Amos? Can you list three things about Amos and the book he wrote?  I couldn’t.

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You may have said, