, the time comes when they cannot do right.” ⁷ Dummelow comments, “Their eyes gloat over treasures of gold and silver in their palaces: a prophet’s eye sees only stores of violence and robbery (Romans 2:5; James 5:1-4).” ⁸ 

GOD’S DECREE

Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “An enemy will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.” Amos 3:11 

How true the words of God! The Assyrian army under King Shalmaneser V came and besieged Samaria for three years. The city fell in 722 BC.  Samaria was completely destroyed and plundered. After the death of Shalmaneser, King Sargon II came and removed over 27,000 Israelites, taking them as captives to Assyria. These and other exiles have come to be known as the Ten Lost Tribes. They have been lost now for over 2700 years but the Bible speaks of their eventual return (cf. Isa. 11:15-16; 27:13; Jer. 3:18).

2 Kings 17:1-23 tells the sad story of their dispersion. “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes” (2 Ki. 17:6). God drove them from their land because they sinned against him and worshipped other gods (17:7). “…They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless…” (2 Ki. 17:15). We do tend to become like our gods.

“This is what the LORD says: ‘As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued, with only the head of a bed and a piece of fabric from a couch’” (3:12). Motyer says, “When a shepherd brought back a few limbs of a sheep, he was in fact ridding himself of the charge of negligence he had tried to save the sheep and had failed.” ⁹ That would be a picture of Samaria’s rescue. There would be nothing left to rescue but scraps, like a piece of a bed or a scrap of cloth. Jamieson and company comment: “The Hebrew pointing, though generally expressing damask, may express the city ‘Damascus;’ and many manuscripts point it so…” ¹⁰

“‘Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,’ declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty. ‘On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground” (3:13-14). We remember that Jeroboam set up a golden calf at Bethel and another one at Dan. Along with idol worship, there was an altar or altars for sacrifice. It is still possible to see the reconstructed altar at Dan near the Lebanon border. On the altars of that day were horns on each corner. Pfeiffer & Harrison feel that they were important since the blood of the sacrifice was applied to them (Lev. 4:30).¹¹ We might remember that horns in the Old Testament represented strength as well. Cutting off the horns would indicate that the strength of Samaria was gone.

“‘I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished,’ declares the LORD” (3:15).

This verse mentions a winter house and a summer house. Both were adorned with ivory and obviously very luxurious. Commentators have said that the only difference between them was their orientation to the sun, which does not make a lot of sense. It seems very likely that the winter house was located at Tel Jezreel in the warmer Jezreel Valley.

There has been much discussion regarding the Jezreel location. Professor Usseskin, who excavated the site, felt that it was only a military base. However, a lot of events of King Ahab and his family happened at Jezreel. After the great contest at Mt. Carmel, King Ahab returned there. Queen Jezebel was there and apparently, all her prophets of Baal were there before they were killed (1 Ki. 18:38 – 19:2). Jezreel was the scene of the Naboth’s Vineyard story (1 Ki. 21:1-24). We might ask why Ahab would need a vineyard at a military establishment. Queen Jezebel was killed at Jezreel (2 Ki. 9:30-37) and the reign of Ahab ended there with his death and the death of his son (2 Ki. 9:24-26).

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” Amos 4:1

Amos does something here that few preachers would ever attempt. He calls the “church ladies” “cows.” Any preacher trying this today would soon be looking for a new job.¹ He not only calls them cows, but cows of Bashan. Cattle from this area were usually strong, fat and sleek because the Bashan pastures were rich and fertile (Num. 32:1-5; Deut. 32:14; Psa. 22:12; Ezek. 39:18; Mic. 7:14).

We see something else about these “church women.” They were living debauched, deluded and dissipated lives. They were oppressing the poor and crushing the needy in order to keep up their dissolute lifestyles (cf. Isa. 32:9-13). In addition to all this, they were drunks, demanding that their husbands bring them more booze every day. Coffman says of the word bring, “This means, ‘Get it; we don’t care how!’” ²

We might wonder if we are much better off in our Western culture. In a 2008 study published in the journal Adolescence, approximately 25 percent of college students reported that they had recently engaged in binge drinking.³ The figures have surely gotten worse since this publication.

We can suppose that these ladies were also spendthrifts, dressing themselves in the finest clothes, all at the expense of the poor and needy. Bell gives us a modern picture of similar abuse:

Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos (Philippines, 1980s) used their power to amass private wealth, siphoning foreign aid, loans, and the profits of domestic companies into secret Swiss bank accounts (suspected $20 billion). Imelda Marcos liked shoes. She had a special section of the presidential palace, comprising five separate rooms, which housed over 1,220 pairs of shoes. Imelda also left behind 500 gowns and 300 bras…Imelda Marcos put the “enjoyment of her feet” above the “empty bellies of the children of the country” that looked to her for leadership.⁴

So, the leaders of Israel and their wives were awash with luxury, debauchery, hypocrisy, and numerous other degradations, but they were very devout in serving their golden calves. Henry David Thoreau said in his classic work Walden, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” ⁵

GOD’S SWIFT JUDGMENT

The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.”  Amos 4:2 

God’s patience had just about run out for the socialites of Samaria (the fat cows of Bashan). Their game would end quickly and the enemy would burst upon them. Their punishment would be almost too much to imagine. The Assyrians who would conquer them were probably the cruelest people of antiquity. They would put hooks through the noses and lips of these abusive women and lead them off into captivity (cf. 2 Chron. 33:11). Coffman, citing J. Kier Howard notes, “The Assyrian illustrations depict such scenes with captives being led with hooks through their noses or mouths, and Amos was no doubt familiar with this barbaric practice.” ⁶ The mention of fishhooks probably alludes to the thoroughness of their conquest.

How sad for the women and for the society!  John Edgar McFadden in his book A Cry For Justice, comments: “All of the Hebrew prophets knew that for the temper and quality of a civilization, the women are greatly responsible. A country is largely what its women make it; if they are cruel or careless or unwomanly, the country is on the road to ruin.” ⁷

“‘You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,’ declares the LORD” (4:3). The city walls that they trusted in will be smashed since the Assyrians were quite skilled in conquering walled cities. They will go out through the breaches in the wall and they will go toward Harmon. None of the commentators have ever identified this location.  Obviously, they were going out as captives of the Assyrians. Jewish scholar Charles Feinberg comments: “The thought of the prophet, however, is quite clear: exile will be the portion of the pleasure-loving, poor-opposing, unfeeling women of Samaria.” ⁸

They would endure all this because of their love of luxuries and pleasures. All around them were the poor and poverty-stricken, but they never noticed those whom their own actions made destitute.  Wiersbe says: “What the Western world considers necessities and luxuries to the citizens of other nations: things like thermostat-controlled heat and air conditioning, refrigerators, automobiles, adequate medical care, telephones, and abundantly available electricity and fuel… Luxury doesn’t mean owning abundant possessions so much as allowing possessions to own us.” ⁹

SINNERS IN GOOD STANDING

Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Amos 4:4

Bethel was a famous Israelite shrine. Father Abraham had visited there and built an altar. There he called on the name of the Lord (Gen. 12:8; 13:3-4). Later Jacob visited Bethel and had a vision of heaven. He declared that Bethel was the house of God (Gen. 28:17). Even the Ark of the Covenant was there for a time (Judg. 20 26-27). Unfortunately, this holy site was profaned, since King Jeroboam I placed a calf idol there. From that point, the religious practices were mixed. A holy shrine thus became a religious meeting place.

Religion was held in high regard by Israel and it continues to be held in high regard by the world’s masses. Boice comments: “They suppose, on the assumption that God thinks as they do, that God is basically pleased with all religious practices…On the contrary, not only is God not pleased with our religious practices, he is actually very much displeased. Even more, he hates, he despises religion.” ¹⁰ Boice continues: “I would go so far as to say that nearly every important biblical truth is the direct opposite of what the human mind thinks naturally.” ¹¹

Bethel was a mixture. The people were careful to follow the precepts of the law but their hearts were full of false religion. “They had perverted the places of most sacred memories to the nation…They were adhering to the letter, while transgressing it by their calf-worship.” ¹² They were doing the same things at the shrine of Gilgal. We remember that Gilgal was the place Israel first set up camp when they crossed the Jordan into Canaan. It was there that the people were sanctified from Egypt (Josh. Ch. 5). The young men who were lacking it were circumcised there. They were all reconsecrated there to the Lord. Now the people were taking their false religion to Gilgal and defiling that holy site as well.

