Amos - An Overview, Amos

What would you do if you heard a lion roar? Or if you heard the weatherman say that an earthquake was about to occur? I think I know what you would do. You would head for a place of safety. Well, a lion is roaring. An earthquake is coming. A storm is on the horizon. And the prophet Amos tells us all about it. Amos 1:1-2. The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmann of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, King of Israel, two years before the earthquake. There's the earthquake. And he said the Lord roars from Zion. That's the roar of a lion about to spring. And utters his voice from Jerusalem. That Hebrew word means thunders. He thunders his voice. A storm is about to come. The pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers. There's a terrible drought. God is speaking.

Now we need to hear and to heed the book of Amos. It may not be a familiar book to you. I trust it will be familiar to you when we're through with this study, because of who wrote it, and because of when he wrote it, and because of why he wrote it, the book of Amos must be a part of our study. And so these are the three reasons why we're going to be studying the book of Amos. First, because of who wrote it.

Who wrote it? A fellow named Amos. Now Amos was a common man. He was not trained in the schools of the prophets. He tells us that himself in Amos 7:14. Amos had been challenged by Amaziah, the priest. He was the high religious leader in the land. Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet." In other words, I wasn't trained in the prophetic schools. I didn't go through the usual preparation, but I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel." Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord.

He was what we would call today a layman. Just an ordinary worker, a herdsman, a shepherd. It's amazing how many people God called who were shepherds. They knew how to take care of the sheep. When he was looking for a king to follow Saul, he chose a shepherd, David. Abel was a shepherd, Abraham was a shepherd. Isaac and Jacob were shepherds, and God likes to have shepherds, people who are concerned. Amos 2:13, he talks about being weighed down like a cart that is full of sheaves. That's a rural picture for you. He talks about summer fruit, and he discusses other pictures that are definitely rural. Amos 5:19, here's a man running away from a lion and he meets a bear. Finally he gets home and leans against the wall and there's a serpent to bite him. That sounds like a man who knows the out-of-doors.

So Amos was a common man. He came from a place called Tekoa. He was just a farmer who came from a small town, but he had God's hand upon him. As I was reading this, I was thinking about the number of people that God called who had no formal training. Now, don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the preparation God gave to me in school. I thank God for it. But every once in a while God reaches down and gets a hold of an Amos and says to us, "Now look, if I want to train somebody my way, let me do it." Charles Spurgeon never had any formal training in ministry. Neither did G. Campbell Morgan, the great British expositor, or Harry Ironside. You see, God can reach down and get a hold of people. He was a common man, but he was a called man. He was able to say, "Hear the word of the Lord." He was a concerned man.

The name Amos means to be burdened, to be loaded, a burden. He was a burdened man. He was burdened for the people of Israel. The interesting thing is, he came from Judah. You know, the nation divided after the death of Solomon, and Amos came from the southern kingdom of Judah, not the northern kingdom, but God picked him up out of the southern kingdom, moved him to the northern kingdom and said, "You preach to the people of Israel." Now he could have gone back and preached the same thing to the people of Judah, but God sent him to Israel. He was an outsider. As an outsider, he went up to Bethel. Bethel is where the king, Jeroboam II had his own personal chapel. And he had his own personal chaplain, Amaziah, the priest. And all the services were beautiful and the music was wonderful. And then one day this farmer shows up in the beautiful place of Bethel, and he says, "Hear the word of the Lord, a storm is coming, an earthquake is coming, the lion is roaring." And the priest said, "Go home. Preach to your own people. Don't come up here and interrupt what we're doing because this is the king's chapel."

Well, I like the book of Amos and I want to study it because of the man who wrote it. He is the kind of man we need today. Secondly, because of when he wrote it. The times of Amos are just like the times today. The Bible is not an ancient book when it comes to modern problems. The book of Amos talks about a time of peace. Judah was at peace, Israel was at peace, they were even at peace with each other. There was an international peace, a lull in the problems. And there was a time of peace, sort of like we have today. Oh, there are skirmishes going on here and there, but basically, the nations of the world are not at war with each other. It was a time of prosperity.

In fact, in Israel, under Jeroboam II, the times were just like Solomon's times. There was prosperity. They were moving from an agricultural to a commercial economy, just like today. People were moving from the farm to the cities, just like today, and people were building big expensive houses just like today. They were having a lot of concerts, I notice. Amos 5:23, he says, "Take away from me the noise of your songs. I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments." Why? Because all of this was shallow and hypocritical. Their piety was covering up their sin. It was tragic. Amos 8:3, "and the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day. Hear this, you who swallow up the needy and make the poor of the land fail."

