Amos, the man and the message...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled When God speaks. During this series we are spending our time together looking at a set of letters in the Bible that we often have a tendency to skip over, which are referred to as the prophets. We are going to discover who these letters in the Bible that we have a tendency to skip over were written to. We are going to discover what these letters in the Bible that we have a tendency to skip over reveal about who we are. We are going to discover what these letters in the Bible that we have a tendency to skip over reveal about the nature of God and God’s activity in history. And as we go through this series, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts and hands so that we understand and embrace the timeless and timely truths that these letters that we often skip over have for our lives.

This week I would like for us to look at a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Amos, which is the next letter that was written by prophet chronologically, which is not necessarily the order that they are found in the Bible, where they are organized by size. Amos, the man, lived during the reigns of King Uzziah, who was the king of the southern kingdom of Judea, and King Jeroboam who was the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. These kings ruled and reigned from 790-753 B.C.

This letter was written during the times described in a section of another letter in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of 2 Kings, in 2 Kings 14:23-29. Amos was from a rugged small town named Tekoa, which was located 10 miles south of Jerusalem on the edge of a mountainous region that precipitously dropped toward the Dead Sea in the East. In Amos 7:12-15, we discover that Amos was a herdsman and grower of a type of figs, which were known as sycamore figs, until God called Him to leave his home to be His messenger and gave him the responsibility to proclaim God’s message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

So let’s jump into this letter that is found in the Old Testament of our Bibles, because it is in this letter that we will discover a timeless truth about the nature and character of God and His activity in history that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live today. We see Amos describe the circumstances that led God to send him to the Northern Kingdom revealed for us in Amos 3:1-15:

Hear this word which the LORD has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt: ² "You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." ³ Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment? ⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something? ⁵ Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it? Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all? ⁶ If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it? ⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets. ⁸ A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? ⁹ Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and see the great tumults within her and the oppressions in her midst. ¹⁰ "But they do not know how to do what is right," declares the LORD, "these who hoard up violence and devastation in their citadels." ¹¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "An enemy, even one surrounding the land, Will pull down your strength from you And your citadels will be looted." ¹² ¶ Thus says the LORD, "Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion's mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, So will the sons of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away-- With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch! ¹³ "Hear and testify against the house of Jacob," Declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts. ¹⁴ "For on the day that I punish Israel's transgressions, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; The horns of the altar will be cut off And they will fall to the ground. ¹⁵ "I will also smite the winter house together with the summer house; The houses of ivory will also perish And the great houses will come to an end," Declares the LORD.

Here we see the Lord, through Amos, proclaim to the Jewish people that He was about to exercise judgment upon them as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. The Lord reminded the Jewish people that even though He had delivered them from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt, even though He had chosen the Jewish people from all the nations to enter into a special covenant relationship with in order that they might represent Him to all the nations, He was ready to punish them for breaking that covenant relationship with Him.  Despite the privilege that they had received to be in a special relationship with the Lord, the Jewish people rebelled against the Lord. The Jewish people responded to privilege by refusing the responsibilities that came with that privilege.

The Lord then asked the Jewish people a series of questions through Amos to reveal the reality that the Northern Kingdom of Israel’s judgment was both sure to happen and soon to happen. After asking these rhetorical questions, in verse nine the Lord called the nation of the Philistines and the nation of Egypt to bear witness to the punishment that the Lord was going to bring upon the Jewish people for their selfishness and rebellion. In verse 11, we see the Lord begin to describe the judgment that would come upon the Northern Kingdom: "An enemy, even one surrounding the land, Will pull down your strength from you And your citadels will be looted." The enemy that the Lord refers to here was the Assyrian Empire, who within 50 years of Amos’ words, in 722 B.C., would conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