The people probably boasted of their great revival meetings at Bethel and at Gilgal. However, Wiersbe says, “The people in Amos’s day didn’t return home determined to help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the widows and orphans.” ¹³ In fact, “the more frequently the Israelites visited their shrines, the farther they were from God.” ¹⁴  That all might sound familiar to our day.

According to Barna surveys, it is revealed that the weekly worship services are the only time that church people worship God. Yet, eight out of ten believers do not feel they are regularly worshipping God in these weekly services. Half of the believers feel that they have not entered the presence of God in genuine worship during the past year. ¹⁵

“‘Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings – boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,’ declares the Sovereign LORD” (4:5). While leavened bread was not to be burned accompanying a sacrifice (Exo. 23:18), it could be burned as a new grain offering (Lev. 23:17). The leaven of pride could not accompany any offering to the Lord, and the Israelites were boastful of their offerings. Commentator Ray Stedman tells of once hearing a man who stood up in a meeting saying, “I want to give $100 anonymously.” ¹⁶ He was no doubt sounding like the proud Samaritans and their offerings.

All this was far removed from the poor widow woman who dropped two tiny coins in the offering container at the temple. No one but Jesus saw or cared about her small offering. He was delighted because the two small coins were everything she had to live on (Mk. 12:41-44).

THE HIGH COST OF HALF-HEARTEDNESS

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. Amos 4:6

The Hebrew reads here, “I have given you cleanness of teeth,” as seen in other translations (ASV. NAS, NKJ, NRS, & RSV). This is an interesting way of saying that they lacked food and were in a famine. They would have no trouble keeping their teeth clean. It may be that this famine is alluded to in 2 Kings 8:1, or more likely in Joel 1:1-20.

The author proceeds with a listing of plagues visited upon the people. After each plague we have the sad words, “Yet you have not returned to me” (4:6, 8, 9, 10, 11). The five plagues may correspond to five as the number of the covenant.¹⁷

“‘I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.

People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD” (4:7-8). Without our modern-day irrigation systems, the people of Bible times were totally dependent upon the rains. With the resulting drought, the people starved for water and the crops dried up. In verse 7 we see that the rains were even withheld during the critical three-month period before the harvest. Pett says, “Rain withheld before the barley and wheat harvests (when there were yet three months to harvest) could have a dreadful effect on the harvest.” ¹⁸  In spite of this, the people did not return to God.

Long before God had promised: “The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed” (Deut. 28:24).

“‘Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD” (4:9).  Here we see plant disease and insect infestation to the gardens and vineyards. We all need to remember that this is God’s world. He made it by his word (Jn. 1:1-3) and he sustains it by his word (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). When we ignore or violate his word, the world will no longer cooperate with us and with our efforts. God had long ago promised, “The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish” (Deut. 28:22). In spite of all God’s dealing the people did not return to him.

“‘I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD” (4:10). This clearly speaks of defeat in battle and the stench of the dead. “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth” (Deut. 28:25). Yet, despite all their military defeat, the people did not return to him.

“‘I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD” (4:11). The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:1-25) was one of the greatest disasters in the history of the world. Heaven rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and the other cities and all the people of these wicked cities were destroyed. However, The Lord spared Lot and his daughters from the inferno.

Some of the Samaritans had obviously been destroyed in a similar disaster. Yet, God rescued others at the last minute, like a burning stick pulled from the fire (cf. Zec. 3;2). A stick recovered from the fire is of much use to anyone, yet, it illustrates the continuing mercy of God. The eventual restoration of the ten northern tribes will also be a picture of a stick rescued from the fire (Isa. 27:13).

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God” (4:12). Phillips says, “This is one of the monumental statements of scripture, one of the sayings that looms like a grand peak above a plain.” ¹⁹ It is a statement for every evil society and every evil person on earth today.

The judgment of the ten tribes is worse than other judgments. Jamieson and company say, “God is about to inflict the last and worst judgment on thee, the extinction of thy nationality.” ²⁰ The ten tribes of Israel have now been without a country and disbursed among the Gentiles for 2,700 years.

“He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth – the LORD God Almighty is his name” (4:13). What can we possibly add to this final seal of God’s decree?

 

CHAPTER 5 

 

Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you: Amos 5:1 

Many commentators see this chapter as a lament or funeral dirge regarding Israel. They deal with her fall as something that has already happened. The NET version of the Bible has this verse reading: “Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, family of Israel:” (Amos 5:1).

Wiersbe says: “Israel’s enthusiastic concerts would become funerals (5:23; 8:3, 10).” ¹  Erling Hammershaimb, in his Book of Amos comments: “We can picture him appearing during the feast at Bethel and suddenly tearing the participants away from their revelry by starting the mournful tones of the lament, so that when they listen to him they are seized with terror and perhaps also with indignation when they hear that it is the death of Israel that he is lamenting.” ²

“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up” (5:2). Trapp says of her, “Though the spouse of God, she had become the devil’s adulteress.”  ³  She was no longer the pure virgin reserved for God since she had adulterated herself with many other gods and lovers. She has rejected the only one who could lift her up.

The statement that she will never rise again is speaking of the northern kingdom of the ten separated tribes. That nation is finished forever. However, the prophets tell us that the ten tribes will be rescued in the end days. Several passages speak of their continued existence (Matt. 19:28; Lk. 22:30; Acts 26:7). The prophets speak of the reunion and glory of the tribes (Jer. 3:18; 23:5-6; Ezek. 37:19-28).⁴

Over the last half-century, many people who claim to be from the scattered 10 tribes have returned to Israel. Approximately 160,000 Ethiopian Jews now live in Israel.⁵ While working with immigrants in 1991, I witnessed one weekend when around 15,000 Ethiopian Jews were brought home in a secret massive Israeli airlift.  Also, Israel has about 80,000 Jews from India, with tribal names like Bene Efraim and the Bene Menashe. At our distribution center for new immigrants, we met some who came from the Caspian Sea area and felt they were from the deported 10 tribes.

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Israel: ‘Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left’” (5:3). “The verse describes a terrible slaughter in war, a 90 percent decimation of the army.” ⁶ This certainly reminds us of the promises God made in Deuteronomy for those who disobeyed his commands: “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth” (Deut. 28:25).

GOD’S INSTRUCTION

 

This is what the LORD says to Israel: ‘Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” Amos 5:4-5 

We have already spoken of Bethel and Gilgal and the mixture of pagan and Jewish worship at these sites. Hosea the prophet says: “The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile” (Hos. 10:5)

There is a play on words in this section of Hosea. Jamieson and company say, “… ‘Gilgal (the place of rolling) shall rolling be rolled away.’  Beth-el shall come to naught—Beth-el (that is, the ‘house of God’), called because of its vain idols Beth-aven (that is, ‘the house of vanity,’ or ‘naught,’ Hosea 4:15; Hosea 10:5; Hosea 10:8), shall indeed ‘come to naught.’” ⁷

Bethel was reduced to nothing. In modern times the site was occupied by a small Muslim village. After 1977 a few Jewish people returned to live at the site. Both Bethel and Gilgal are mostly archaeological and historical sites speaking of the past glory of Israel. In the case of these sites, we are reminded of Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…” Of course, the reverse is true, and the city or nation that turns away from the Lord is cursed.

It is interesting that Beersheva also became a cultic site for the ten tribes. Of course, Beersheva had a long biblical history dating back to Father Abraham. This seems to be a very long trip for northerners to journey to the far south in their worship. The devil was interested in polluting all of Israel’s most holy historical sites.

“Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground” (5:6-7). The Bible assures us that our God is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24; Isa. 10:17; and Heb. 12:29). He would sweep through Israel like a brush fire in a driving wind. In recent times we saw such a fire in action. In Los Angeles, winds up to 100 miles an hour drove a fiery blast that destroyed 18,000 structures and killed 85 people.