It was a time of prosperity because the poor were being exploited. The rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer, and yet everybody was patriotic. They were saying, "The day of the Lord." Amos 5:18, "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. For what good is the day of the Lord to you?" Suppose Jesus did come back today. Would he be impressed with our prosperity and our concerts and our public meetings and our sacrifices and our buildings? I don't think he would be. He'd be saying to us what he said to the people through the prophet, "I want righteousness. I don't want this kind of thing. Seek good and not evil. Hate the evil, love the good, establish justice in the gate."

We want to study this book because of who wrote it, Amos, a common layman who was dedicated to the Lord. We want to study this book because of when he wrote it, his times are like our times. Why did he write the book? Because of what he saw. The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmann of Tekoa, which he saw. What did he see? Well, in Amos 1-2, he looked around and he saw judgment. And he gives eight indictments of judgment. He says to Syria, and to the Philistines, and to Tyre, and Edom, and Ammon, and Moab, and Judah, and Israel, "The storm of judgment is coming."

Amos 1-2, he looks around and there are eight judgments. Then Amos 3-6 he looks within. He looks right into the hearts of the people and he preaches three sermons. He was not impressed with their sacrifices and their concerts and their buildings. He saw the corruption down inside. They built their buildings because they took the money away from the poor, and they offered their sacrifices because of their unjust gain.

Finally, in Amos 7-9, the prophet looks ahead and he has five visions. Five visions. He he sees locusts, and he sees fire, he sees God with a plum line measuring things, and he intercedes and says, "Oh Lord, please don't send judgment." God said, "All right, I won't. I won't do it." You see, the prophet is also an intercessor. This nation does not realize how much it depends upon people who pray. But finally he ends up with a vision of hope. Amos 9:11-15, he says, "I will, I will, I will, I will. I will raise up the tabernacle of David." There is a future for my people.

It's time for us to read this book and say, "Lord, is it I?" The lion is roaring. God is roaring and saying, "You'd better listen." The earthquake is coming. The storm is on the horizon. There is a famine of the hearing of the word of God. Oh, may the Lord help us to be faithful and say, "Is it I? Is this what I need today?"

The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmann of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, King of Israel, two years before the earthquake. That earthquake is mentioned in the book of Zechariah, by the way, Zechariah 14:5. King Uzziah reigned in Judah from 790 to 740. Jeroboam II reigned in Israel from about 793 to 743. Days of great prosperity. And he said, "The Lord roars from Zion." It's a picture of a lion about to spring. The lion roars, this causes his prey to just be paralyzed with fear, and then the lion pounces upon the prey. The lion roars. The Lord is roaring from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem. The word means thunders his voice. So here you have a storm, a lion and an earthquake. Doesn't sound like Amos is about to give us a quiet devotional talk to put us to sleep.

In Amos 1-2, the prophet looks around and he announces eight judgments. He starts with Syria, and finally works his way around to Israel and says, "For three transgressions and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. I will not turn away my wrath." The Hebrew says, "I will not cause it to return." What is it? God's judgment. And he repeats this in Amos 1 five times. In Amos 2 three more times. Eight times he says judgment is coming. Oh, they were so complacent. They were so quiet. Amos 6:1, "Woe to you who are at ease in Zion." Amos 6:3, "Woe to you who put far off the day of doom." Oh, it can't happen to us. Amos says it's going to happen. Amos 3-6 he preaches three sermons as he looks within and exposes the hypocrisy, the corruption of the people. Amos 7-9, he looks ahead and he has five visions. God is going to judge and the prophet prayed and said, "Lord, don't do it." And the Lord held back his hand, but ultimately the judgment is going to come.

Now he starts with the Gentiles, you'll notice in Amos 1:3, "for three transgressions of Damascus." Now that's Syria. That's of course up in the north. If you've got a map in the back of your Bible, you can find Damascus up there in the north. Then he moves down to the southwest. Talks about Gaza, and Ashdod, and Ashkelon. Amos 1:6-8. This is over now in the southwest in Philistia. The Philistines were always the enemies of the Jewish people. And then in Amos 1:9, he talks about Tyre. He moves up to the north again. Tyre, Phoenicia. And then he goes to Edom, down in the southeast, right at the bottom of the map. Edom, and he says, "For three transgressions of Edom and for four, I will not turn the punishment away." And then from Edom he moves up to the north to Ammon. And then he comes back to Moab. Those three are right there alongside each other. And I'm sure, I'm sure that all the Jewish people were applauding. They were saying, "Hooray, let's destroy Syria. Hooray, let's get rid of the Philistines. They've been our enemies all these years. Wonderful. Go on, Amos."