You see, the Lord was proclaiming that He would exercise His judgment and punish the Jewish people who worshipped the false gods that their king, King Jeroboam, had set up in Bethel. When Amos states that the horns of the altar will be cut off, he is painting a word picture to reveal the reality that the Jewish people would not find safety from God’s punishment even in their sanctuary of last resort. Even the houses of ivory and great houses, which referred to the luxurious homes of the rich, would be destroyed. There was no place to hide from God’s judgment and no one would be spared from God’s judgment as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, what exactly was their rebellion? What did the Jewish people do that promoted the Lord’s judgment and punishment. We discover the answer to that question in what Amos says next in Amos chapter 4:1-13:

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring now, that we may drink!" ² The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness, "Behold, the days are coming upon you When they will take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks. ³ "You will go out through breaches in the walls, Each one straight before her, And you will be cast to Harmon," declares the LORD. ⁴ "Enter Bethel and transgress; In Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days. ⁵ "Offer a thank offering also from that which is leavened, And proclaim freewill offerings, make them known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel," Declares the Lord GOD. ⁶ "But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities And lack of bread in all your places, Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD. ⁷ "Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you While there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city And on another city I would not send rain; One part would be rained on, While the part not rained on would dry up. ⁸ "So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD. ⁹ "I smote you with scorching wind and mildew; And the caterpillar was devouring Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees; Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD. ¹⁰ "I sent a plague among you after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young men by the sword along with your captured horses, And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD. ¹¹ "I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze; Yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD. ¹² "Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel." ¹³ For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.

Here we see the Lord use several powerful word pictures to describe the selfishness and rebellion of the Jewish people and the judgment and punishment that they would receive from the Lord as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.  However, to fully understand these word pictures, we first need to understand a few things. When Amos uses the phrase “cows of Bashan” he is painting a word picture to describe the well fed and wealthy women of Samaria, which was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom.  Despite the privileges and blessings that they had received from God, these Jewish women exploited the poor and needy instead of sharing their resources to help meet the needs of the poor and needy.

And as a result of their selfishness that led them to exploit and disrespect those who were also created in the image of God, just like animals, Amos proclaimed that “they will take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.” Amos paints this word picture to predict and proclaim the reality that upon being conquered by the Assyrian Empire, they would be treated like animals who would be herded away to captivity. And as they were herded away to captivity, the Assyrian Empire would run out of hooks because so many Jewish people would be taken into captivity. They would look on as they passed Harmon, which marked the Northern border of Israel as they entered into the Assyrian Empire.

But not only would the Jewish people be judged and punished for their exploitation of the poor and needy. In addition, in verse 4-5, we see Amos reveal that the Lord’s punishment and judgment would come as a result of their worship of false gods instead of the Lord as the One True God. Instead of worshipping the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem according to the Lord’s desire and design for worship, the Jewish people in the Northern Kingdom chose to worship false gods in their own temple in Bethel and at a worship site for false gods located in Gilgal.

However, it wasn’t as though the Lord, one day, out of the blue, was going to punish without warning. Instead, in the rest of chapter four, we see Amos recount all the ways that the Lord had warned the Jewish people when it came to the punishment that was coming. The Lord sent drought upon the Northern Kingdom, only to have the Jewish people refuse to return to the Lord. The Lord sent an infestation of caterpillars upon the Northern Kingdom to destroy their crops, only to have the Jewish people refuse to return to the Lord. The Lord sent a plague that brought disease and illness upon the Northern Kingdom, only to have the Jewish people refuse to return to the Lord.

The Lord sent military defeats upon the Northern Kingdom that resulted in many of their cities being destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, only to have the Jewish people refuse to return to the Lord. But now, Amos proclaimed, their refusal to repent; their refusal to recognize and respond to their selfishness and rebellion, and the consequences that their selfishness and rebellion had brought them, would result in the ultimate judgment and punishment from the Lord.

The Northern Kingdom would come face to face with the punishment that comes from the Lord, who alone is the One True God. They would come face to face with the One who created the universe and who had proclaimed His just and right judgment for selfishness and rebellion through Amos. And that judgment would be inescapable.

Just a few chapters later, we see the Lord reveal to Amos the standard for that judgment. Friday, we will look at that standard together...