God was fed up with people who turned justice into bitterness. The Hebrew reads la-a-nah and that is the word for wormwood. Motyer says, “Justice had become a sour joke” ⁸ Wormwood was a small plant that was typically bitter and sour (cf.  Je. 9:15; Lam. 3:15; Rev. 8:11).

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land – the LORD is his name. Amos 5:8

The people of Israel were messing around with a Mighty God. Their God made the heavens and the earth. Two of his constellations are mentioned here. Pleiades is located in the Taurus constellation which contains over 1,000 stars. Motyer mentions: “The Pleiades in its rising and setting marked the beginning and ending of the season of navigation, and was also used by nomads for calendar purposes.” ⁹  Orion (called the hunter) is a very prominent collection of stars that can be seen in the winter skies.

Ancient peoples had unhindered access to their view of the heavens. They were quite familiar with many stars and constellations since they witnessed them every night. Many of these stars and constellations had special mythological meaning to them. Today, because of the bright lights of our cities and towns most people scarcely see the stars. What a loss this is to us since the heavens tell us of the glory of God (Psa. 19:1).

God’s greatness is not only seen in the heavens but it is seen everywhere in the earth. Amos reminds Israel of the vastness of God’s seas and oceans. The people of Israel had close contact with the Mediterranean Sea and could witness God’s greatness often. C. F. Keil comments: “The words suggest the thought of terrible inundations of the earth by the swelling sea, and the allusion to the judgment of the flood can hardly be overlooked.” ¹⁰

“With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin” (5:9). The people of Israel had a need to remember the destruction of wicked Sodom and Gomorrah long before. God rained down fire and brimstone on them for their evil (Gen. 19:24).

ANOTHER LOOK AT ISRAEL’S EVIL

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. Amos 5:10

Feinberg comments: “Of the many guilty ones in the kingdom, the unrighteous judges are singled out, for they have turned justice into wormwood (6:12), that which is bitterly wrong.” ¹¹ In some ways our society today may not be so far removed from that of Samaria. Wiersbe says, “For many years, American legal experts have called for an overhaul of the legal system…So many cases are pending and too many trials proceed at a snail’s pace, with seemingly interminable appeals and delays, that very little justice results.” ¹²

“You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.” (5:11) The idea of a straw tax is repulsive. Many people were so poor that straw was their bed. In later times the famous Jewish Rabbi Akiva and his wife shared a single outer garment between them. When one went out the other had to stay home.  At night they had to bury themselves in straw to keep warm.¹³ In our affluent age we really do not realize how poor some people were back then. For such crimes, these criminals would not be able to live in their mansions or drink from their vineyards.

“For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts” (5:12). Coffman says, “The courts of law are always the last vestiges of justice in a decadent society; and when that is gone, there is nothing else left to go.…” ¹⁴ The Bible itself mentions that a bribe works: “A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath” (Prov. 21:14). However, the Bible also declares in many places that a bribe is wrong and is a sin (Exo. 23:8; Job 36:18).

“Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil” (5:13). Clarke comments: “A wise man will consider that it is useless to complain. He can have no justice without bribes, and he has no money to give: consequently, in such an evil time, it is best to keep silence.” ¹⁵  Pett adds: “They knew that things had come to such a state that their words could only bring trouble on themselves and would do no good.” ¹⁶

“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is” (5:14). We cannot seek evil and love the Lord at the same time. This verse has a note of ridicule. The people were sure God was with them but they were not with God.

“Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph” (5:15).  Here the prophet speaks of the remnant of Joseph. This is a very important doctrine in scripture and is mentioned around 50 times. The truth is that God always works with a holy remnant of his people. The prophet Isaiah says: “A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return…” (Isa. 10:21-22). We even see this doctrine in the New Testament. Paul says, “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (Rom. 11:5). If only a remnant of Israel is to be saved we can expect that only a remnant of the church will be saved as well. Jesus once said: “For many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14).

“Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD God Almighty, says: ‘There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,’ says the LORD” (5:16-17). Here the prophet gives us a grim picture of the judgment that was determined for Israel. In Hebrew, several words are used for mourning and wailing. People in that culture wept and cried out loud so it was not quiet grieving. Even the farmers will be called in to assist in the mourning. “Since the people’s grief will be so great that there won’t be sufficient professional mourners available to express it, they’ll call the farmers and workers in the vineyards to help them.” ¹⁷ 

THE DAY OF THE LORD 

Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. Amos 5:18

The Day of the Lord is surely one of the most alarming and even frightening subjects in all of scripture. The topic brings abject terror and horror to the wicked and lost, while it brings a great deal of hope and comfort to the saved, or those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus. It speaks of his return to earth at last and of our salvation becoming complete in him. Almost all of the prophets spoke of this day and it is very prominent in the New Testament as well.

The Day of the Lord will bring a tragic end to this present evil age in which we now live. It will quickly remove the wicked from this earth. It will end the rule of the Antichrist and the work of the false prophet by casting them both into hell. It will lock Satan up and end all his work throughout the coming Millennial Age of one thousand years. It will initiate the longed-for and prayed-for Kingdom of God on this earth.

In verse 18 above we are told that many in Israel were hoping for the Day of the Lord. They probably thought that the Day would get them out of all their troubles. These folks did not realize that the Day of the Lord would bring disaster to them because of their evil and hypocritical lives.

Prophetic fulfillment is often a strange and puzzling thing.  The word of God can be partially fulfilled on more than one occasion leading up to the final fulfillment.  Sometimes we see prophecy related to the partial and final fulfillments woven tightly together as in Matthew 24. In this chapter, it is almost impossible to separate events relating to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, with events concerning the end of the age.  Both are in fact “Days of the Lord.” ¹⁸  Thus, we can see that the Day of the Lord was coming in Amos’s day and also in Jesus’ day.  It was partially fulfilled at least three major times, in the defeat and captivity of the northern tribes of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC, of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, and by the Romans in AD 70. The Day of the Lord is still coming.

“It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him” (5:19). In this alarming picture. “There will be no escape, no place to hide, no refuge from the foe.” ¹⁹ As Paul Butler comments, “The truth of the matter was, the Day of the Lord would be a day of deliverance, but only for the true Israel, those who were Jews inwardly and not Jews only outwardly; for the Day of the Lord of which Amos speaks is typical and prophetic of the climactic Day of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah.” ²⁰

“Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light – pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?” (5:20). The Day of the Lord is often described as a day of darkness, when the light of the sun, moon, and stars will no longer be seen. Boice describes it as inescapable…darkness…isolation…utter hopelessness.²¹ 

GOD’S VIEW OF THEIR RELIGION 

I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Amos 5:21

It really does not matter how much we offer to God or how much we pray and sing. If our hearts and lives are not right with the Lord it is all in vain. Our worship can even be a stench in the nostrils of God. I often wonder how God feels about some of our worship services and our worship songs today. Are they sometimes a stench in God’s nostrils?

Matt Walsh says, “Self-worship has become the predominant religion in our culture.” ²² George Barna & David Kinnaman in their book Churchless write: “Two decades ago a ‘regular church-goer’ was a person who attended at least three weekends per month and often several times per week. But today a regular churchgoer shows up for worship once every four to six weeks.” ²³

“David Wells analyzed hundreds of modern hymns and praise songs in relation to classic hymns.  He concluded that recent worship lyrics express a ‘postmodernist spirituality’ that emphasizes the individual over the church, felt needs over God’s requirements and power over truth.” ²⁴

“Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. (5:22). Coffman comments: “Conspicuous by their absence were the sin-offerings, the Israelites being conscious of no sin whatever and feeling no need of forgiveness.” ²⁵ Of course, the sin offering was the costliest of all the sacrifices.²⁶

“Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (5:23-24). Are our worship songs sometimes just noise? Some of them do sound a little noisy. God is looking and listening for heartfelt worship and religion.

Verse 24 is probably one of the high points in God’s requirements. God wants to see justice and righteousness roll down like a mighty river. It is of note how interested God is in justice and in having fair courts of justice.

“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?” (5:25). This verse has provoked a lot of commentary over whether or not the Israelites brought sacrifices while in the wilderness those 40 years.  Feinberg calls verses 25 and 26 some of the most difficult verses in the Book of Amos.²⁷  

Phillips says, “God did not say that they did not offer sacrifices; he said that they did not offer them to him. The words ‘unto me’ in Amos 5:25 are emphatic.” ²⁸ For certain, there were a number of times when the people offered sacrifices (Exo. 24:5; Lev. 8:1; Num. 7:10-89). In Numbers 7 all the leaders of the tribes offered sacrifices when the altar was anointed. No doubt, sacrifices were somewhat restricted due to the harsh desert conditions.

