AMOS---HOMILIES OF A HERDSMAN

INTRODUCTION: Amos, the man

1.    The name is related to a verb meaning to “bear a load”, and indicates the burden he carried because of the sin of the northern kingdom, Israel.

2.    He was a rustic and rural man.

A.   A herdsman---shepherd (1:1, 7:14)

B.   A cultivator of sycamore fruit (figs) (7:14)

C.   From the area of Tekoa--a small town of Judea about 12 miles south of Jerusalem in the country west of the Dead Sea known as ”the Wilderness of Judea”.

3.    He was a “layman”. (7:14,15)

A.   “When Amos says he was not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, he means this merely in the technical or professional sense. He had not been trained in any of the ‘schools of the prophets’, and therefore was not, in the usual sense, a member of the recognized prophetic order. He was what we would call today a ‘layman’. He is a great encouragement to thousands of Christians today who have no academic or theological training. God is sovereign in His choice of servants. He is not tied to any bishop’s hands. He is not bound to any set of officials. He is not restricted in His workings to any recognized ministerial order.”

B.   His testimony indicates that he did not actively seek the office of prophet. (7:14,15)

1)    God selected him---”The Lord took me.”

2)    God sent him---”Go, prophesy.”

C.   He was the last prophet sent to the northern kingdom.

4.    Though he was a native of Judah (7:12), he ministered to Israel.

5.    The date of his prophecies:

A.   The date for Amos is given three ways in the book. He says in the first verse that this message came in the days of Uzziah, Jeroboam II and two years before the great earthquake. (Zech. 14:5)

B.   This would put his book sometime between 764-755 B.C.

6.    “There was an unconventional bluntness about him which must have been pretty disconcerting to the college trained professional prophets of the Bethel calf-worship, with their polished ambiguities and evasions. They would certainly feel a cold shiver down their spines to hear Amos address the upper class ladies of Samaria as ‘cows’!---’Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters: Bring and let us drink.’” (4:1) --J. S. Baxter

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BOOK

Conditions in both Judah and Israel were the circumstances which called for the prophecies of this book. It was outwardly a very prosperous time, but social evils were manifest everywhere, especially the sins that grow out of a separation between the rich and the poor. (2:6-8)

1.     Judah (2:4,5)

A.     Despised the law of the Lord

B.     Did not keep His commandments

C.     Their lies caused them to err. Because of their deceitfulness, they were ultimately led from the truth spoken by the priests of God to turn to idolatry.

2.     Israel (2:6-16)

A.     Their judges could be bribed to condemn the innocent. (v. 6)

B.     Their judges gave judgments in civil suits to the party in the wrong.

C.     Hard-hearted creditors would sell a debtor into slavery for an article as trifling as a pair of shoes.

D.     Greed - (v. 7) The rich begrudged the poor even the dust they threw upon their heads in distress.

E.     Immorality - (v. 7) in both private and religious life. Even the temples had degenerated into places of false worship involving sex.

F.     Disregard for the law - (v. 8) To the sin of immorality was added that of the misuse of pledges the poor were by necessity forced to pawn. The holders of pledges would recline, possibly immorally by the altar as guilty partners in sin, on clothes that the poorer men had been forced to pawn. In callous disregard for the comfort of others they neglected to show the mercy required by Israel’s law of returning at sunset the cloak that would probably be the poor man’s only covering for the night. (Ex. 22:26,27)

G.     Drunkenness - (vs. 8,12)

1)     They guzzled wine from large bowls. (6:6)

2)     Sought to force wine upon the Nazarites, thus causing them to break their vows (Num. 6:1-6)

H.     Tried to put a stop to the ministry of the prophets (v. 12)

 I.      Unfaithfulness - (vs. 9-11) In spite of what God had done for them they, turned away.

J.      Idolatry - (3:14 and 4:4) They had set up altars at both Bethel and Gilgal. Jerusalem was to be the center of their worship.

THE PLAN OF ACTION

1.     “At first, no doubt, Amos would have been welcomed as he poured out his prophecies against the surrounding nations. (chs. 1-2) Even his country manners would have been forgiven. His idiomatic expression ‘for three transgressions and for four’ means that the cup of iniquity was full and more than full. Even when Amos began to denounce Judah, the ‘northerners’ at Bethel listened probably with glee. But when he turned his attention to Samaria and denounced Israel’s sins, it was a different matter.” --Phillips

2.     He started his message by prophecies of judgment on the surrounding nations and before the Jews realized what he was doing, he had turned the pronouncements upon them.

3.     The reason he gives for such prophesying in chapter 3:

A.     v. 3 - If two people are working together, they must have made an agreement.

B.     v. 4 - If a lion roars, he has taken a prey.

C.     v. 5 - If a bird is in a trap, somebody has set it.

D.     v. 6 - If the trumpet sounds, calamity is near.

E.     v. 8 - If the Lord has spoken, how can he do other than prophesy?

OUTLINE AND EXPLANATION

  I.     EIGHT BURDENS (1-2) AGAINST

A.     Damascus (1:3-5) awful cruelty in war

B.     Gaza (1:6-8) condemned for the sin of slavery

C.     Tyrus (1:9-10) They are also judged for cruel slavery.

D.     Edom (1:11-12) accused of not showing pity but maintaining a constant hatred to Israel

E.     Ammon (1:13-15) bitter cruelty and selfish greed in war with Israel 

F.     Moab (2:1-3) for her cruelty to Edom

G.     Judah (2:4-5) for rejecting the law of God

H.     Israel (2:6-16) See notes: Circumstances of the Book, “2”.

 II.     THREE SERMONS (3-6)

A.     The essence of the messages--”You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.” (3:2)

B.     The outcome--judgment for abused privilege. Judgment is always determined according to privilege. Increased privilege brings increased responsibility. Israel had been supremely favored, and therefore was supremely responsible.

III.    FIVE VISIONS (7-9)

A.     Grasshoppers (7:1-3)

B.     Fire (7:4-6)

C.     Plumbline (7:7-17)

D.     Overripe fruit (8:1-14)

E.     False altar (9:1-15)

These visions were given to show that Israel was on the brink of final disaster, and would ultimately be brought under the judgment of God.

CONCLUSION

The book closes on a note of victory. In 9:11-15 is the promise of restoration.