Then in Amos 2:4, he says, "For three transgressions of Judah and for four." That's his own land now. And I'm sure that the people from Judah who may have heard him said, "Now wait just a minute, you've stopped preaching, you've gone to meddling, and we don't want to talk about the sins of Judah." But now he's up in Israel at Bethel, and in Amos 2:6, he says, "For three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn the punishment away." And I'm sure that the king, Jeroboam II, and Amaziah, who was the priest, and all of the important people who were there, I'm sure they were in a rage. "How dare you, an ordinary herdsman farmer from a little place called Tekoa? How dare you to come up to Israel from Judah and tell us that judgment is coming? Why don't you go home and tell your own people what's wrong with them?" And of course the answer is the answer that Amos gave, "God sent me." The Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go prophesy to my people Israel." That's Amos 7:15, and he just did what God told him to do.

"I will not reverse the judgment," says God. The earthquake is coming. The storm is coming. The lion is roaring. Now let's look at these indictments. Let's begin with Amos 1:3. The prophet looks around now and he pronounces eight indictments, eight judgments. "Thus says the Lord." That's the only credentials that Amos needed. He couldn't show a diploma. He could not show them his degrees. He simply says, "I'm God's messenger."

But eight times he says, "For three transgressions and for four." Now this is a Jewish phrase that means, "Time is up." Time is up. Transgression, the word transgression in the Hebrew language means to revolt, to reject authority.

Now wait a minute, he's talking to Gentiles here, not to the Jews. But you'll notice that when he speaks to the Gentile nations, he does not mention the law of the Lord. When he gets down to Amos 2:4 and he starts talking to the Jews, then he mentions the law of the Lord. Now he didn't say that to the Gentiles. Why? He didn't give that law to the Gentiles. He never gave the law to the Gentiles. He gave it to the Jews.

Well then on what basis does he have for condemning the Gentiles? They've transgressed. Transgress what? The law written in their heart. And the works of the law they know. And they know it's wrong to kill, and it's wrong to steal, and it's wrong to lie. Oh, they were never given the law from Mount Sinai. They weren't there. But God says, "You are just as guilty because you're sinning against conscience."

Now this little phrase, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four," and he repeats this eight times in Amos 1-2, means for an indefinite number. You have been adding up, you've been building up. I have been measuring and watching what you've been doing. God measures our sin. "I'm going to judge you. I will not turn away the punishment." Why? What had the people of Syria done? "Because they have threshed Gilead." That's the area east of the Jordan. "With implements of iron." They invaded that area, and they took the people and put them on the ground, and drove over them the implements of threshing. Now what were those implements? Heavy boards, heavy pieces of wood with iron spikes driven into them. Can you imagine that? Thou shalt not kill is written in the law, it's also written in our hearts.

He said, "I will send a fire into the house of Hazael." He's the fellow who founded the dynasty there in Syria. He ruled Syria from 841 to 796. "Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad." That's his son who ruled after him, about 796 to 775. He said, "I'll take care of those rulers. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus." That means they'll have no more security. "I will cut off the inhabitants from the valley of Aven." That word Aven means evil. They thought it was a valley of delight and joy. It was a valley of evil because of what they had done. "And the one who holds the scepter from Beth-Eden," house of delight. He says, "You think that Damascus is a great beautiful garden, wait until I'm through with it. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir, to Assyria," says the Lord. "I'll take care of you. You can't just run over people any way you want. There is a God in heaven who one day will judge."

Does this go on today? Oh, yes. Yes, there are nations that take whole villages and whole towns and treat them like slaves. Pick them up and move them off to some camp somewhere where they are held incarcerated. God repeats this eight times. "A fire's coming which shall devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish," says the Lord God. And they did. There are no longer any Philistines running around. God fulfilled his word of judgment. God's judgment is going to come. He's talking here to the Philistines, he's talking to the Syrians, and he's talking to us. We can't get away with sin. Be sure your sin will find you out.