It seems quite clear that the people in the wilderness were offering to pagan gods at times. Meyer comments: “The martyr Stephen quoted Amos 5:25-27, which accuse the people of carrying about little shrines and pocket-idols, to serve as amulets averting disaster, Acts 7:43.” ²⁹ Of course, we cannot forget the golden calf that Israel worshipped. Israel cannot forget it either and today they will not dare to make a shofar out of a cow’s horn.

“You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god – which you made for yourselves” (5:26). Pfeiffer & Harrison say, “It is impossible at the present time to identify Sukkuth. Kaiwan was a Babylonian god sometimes identified with Saturn.” ³⁰ We can see from all this that Israel worshipped God in a half-hearted way while they lived in the wilderness.

“‘Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,’ says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.” (5:27). The worship of the golden calf in the wilderness was continued by the northern tribes. It was guaranteed when their first king Jeroboam I discouraged their worship at the Jerusalem temple by setting up two golden calves, one at Bethel and the other at Dan.

 

CHAPTER 6

 

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!  Amos 6:1 

Most other popular translations speak of those who “are at ease in Zion.” We notice here that Judah is included in this prophecy. Coffman says, “To be sure, Amos was sent particularly to the Northern Kingdom; but Judah is always in the back of his mind.” ¹ Both Jerusalem and Samaria were situated on mountains easily defended from the enemy. It would take the Assyrians three years to conquer Samaria. Virtually all the cities of Judah except Jerusalem fell to the Assyrian assault.

Their high position and fortifications caused the people to feel secure. In Samaria particularly, it was a time of peace and prosperity. It was also a time of military success. Phillips says, “During Jeroboam’s reign Israel had no enemy west of the Euphrates and even ruled Damascus.” ² They were feeling secure and at ease but disaster was on the way. Boice compares their situation to that of the US at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The US Army and Navy were secure but suddenly their security proved fatal.³

We cannot help but compare the situation in Samaria to that of the modern church. The church for the most part is at ease in Zion. The church has spread all over the world and now it is taking it easy. In many cases, it is quite wealthy and secure.  In a sense, we are lying around on our flowery beds of ease. Wiersbe comments: “Too many Christians are laughing when they should be weeping (Jam. 4:8-10) and tolerating sin when they should be opposing it (1 Cor. 5:2).” ⁴  We might wonder what Amos would say to us all today.

Interestingly, the prophet speaks of Samaria as the “foremost nation.”  Perhaps he is speaking of the spiritual calling that elevated them above other nations. The nation ended up being the first for sure, but the first to go into exile.⁵

“Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?” (6:2). The prophet reminds them of three great and leading cities that were now conquered and fallen. He asks Samaria and Judah if they are exempt from the forces that conquered these great cities.

Kalneh (Calneh or Calno) was built by Nimrod (Gen. 10:10). It was an ancient and great city but was conquered by Assyria (794 BC). Hamath on the Orontes River was a major city in Syria. It was first conquered by Jeroboam II (2 Ki. 14:25) and then by Assyria (2 Ki. 18:34). Gath, one of the five great cities of the Philistines was conquered by Damascus around 830 BC. Boice remarks: “Why should I preserve you for the sake of your supposed goodness, when so many who were better than you are in hell?” ⁶

CARELESS LUXURY

You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves” Amos 6:3-4. 

Wiersbe speaks of the discovery of the “Samaritan Ivories,” or fragments of beautiful and expensive ivory carvings that once adorned the lounges and couches of the wealthy Samaritans.⁷ They dined on the very best animals while the poor were near starvation from all the abuses of the rich.  Jamieson and company remark, “beds of ivory—that is, adorned, or inlaid, with ivory …lambs out of the flock—picked out as the choicest, for their owners’ selfish gratification.” ⁸ They were probably thinking thoughts like those we see in Ezekiel, “Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future’” (Ezek. 12:27).

Dr. Vance Havner told of having dinner in a dining room that was dimly lighted. At first, he could not read the menu, but then he found he could see fairly well. He said to his friends, “Isn’t it strange how easy it is to become accustomed to the dark?” That’s one of the problems in the church today; we’ve gotten accustomed to the darkness, and our lights aren’t shining brightly enough.⁹

Phillips says: “The rugged prophet, used to a harsher life, was contemptuous of the luxury of the idle rich who put aside as unthinkable his warnings of judgment.” ¹⁰ Amos was probably quite disgusted with the pampered lifestyle he was observing. No doubt, he probably longed to be back in the wilderness again herding his little flock.

“You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments” (6:5). The Hebrew of this verse is a little difficult. Rather than “improvise” many of the modern versions translate this as “invent” musical instruments like David (ASV, ESV, NET,     NKJ, RSV). Pfeiffer & Harrison comment: “At the end of the LXX [Septuagint] rendering of the Psalter, David is quoted as saying, ‘My hands fashioned an instrument, and my fingers fitted together a psaltery…’” ¹¹ The truth is, he probably invented compositions as well as musical instruments.

“You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph” (6:6). Feinberg comments: “The regular cups were insufficient for their insatiable appetites, so they drank wine from bowls. It is the same word as for the bowls used for sacrificial purposes to catch the blood and then sprinkle it (Num. 7:13).” ¹² We can assume by this that these were very costly bowls made out of precious materials. While they used the finest and most expensive lotions the poor probably had to settle for just plain old olive oil.

PRIDE BEFORE DESTRUCTION

Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end. The Sovereign LORD has sworn by himself – the LORD God Almighty declares: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.” Amos 6:7-8

How true the words of the Lord! Israel went into exile in 722 BC and Judah went in 586 BC. The lounging ended abruptly. The Assyrians were like the Isis and Hamas of ancient times. They were exceedingly cruel. Their captives were horribly abused with hooks placed into their noses and lips as they were led along into captivity. Phillips describes their lot: “But drastic changes lay ahead for them: war, siege, and famine the terror of a city sacked by bloodthirsty and licentious troops; the chafing of iron chains, the crack of the slave driver’s whip; the agony of marching mile after endless mile, tormented by thirst, flies, and fatigue; the gnawing heartache over lost loves ones, many of whom were brutally butchered or tortured to death.” ¹³ The Bible says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).

“If ten people are left in one house, they too will die” (6:9). Commentators feel that this is a picture of the awful plague that many times was the result of war. Feinberg says, “In the next two verses we are given a vivid picture of the plague such as usually followed war in the East, as elsewhere even to modern times.” ¹⁴ War and plague fell equally upon the houses of the poor and the rich.

“And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, ‘Is anyone else with you?’ and he says, ‘No,’ then he will go on to say, ‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the LORD’” (6:10). Feinberg says further: “In ancient Israel, in accordance with the words of Genesis 3:19, burial was the accepted method of disposal of the dead…Hence cremation was considered wrong and not countenanced (see Amos 2:1).” ¹⁵ We observe here that in case of war and plague bodies sometimes had to be burned. In 1 Samuel 31:12, the valiant men of Jabesh-Gilead took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the walls at Beth Shan and burned them. They did this lest the Philistines make a mockery of them.

It was the duty of the next of kin to take care of the body. Here we see a commanded quietness among those serving. Phillips has an idea about this: “Perhaps the relative was cursing and taking God’s name in vain because of the extent of the calamity – men often blaspheme God in such circumstances – for the survivor whispered, ‘Hush.’” ¹⁶

“For the LORD has given the command, and he will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits” (6:11). How true is the word of the Lord. On Samaria’s hill today all that is seen are pieces and bits of their once-powerful civilization. 

PREPOSTEROUS ERRORS 

Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness – “ Amos 6:12

Horses cannot run on rocks without doing physical damage to themselves. It is also not possible to plow the sea since the water would rush in to cover any furrow one would make. Such acts would be preposterous. Pfeiffer & Harrison point out: “There is a spiritual and moral order in the universe that is just as impossible to ignore as the natural order.” ¹⁷ Turning justice into poison and righteousness into bitterness is also preposterous and unworkable in the long run. Such acts were certain to bring the destruction of the nation.

