When’s the last time you read the writings of any of the minor prophets? I want us to spend some time looking at the book of Amos and the message the Lord gave him – a message, like so much of the Word, which can greatly be applied to us today. For starters, who was Amos and how did he become a prophet?
Chapter 1, Verse 1 opens by telling us, “The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – what he saw concerning Israel… when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash (or Joash) was king of Israel.”
Amos isn’t mentioned in any other book in the Old Testament. He, unlike many of the other prophets who trained in the Old Testament version of a seminary, was a simple shepherd whom God called to be His prophet. How do we know there was a school or seminary? In First Kings 20:35 and other passages in both books of Kings, we see references to “the sons of the prophets,” which is what these students or disciples were called.
Amos is sometimes confused with Amoz, the father of Isaiah. Not the same man. Scholars do estimate the time of Amos’ writing as between 860 and 850BC, which would make him a contemporary (one who lived in the same time period) of Isaiah and Hosea.
The opening verse of the book of Amos tells us that he lived in Tekoa, which was a town about ten miles from Jerusalem. It’s important to realize that, at the time of Amos, the Israelites were divided into the Southern Kingdom – Judah, where Tekoa and Jerusalem were – and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Amos, a man of Judah, was sent as a prophet to Israel.
According to Amos 7:13-15, the shepherd-prophet was prophesying in Bethel (literally, “Beth-el”, meaning “house of God”), one of the southernmost cities of Israel. Names were highly significant in the Bible, and Amos’ name means “burden bearer.” The Lord had given Amos a burden for the people of Israel, to speak out about their sins and call them to repentance.
The first two chapters of Amos are devoted to God’s judgment against first the Gentiles and then against the people of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In verse 9, one of the condemnations addressed to Tyre, a prosperous city of Lebanon (north of Israel), is this: “They broke their treaty with their brother, Israel; they attacked and conquered him, and led him into slavery to Edom (descendants of Esau)” (Amos 1:9, Living Bible).
I think there’s a huge warning in this passage that can certainly be applied today. Every nation needs to be careful how they treat Israel, “the apple of [God’s] eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). Psalm 122:6 makes us this promise: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee” (KJV).
Do you, like Amos, have a burden for the lost? If not, pray for God to give you one. And pray for “the peace of Jerusalem.”
Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture is from the New International Version (NIV).
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