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Amos came from Tekoa, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. He was ashepherdand he looked afterfigtrees. His home was in Judah. But God sent him away to Israel, which was north of Judah. (At that time, Judah was a different country from Israel.)
We know very little about the life of Amos. We know nothing about his family. And we do not know how long he lived. We do not know where he gave most of his messages. However, he gave one message (perhaps more) at Bethel. This was an important place in the north where peopleworshipped. Amos lived when Jeroboam 2nd (782-753BC) was king of Israel and Uzziah (767-740BC) was king of Judah. Perhaps Amos gave most of his messages about 760BC, but we cannot be certain about this.
During the time of Jeroboam 2nd the nation of Israel became rich. There were several reasons for this. In 805BC, theAssyriansbeat theSyriansin war. TheSyriansbecame weak and so they were not able to fight against Israel's people. Also, theAssyriansdid not try to take authority over Israel's people. Because of these things, Jeroboam took the chance to make his borders larger. The country became as big as it had been in the time of Solomon. Perhaps Amos 6:13 shows that theIsraelitesbecame proud of their success in war. Because of this success, they could control the trade routes. The nation became rich by this. The people thought that they would always be wealthy.
What Amos Taught
It is possible that Amos sometimes taught in Samaria. He mentions Samaria several times (3:9, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 8:14). But Amos certainly taught at Bethel. This was a place where people met together. They met toworshipand toprayto God. Perhaps he saw many people from Samaria in Bethel. If this happened, he would not need to go to Samaria. Amos also mentions other nations. These nations are Damascus (5:27), Hamath (6:14), Calneh, Hamath and Gath (6:2), Crete (9:7), Kir (1:5; 9:7), Edom (9:12) and Egypt (2:10; 3:1; 3:9; 4:10; 8:8; 9:5, 7). God wants to involve himself with all nations. He rules and controls all nations and all people everywhere. No other god has this power.
Several ideas were important to Amos. One idea was that there is only one God. He is the God who rules the nations. Another idea was that God is the judge. TheIsraeliteswere responsible for their actions. They must expect God to decide what to do about theirsins. But Amos says that there is hope. God gave two messages in pictures to Amos (7:1-6). Amos prayed against total judgement and God heard this prayer. God is the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt. He punishes nations but he also saves.
Israel's people thought thatworshipwas important. But although theyworshippedGod, they did not obey hislaw. Because of this, theirworshipdid not bring anything good from God. Amos compared their behaviour with the behaviour of theirancestors. Theirancestorswandered for many years in the desert. This was why Amos spoke about thesacrificesin the desert (5:25). Some people explain it like this. Amos meant that he wanted nosacrifices. Instead ofsacrificesGod wanted people to behave in a true way. But perhaps Amos actually wanted people to know what was important.Sacrificeswere good. But to behave in a true way was more important.
Amos used parts of songs as a way to say things. 4:13 and 5:8 are examples of this. The songs emphasized the message. Also, God gave Amos five pictures, which begin in chapter 7. The first four of these (7:1-3; 7:4-6; 7:7-9 and 8:1-3) are similar. Amos puts these four pictures together in the same way. The fifth picture (9:1-6) is different. It is less of a picture than the other pictures. It is like Psalm 139:7-12. There will be no escape for the people in Israel. It is a picture of extreme situations.
Amos and the Covenant
The message of Amos was not new. His messages were the words of God. They were not the words of Amos himself. When theIsraeliteswere in the desert, God made acovenantwith them. He promised to be their God and to take care of them. But they had to obey hislaw. God wanted to be sure that the people in Israel remembered thiscovenant. Amos wanted to tell the people that they were not obeying God'slaw. (They were not looking after the poor people, they were not remembering theSabbath, and other things.) God was going to punish Israel's people for these crimes. But he would not destroy them completely. Amos's job was to remind people about what they already knew.
There is not very much hope in the book of Amos. God is angry with Israel's people and he is going to punish them. He will use war,exile, and terrible things to do this. But at the end of the book Amos gives a message of hope.
The bigsinof Israel's people was that theyworshippedidols. Theworshipofidolswas against God'scovenant. This happened everywhere in Israel. Amos mentionsidolsin 5:26 and 8:14. Bethel and Dan were important places where there wasidolworship. The peopleworshippedanimals made from gold there. There was also falseworshipat Gilgal and Beersheba. Much of thisworshipbecame another religion. And Amos is clear that this was wrong (3:14; 4:4-5; 5:4-5). But there was also another kind ofworship. This was like the trueworshipof God (5:21-28; 8:3). But the people did not follow the rules that God had given them. They used thisworshipto gain an advantage over other people. They also thought that their behaviour did not matter very much.
Amos does not say bad things aboutpriestsor otherprophets. Hosea does say bad things about them (Hosea 4:4-9; 5:1-3). So, in one way, there is more hope in Amos.
Amos and Money
God cared about the poor people. God also had many things to say about the rich people. The rich people had too much. God did not like that. We can see these ideas in much of Amos's book. He also speaks about that fact that people sold other people as slaves (2:6). Some people became rich in this way. In Samaria, many people used money to get an advantage over other people. They wanted to make sure that other people stayed poor (3:9, 10). Some farmers had big debts. So the leaders took their property away. They gave it to the people who lent the farmers money (2:6, 8; 5:12). This was against thelawof Moses. Often thelawsin Israel did not protect the poor people. So the nation deserved the punishment of God.
Introduction to Amos
Amos Chapter 1
Amos Chapter 2
Amos Chapter 3
Amos Chapter 4
Amos Chapter 5
Amos Chapter 6
Amos Chapter 7
Amos Chapter 8
Amos Chapter 9
About the Author
Mark Kirkpatrick has written a number of Bible Commentaries including:
- A Wonderful Song about Love – a commentary on the Song of Songs
- The Man who Never Stopped Loving – a commentary on the Book of Hosea
- The Man who Disagreed with God – a commentary on the Book of Jonah
Note
- This Bible Translation and Commentary are based on a vocabulary of 2800 English words. We have an easier translation (based on 1200 words) atAmos – EasyEnglish Bible
- Words in boxes are from the Bible.
- Tap or click on words in italics to see a definition.