Over the last half-century, we have watched our society believe and champion many preposterous ideas. In 2015, our highest court in the US established gay or same-sex marriage.

By all its appearances in the media, we would assume that at least half of Americans are homosexual.  Paul Copan, in his book, When God Goes To Starbucks, tells us that the true rate is only 2 to 3 percent.¹⁸

Another preposterous idea in our society is that a person can change their gender. In her influential book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler argues that “gender is not a fixed attribute but a fluid, free-floating variable that shifts according to personal preference.” ¹⁹ Supposedly, there are now some 50 different genders that one can choose from.²⁰

Certainly, we would not like to skip over the terrible subject of abortion. Matt Walsh in his book The Unholy Trinity says, “Like the primitive pagan cultures that preceded it, liberal culture looks upon the sacred rite of child sacrifice with deep reverence.” ²¹ In the US, abortions are running a monthly average of 98,000. According to the World Health Organization, the world average is about double this figure per single day. In addition to the tragic loss of young lives, abortion has a devastating effect on the living. “A woman who gets an abortion is six hundred times more likely to kill herself than a woman who gives birth.” ²²  Those who abort without serious health reasons are murdering their offspring.  They are also killing their chance of having loving children and grandchildren.  They are killing the one who will bring them joy and care for them lovingly in their old age. They are chopping down their family tree.

Well, the above-mentioned items are just a few preposterous things in our society today. In these and many more areas we have departed from common sense, from reality, and from truth.

“You who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’” (6:13). Israel’s ruler Jeroboam II did much to restore the borders of Israel and was quite successful in other military campaigns. Unfortunately, this verse points out that he took all the credit for his victories. He conquered Lo Debar which means “nothing” in Hebrew. He also conquered Karnaim, once a dwelling of giants (Gen. 14:5).      Jeroboam could boast because he never came into contact with the powerful Assyrians. Had he done so, his boasting would have ended abruptly.

“For the LORD God Almighty declares, ‘I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah” (6:14). Inscriptions in the old palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad read: “I besieged and captured Samaria, carrying off 27,290 of the people who dwelt therein. Fifty chariots I gathered from among them…” ²³

Assyria would enter the area through Hamath, the city once conquered by Israel, and a subject of her boasting. That city would mark the beginning of her end.²⁴

Paul T. Butler has commented: “The message of Amos is still quite relevant and contemporary. Our society is almost a sister to that one in its ingratitude, irresponsibility, arrogance, and sensuality. Amos was not able to call men back to God in his day, but he was willing to lay down his life if necessary to give God’s call to repentance. Can prophets of today succeed where Amos did not? Time alone will tell.” ²⁵

 

CHAPTER 7

 

This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. Amos 7:1 

Here Amos begins to list five visions that have to do with the judgment of Israel. Three of these are in this chapter and the other two are in chapters eight and nine. The first two are so terrible that either one could bring an end to the nation.

The first vision is that of an awful locust swarm stripping the country bare. This event would happen just after the king’s share of the mown grass was offered up and just as the main crop was coming along. This main crop was the last chance for the farmers to get hay for their animals. Suddenly the locusts swarmed and began to devour it. Pett comments, “This swarm of locusts was of supernatural magnitude like nothing ever known before.” ¹

“When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, ‘Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’” (7:2). At this point Amos became an intercessor for Israel. He joined the ranks of godly intercessors over the centuries like Abraham (Gen. 18), Moses (Exo. 32), Samuel (1 Sam. 23), Elijah (1 Ki. 18), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 9).

With this earnest intercession of the prophet, the Sovereign Lord repented. We must not think by this that God is fickle or wishy-washy (Mal. 3:6). Feinberg comments: “When sin is present God must condemn and punish it; when prayer and the grace of God operate to provide a way of escape, then God spares. In each case, he is working in the strictest conformity with his own holiness.” ²  God’s plan is holy and eternal but at times he will take a different path toward that plan because of human intercession.

“So the LORD relented. ‘This will not happen,’ the LORD said” (7:3) Pfeiffer & Harrison claim, “This is an anthropopathic expression (cf. 7:6; Gen. 6:7; 1 Sam. 15:35; Jon 3:9). God did not change his mind, as men do, but changed his course of action…” ³

“This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land” (7:4). Commentators feel that this great fire is a reference to a serious drought. Pfeiffer & Harrison say, “The summer heat was so severe that it consumed the subterranean sources of the springs and rivers and so affected the land.” ⁴  In recent years we have witnessed a national drought of this kind in the country of Somalia. Humanitarian assistance is needed for almost 7 million people in that country.

The prophet sensed that little Israel could not survive such a dreadful drought so he prayed once more. “Then I cried out, ‘Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’ So the LORD relented. ‘This will not happen either, the Sovereign LORD said.’” (7:5-6). What a quick answer to the prophet’s intercession.

In Genesis chapter 18, God shared with Abraham that he was about to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham began to plead with God that he might spare the cities if fifty righteous people could be found. God agreed. Then Abraham continued his bargaining with God all the way down to 10 righteous. God agreed again, but apparently, the 10 could not be found. As a result, the cities were destroyed and only Lot and his two daughters were spared. It seems that God wants to take righteous men like Abraham and Amos into his confidence and let them help work out his plans.

THE PLUMB LINE 

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” Amos 7:7-8 

It is interesting that Amos did not bargain with God concerning this judgment. Boice comments here: “He did not protest this vision as he had the first two. What objection could he have to God’s testing of his people?” ⁵ The plumb line likely represented the word of God, ⁶ and Amos could not object to God’s testing by his word.

A plumb line helps builders make a structure stand straight. I remember one builder saying that if a foundation was off half an inch, the building would be off two inches on the second story. A plumb line is used in building and it is also used in destruction. Motyer says, “Neither Amos nor his God can bear to contemplate the full end of the chosen people.” ⁷

“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam” (7:9). King Jeroboam II was quite successful in worldly things. He built up the kingdom, conquered the enemies and gave Israel much wealth and success. However, he never departed from the sins of Jeroboam I, who set up the golden calves for Israel to worship (2 Ki. 14:24). There is a sad refrain in the books of Kings that is repeated over and over. It speaks of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin (1 Ki. 22:52; 2 Ki. 3:3; 10:29; 13:2, 11, 14:24; 15:9, 18, 24, 28, 17:21, and 23:15).

No doubt, the golden calves were originally designed to represent the true God, but it did not take long until they were worshipped as pagan idols with all the filth and corruption that was attached to such worship. Along with idols Israel had a corrupt priesthood as well. Jeroboam I was intent on keeping his people from worshipping at the Jerusalem temple, lest they turn back in their allegiance to the house of David.

God says that the high places will be destroyed and the sanctuaries will be ruined. Many times I have gone with tour groups to the high place at Dan, which is located in Israel’s beautiful Dan Nature Reserve, and near the Lebanon border. The ruins of the ancient altar, which was destroyed according to God’s word, have been excavated and stand as a reminder of what false worship will do to a nation. Truly, God raised his sword against Jeroboam’s house, “his fierce, great and powerful sword” (cf. Isa. 27:1). 

AMOS FACES AMAZIAH

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.” Amos 7:10 

Amaziah the priest and keeper of the calves, had all he could take from the upstart prophet Amos. Phillips says, “Amos was challenging the powerful and well-entrenched calf cult and bearding the old lion in its den at Bethel.” ⁸  Amaziah was charging the prophet with high treason. This was a common scenario in both kingdoms as men anointed by God challenged the ruling religious and political establishments. Finally, the same scenario would happen at last to Jesus as he challenged the establishment in Jerusalem. So often, God’s messenger would be killed.

“For this is what Amos is saying: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land’” (7:11). Amaziah had to fib a little in hopes of getting the king’s attention. Amos did not say that Jeroboam would die by the sword, but “…that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword which was fulfilled in the assassination of his son Zechariah by Shallum (2 Ki. 15:8-10).” ⁹

Israel’s main sanctuary was located at Bethel. It was the royal sanctuary where the king himself worshipped. We can understand what a risk Amos was taking in speaking against the whole religious and political establishment. Feinberg comments: “Political expediency in every age dishonors and opposes the testimony of the truth. Note Elijah (1 Ki. 18:17); Jeremiah (Jer. 37:13-15); our Lord Jesus (Jn. 19:12); the disciples (Jn. 11:48-50) and Paul (Ac 17:6-7).” ¹⁰

“Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom’” (7:12-13). We can assume by this that King Jeroboam was not too interested in the farm boy prophet. Here we see Amaziah dealing with the problem all by himself.

Amaziah spoke contemptuously to the prophet. He insinuated that Amos was a hireling prophet who ministered only for his bread, or his salary. As Phillips says: “In other words, ‘Go on home to Judah, and play the prophet there.’” ¹¹ Wiersbe says, “It’s no wonder that some of the prophets wanted to resign, including Moses and Jeremiah.” ¹²

“Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees’” (7:14). Once again Amos displays his prophetic credentials (cf. 1:1).  He freely admits that he was a simple farmer. He was not a member of the great prophetic schools (cf. 2 Ki. 2:3, 5; 6:1-7; 9:1-3), nor was he a son of the prophets. His background was that of a shepherd and in addition, to make a living he gathered sycamore figs, a fruit of little value that was only eaten by the poor. He was a nobody.

His situation reminds us of William Carey who began the modern mission movement. Phillips tells of an incident that occurred when a snobbish aristocrat spoke with Carey.

“I understand, Carey, he said, ‘that before you decided to become a missionary you were just a shoemaker.’  ‘No, sir,’ replied Carey, ‘I was not a shoemaker. I was only a cobbler. I did not make shoes; I mended them.’” ¹³ Carey was also a nobody but he had a fire in his bones that inspired the world mission movement. Paul tells us that God has chosen the weak things to shame the strong and the things that are not to nullify things that are (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

“But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (7:15). There is no substitute for a call and commission from the Almighty God. God can take the unqualified and qualify them. God is not interested in degrees or status. He will give his own status to those he calls. Woe unto those who stand against God’s anointed prophets!

Lowly Amos replied to the high and mighty Amaziah: “Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac’” (7:15-16). Wonderful are the pleasant prophecies of Isaiah and others. Terrible are the troubling prophecies of Obadiah and others like Amos, in his final words to Amaziah.

“Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land’” (7:17). Women living alone had little chance of success in the ancient world. Many times they resorted to prostitution to stay alive.  Clarke says, “His wife was to be a public prostitute; she was probably such already privately in the temple, as the wife of an idolatrous priest.” ¹⁴ “Holy” prostitution was taken for granted in almost all the ancient religions.

Amaziah’s sons and daughters would be slaughtered by the brutal Assyrian troops. Most likely the priest would have to witness this tragedy. His land holdings, which were probably many, would be divided up by the enemy. Israel would be carried away into captivity and Amaziah would experience this horror since he would die in a strange land.

 

CHAPTER 8

 

This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” Amos 8:1-2 

After his serious confrontation with Amaziah, we might expect Amos to hide out for a while like Elijah did after his confrontation with Jezebel. However, Amos continued right on undeterred with his prophecy. The next vision he saw was a basket of ripe fruit and it had significance for Israel.

A number of commentators have pointed out that verse 2 contains a play on words. Amos saw a basket of summer fruit. Boice says, “The Hebrew words for ‘summer fruit’ (qayits) and ‘end’ (qets). These sound alike. So when Amos replies to the Lord that he sees a basket of ripe qayits, God replies, ‘Qets’ An end is come upon Israel.” ¹

Meyer says, “What is more fragile than summer fruit! So beautiful, so refreshing, yet so readily corrupted and diseased…When the harvest has come, separation between good and bad is inevitable.” ² Amos may well be speaking of late summer or early fall fruit that is almost overripe. We think here of Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

     “‘In that day,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies – flung everywhere! Silence!’” (8:3). Jamieson and company say, “The joyous hymns…shall be changed into ‘howlings.’” ³  We quickly realize here that the punishment  God is bringing is no light thing. It will usher in an end to Israel’s national existence. People will be slaughtered by the enemy and bodies will be strung everywhere. There will be so many dead and decaying bodies that they cannot all be buried. They will have to be burned. Over the land will hover a great silence of national disaster.

REMEMBERING ISRAEL’S SIN

 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, Amos 8:4

Amos helps us to understand just how much God cares for the poor and the oppressed. We can know from this that God is angry with any people or nation where the poor are put down. The Bible says, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land” (Deut. 15:11).

The Bible also says, “…Happy are those who consider the poor; the LORD delivers them in the day of trouble” (Psa. 41:1 NRS). Israel had not considered the poor and could therefore not be happy or blessed. In fact, she was about to inherit an awful curse.

These greedy merchants were “saying, ‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’ –  skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,” (8:5). We can see by this that these folks were not even taking their false religion seriously. Along with their calf idols, they were apparently celebrating some biblical sabbaths and feasts. However, they were so greedy for gain that they could hardly stand to wait till the sabbath was over.  The New Moon was a time of Israel’s gathering together and making offerings to the Lord (Num. 10:10; 28:14). We see from this passage that it was also considered a sabbath.

These merchants were anxious to get back to their cheating by “skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales.”  The ASV Bible is closer to the Hebrew in saying that they were, “making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit” (Amos 8:5 ASV). The ephah was a dry measure equal to about a bushel (8-9 gallons or approximately 35 liters). They made their measuring baskets a little smaller than normal and their price was a little higher than normal. Church leader Chuck Smith quipped that they were operating without a national bureau of standards of weights and measures.⁴

They may have not had standards, but God certainly did. The Law of the Lord demanded that his people use accurate weights and measures (Lev. 19:35-36; Deut. 25:13-16). It seems incredible but the Holy God was watching each transaction and his heart was grieved with each poor person who was cheated out of food and supplies. It was such little things that brought the Samarian kingdom to ruin.

In addition, they were “buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat” (8:6). Dummelow points out that “Money was not coined, but was weighed on every business occasion (Genesis 23:16).” ⁵ Poor people were having a difficult time. In the previous verse, we saw that even the balances were deceitful. Perhaps the merchants were sliding their fingers on the scale. I can remember a merchant doing that when I was a child.

In the US there is still some cheating that goes on. All of us have probably bought a big box that ended up having a much smaller amount of content than we thought. However, in our country, the situation has reversed a lot. It is often the shopper who steals from the merchant. As early as 2010, U.S. retailers and small businesses were losing $33 billion a year due to theft.⁶  We are now having many instances of staged group thefts (like “flash mobs’) that overwhelm police departments. Also, there are many instances of “smash and grab” thefts where cars are crashed into store windows, loaded up with goods, and then escape with all their loot.

Regarding buying the poor for silver, commentators feel like this is an attempt to overload the poor with debt and then force them into slavery.⁷

GOD’S JUDGMENT IN THE EARTH

The LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.” Amos 8:7

Meyer says, “It is an awful sentence when God says, ‘I will never forget,’” ⁸ We may be amazed at how many “I will’s” we see in these verses. God will see and he will remember. He will also recompense what is deserved. In 2 Corinthians 5:10, we read: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Clearly, we are all included in this judgment.

“Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn? The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt” (8:8). We begin to see a picture here that we see many other places in scripture. It is the picture of the Day of the Lord, or that day when God will judge the world and humanity.  Motyer says, “Furthermore a truth much emphasized in the Old Testament is that the relationship between God and his people, for good or ill, is reflected in the natural order.” ⁹ What we do affects other people and it affects the creation as well. Sin is never done in secret.

There are movements seen and unseen all around us that are the effects of sin. Eventually, we see in Revelation that the whole earth will go into convulsions in the last days because of sin and its judgment (cf. Joel 2:2; Matt. 24:29-30). Amos compares this to the rise and fall of the Nile River. Each year the Nile goes up and down an amazing 25 feet or 7.6 meters.

Those convulsions began to come for the northern tribes. After Jeroboam, there were several military coups and much confusion. Soon the Assyrian forces began to close in upon Samaria.

“‘In that day,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight’” (8:9). The Day of the Lord will be a day of darkness for Samaria just as there will be darkness on the final Day of the Lord (cf. Isa. 13:9-10; Rev. 6:12; 8:12). Commentators speak of an eclipse on June 15^th, 763 BC that may have been a partial fulfillment of this vision.¹⁰ There was probably a lot more involved than a mere eclipse. It may have had some reference to the hours of darkness when Christ was later crucified.

“I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day” (8:10). It is clear from this verse that God will greatly humble proud Israel. Her great festivals will become times of mourning, weeping, and wearing sackcloth. Their heads will be shaved as a sign of mourning (cf. Isa. 15:2; Jer. 48:37; Ezek. 7:18). All this was a description of intense sorrow (Jer. 6:26; Zech. 12:10).¹¹

A FAMINE OF HEARING

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.” Amos 8:11-12

A famine was certainly on the way for the people of Samaria. The Ten Tribes would be carried away from their land to the Gentile country of Assyria. There the word of God would be scarce. However, the verses here seem to have a much broader meaning. People will go from the north to the east, from sea to sea, or from country to country seeking the word.

Today there is a famine for the word of the Lord in Judaism. There is much tradition but little word available. Phillips says, “The famine began with the rabbis; growing infatuation with tradition…for thousands of years they have tried to feed their souls on religious husks…” ¹²

There is even a famine of the word among Christians. Paul Strand says, “Today only 30 percent of Christians read the Bible and less than 10 percent have read it from cover-to-cover. And it shows.” ¹³

The famine extends to many young people. Paul Butler says of them, “Thousands and thousands of young people across our land, disillusioned and starved to death on the garbage of the contemporary ‘intellectualism,’ are ‘running to and fro’ seeking a voice of authority, a life which consists of more than ‘things.’” ¹⁴

“‘In that day’ the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. Those who swear by the sin of Samaria – who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’ – they will fall, never to rise again” (8:13-14). The young people were swearing by the ‘sin’ or ‘guilt’ of Samaria and Beersheba. It is amazing that the people of Samaria traveled all the way to Beersheba and thoroughly polluted that holy site. They had spread their sin from north to south, some 72 miles (115 km.). Much later in history, a very thirsty woman of Samaria met Jesus at the well. Her thirst was quenched and she introduced her whole city to the one who was the Word and the Water of Life.

Here the Bible says that Samaria or the Ten Tribes will fall and never rise again. Samaria or Israel of that day was soon finished and totally destroyed. It would never again be resurrected as a nation. However, as we have mentioned, the remnant of this disbursed people will return home to the land on the last day (cf. Isa. 11:15-16; 27:13; Jer. 3:18).

 

CHAPTER 9

 

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.” Amos 9:1 

The fifth and last vision of Amos is a blood curdler. God is standing by the altar commanding that it be stricken down upon the heads of the worshippers. God swears that the escapees will be killed with the sword. Amos is certainly focusing the wrath of God upon the king’s altar at Bethel. Some have felt that the Jerusalem altar is implied and perhaps it is to a small degree. However, this book is about the Northern Kingdom of Samaria and its religious abuses at the calf shrines of Dan and Bethel. We remember that God swore to do this to Bethel in 3:14.

We can be fairly sure that there was a building or structure that served as a temple. Pett points out that the Philistines had a pagan temple that Samson brought down upon their heads (Judg. 16:29-30).¹  It was very important to the Lord to end this idolatry. Motyer says, “The Lord himself was superintending the destruction of the shrine.” ²  He was determined that no one would get away. The Bible even mentions God’s anger with the Bethel altar some 200 years earlier in 1 Kings 13:1-9. The former prophet of God had predicted its destruction.³  Now at last it was about to happen.

“Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.  Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them” (9:2-3). It is impossible to run away from God or to hide from him. Motyer says, “Thus Amos compels mythology to serve the truth and to display the omnipresence and omnipotence of the only God.” ⁴  There is certainly no escape for the sinner from the face of the Almighty and Holy God.

R. Harper tells us that Mt. Carmel was noted for its limestone caves. He says that there are more than 2,000 of them. They are arranged in a serpentine fashion that makes the discovery of a fugitive almost impossible.⁵ Still, these Carmel caves can provide no escape from the eyes of an angry God.

“Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. ‘I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good” (9:4). How true are the curses of Deuteronomy 28:49-68. In all the history of Israel’s dispersion, the sword of persecution was never far from them.

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

The Lord, the LORD Almighty – he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt; he builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land – the LORD is his name.
Amos 9:5-6

The people of Israel never seemed to understand the greatness of their God.  A.W. Tozer said: “The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of him.” ⁶ The prophet seemed fixated on the rising and falling of the Nile River.     He spoke about it in the previous chapter (8:8). The God of Israel was Almighty. Jeremiah said of him: “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jer. 32:17). Israel traded the all-powerful God for weak and worthless idols made with their own hands.

ISRAEL’S FORFEITED ADVANTAGE

“Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?” Amos 9:7

We see here that the Israelites sacrificed their national distinctions when they succumbed to pagan idol worship. Phillips says, “They were as far from God as the pagan Ethiopians were. In God’s sight they were ‘children of the Ethiopians (Cushites), the descendants of Ham, not Abraham.’” ⁷  Israel was not the only people that God moved across the world. God moved the Philistines from Caphtor (probably Crete) and the Arameans from Kir (A city of the Medes). God is the Lord of the whole earth. He can do anything he pleases to any people anywhere.

“‘Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,’ declares the LORD” (9:8). The Kingdom of Samaria was doomed. It would never appear again in the history of the world. However, the Merciful God was not willing to destroy all the people. He would leave a remnant, and that remnant would return to the land to join with Judah at the end of the age.

“For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us’” (9:9-10).

Perhaps Jamieson and company explain this picture best. They say, “While the chaff and dust (the wicked) fall through (perish), all the solid grains (the godly elect) remain (are preserved).” ⁸ Phillips remarks about their situation: “The Hebrew people are literally found among all nations. And perilous is their lot. Antisemitism is endemic in all Gentile societies and from time to time becomes epidemic…not one grain of true wheat will perish.” ⁹ Since the recent Gaza War antisemitism has now increased above 1000 percent in some nations.

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

“In that day I will restore David’s fallen shelter – I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins – and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things. Amos 9:11-12

The idea of a Golden Age or Utopia has always been in the minds of many people. Some who popularized the idea were the Roman poet Virgil, Thomas More, Samuel Butler, Edward Bellamy, Henry David Thoreau, Robert Owen and Leo Tolstoy.¹⁰ It is truly interesting that the Bible speaks of a Golden Age and it is called the Millennium. In this blessed era, the fallen shelter or tabernacle of King David will be restored, since the returning Christ is the rightful heir of David’s throne. In the New Testament, James speaks of this very event in Acts 15:16-18.

The Millennial Age happens immediately following the return of Christ. When the heavenly trumpet sounds the dead in Christ will be resurrected in their immortal and glorified bodies. Those saints who are still alive will be changed instantly into their glorified bodies. It appears that the resurrected David will rule over all of Israel. (Ezek. 37:24) The resurrected twelve disciples will rule over the various tribes (Matt. 19:28) and Christ will assume rule over all the earth.

In this special time of one thousand years, Satan will be restrained and his antichrist and false prophet will be cast into Hell forever (Rev. 20:10). The wicked will be removed from the earth by the angels (Matt. 13:41-42). The overcoming saints of God will work with Christ in ruling the earth. (Rev. 20:6) This will usher in a time of great peace and prosperity for Israel especially and for the whole world. People from all nations will gather in Israel to worship the True God.

At this time Edom will be judged and totally destroyed. Motyer sees “Edom typically and eschatologically as the figure par excellence of enmity to the people of God (cf. Is. 63:1f; Ezek. 35).” ¹¹ Actually, the Messiah when he returns will apparently come through Edom and will leave that ancient and bitter people with their blood splattered on his garments (Isa. 63:1).

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit’” (9:13-14). J. A. Motyer comments: “When, however, its rightful King returns to Eden (cf. Is. 11:6-9) all the energies, pent up for the centuries during which sin abounded and death reigned, will explode in one triumphant burgeoning as nature hastens to lay its tribute at the feet of him whose right it is to reign.” ¹² Once the curse is lifted, we will see abundant and unbelievable fruitfulness in the earth.

There are many things that we do not understand about the Millennial Age. There will be resurrected and glorified saints of God ruling with Christ on the earth. (Rev. 5:10), over cities (Lk. 19:17) and even over nations (Rev. 2:26).  However, it is clear that there will be many people still living in their fleshly bodies. God will bring all of his people back home and they will be doing fleshly things like rebuilding cities and living in them, planting vineyards and making gardens. In short, they will receive all the blessings prophesied to them over all the centuries. Isaiah tells us that they will be living and dying at very old ages (Isa. 65:20-22; cf. Zech. 8:4-5). We know that when the Millennium ends Satan will be released (Rev. 20:3) and a fleshly army will rebel once more against Christ. When they are destroyed, they will be buried by Israel (Ezek. 39:11-16). So they are obviously a
fleshly army.

“‘I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,’ says the LORD your God” (9:15). Phillips says, “But when he comes back he will plant the Jews in the land in such a way that no power on earth will be able to dislodge them.” ¹³ After the last battle on earth that ends the Millennial Age, the devil himself will be thrown into Hell (Rev. 20:10 and the eternal ages of peace and glory will begin, never
to end.

 

 

END NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1  James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1986), p. 161.

2  Brian Bell, Bell’s Commentary,  Amos, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/amos.html#google_vignette, vs. 1:1-15.

3  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 162.

4  Charles F. Pfeiffer & Everett F. Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), p. 829.

CHAPTER 1

1  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 830.

2  Boice,  The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2 p. 164.

3  John Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1998), p. 89.

4  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 88.

5  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 164.

6  Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Amos 7.” “The Adam Clarke Commentary,” https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/amos-7.html. 1832. v. 1:2

7  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 831.

8  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 171.

9  Peter Pett, “Commentary on Amos”. “Pett’s Commentary on the Bible.” 2013, v. 1:3-15. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/amos-6.html.

10  John Roberts Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, v. 1:3. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcb/amos.html

11  D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer, A.M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, The New Bible Commentary: Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), p. 730.

12  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 91.

13  Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 1416.

14  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 730.

15  Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, vs. 1:9-10.

16  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, 1417.

17  Robert Jamieson, A.R Fausset, David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, 1871-8, v. 1:13.

18  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 92.

19  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1417.

CHAPTER 2

1  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible,  v. 2:1.

2  James Burton Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, cit. Ralph Smith, University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999. v. 2:1. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/amos.html

3  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 175.

4  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1418.

5  Charles L. Feinberg, The Minor Prophets (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1990), p. 91.

6  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 175.

Most interpreters see it as a reference to cultic prostitution. (Boice 176)

7  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 91.

8  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 96.

9  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 2:10.

10  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 2:11.

11  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 832.

12  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v.  2:13-16.

CHAPTER 3

1  F. B. Meyer, Meyer’s Commentary, Amos, vs. 3:1-15. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/fbm/amos.html

2  Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, v. 3:2.

3  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 179.

4  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 97.

5  Posted by Laura Kiniry | Mar 2, 2022 | African Safaris, Nature & Wildlife   https://www.nathab.com/blog/africa-story-why-do-lions-roar/Kin)

6  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 732.

7  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 3:10.

8  Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, v. 3:10.

9  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 733.

10  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 3:12.

11  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 833.

CHAPTER 4

1  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1423.

2  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 4:1.

3  Donna Freitas, The End of Sex: How hookup Culture Is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy (New York: Basic Books, 2013), p. 40.

4  Bell, Bell’s Commentary, Amos, vs. 4:1-13.

5  Quoted in Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1422.

6  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, cit. Howard, vs. 4:2-3.

7  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, quoting John Edgar McFadden in his book A Cry For Justice, p. 36. v. 4:1.

8  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 99.

9  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1423.

10  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 188.

11  Ibid., p. 187.

12  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 100.

13  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1424.

14  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 833.

15  George Barna, Revolution, (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), pp. 31-32.

16  Stedman, 39 Sermons on Romans, vs. 12:6-8.

Ray Stedman, 39 Sermons on Romans (DP #3501-3539) preached at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto by Ray C. Stedman from 1975 through 1977, http://www.raystedman.org/romansv2. vs.10:6-8.

17  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, vs. 4:6-11.

18  Ibid., vs. 4:7-8.

19  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, pp. 100-101.

20  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 4:12.

CHAPTER 5

1  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1426.

2  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 5:1.

3  John Trapp, Trapp’s Commentary, v. 5:2. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jtc.html

4  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1426.

5  Reddweb,  https://www.reddit.com/r/Ethiopia/comments/1bm1nax/160000_ethiopian_jews_live_in_israel_they_were/

6  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 834.

7  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 5:5

8  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 734.

9  Ibid.

10  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 5:8.

11  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 104.

12  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1428.

13  Peter H. Davids, James (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1983, 1989), p. 74.

14  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 5:12.

15  Clarke, “Commentary on Amos 7.” “The Adam Clarke Commentary,” 1832. v. 5:13. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/amos-7.html.

16  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 5:13.

17  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1425.

18  Renald Showers, Israel My Glory,  https://israelmyglory.org/article/the-biblical-concept-of-the-day-of-the-lord/

19  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 103.

20  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, vs. 5:19-20.

21  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, pp. 200-202.

22  Matt Walsh, The Unholy Trinity, Blocking the Left’s Assault on Life, Marriage, and Gender  (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2017), p. 5.

23  George Barna & David Kinnaman, eds., Churchless (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2014), p. 110.

24  Quoted in Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), p. 272.

25  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 5:22.

26  Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, v. 5:22.

27  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 106.  

28  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 104.

29  Meyer, Meyer’s Commentary, Amos, vs. 5:16-27.

30  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 834.

CHAPTER 6

1  Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 6:1.

2  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 107.

3  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 205.

4  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  pp. 1430-1431.

5  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 209.

6  Ibid., p. 206.

7  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1430.

8  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 6:4.

9  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1431.

10 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 105.

11  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 835.

12  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 109.

13  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 105.

14  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 109.

15  Ibid., p. 110.

16  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 106.

17  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p.  835.

18  Paul Copan, When God Goes To Starbucks (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), p. 95.

19  Nancy Pearcey, Saving Leonardo, A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, & Meaning (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010), p. 64.

20  Nancy R. Pearcey, Love Thy Body, Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2018), p. 203.

21  Matt Walsh, The Unholy Trinity, Blocking the Left’s Assault on Life, Marriage, and Gender, p. 15.

22  Ibid., p. 161.

23  Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the Bible (Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing Co.), p. 200.

24  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 6:14.

25  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 6:14.

CHAPTER 7

1  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 7:1.

2  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 112.

3  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 835.

4  Ibid.

5  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 216.

6  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 108.

7  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 737.

8  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 108.

9  Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 113.

10  Ibid., p. 114.

11  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 109.

12  Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1432.

13  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 110.

14  Clarke, “Commentary on Amos 7.” “The Adam Clarke Commentary,” v. 5:13.

CHAPTER 8

1  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 218.

2  Meyer, Meyer’s Commentary, Amos, vs. 8:1-14.

3  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 8:3.

4  Chuck Smith, Smith’s Commentary, v. 8:5. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/csc/amos.html

5  Dummelow, Dummelow On The Bible, Amos, v. 8:5.

6  Employee Theft Solutions,  http://www.employeetheftsolutions.com/facts.htm

7  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 739.

8  Meyer, Meyer’s Commentary, Amos, vs. 8:7.

9  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 739.

10  Ibid.

11  Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 836.

12  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 112.

13  Paul Strand, CBN 700 Club, July 7, 2015, Paul Strand interview with George Barna and historian David Barton in their book U-Turn: Restoring America to the Strength of Its Roots.

14  Quoted in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, v. 8:13.

CHAPTER 9

1  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 9:1.

2  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 739.

3  Pett, Commentary on Amos 6, Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, vs. 9:1-4.

4  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 740.

5  Cited in Coffman, Commentaries on the Bible, vs. 9:2-4.

6  Quoted in Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT,  p. 1434.

7  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 114.

8  Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Commentary on Amos, v. 9:9.

9  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 114)

10  Boice, The Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 222.

11  Guthrie, Motyer, et. al., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 741.

12  Ibid.

13  Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 161.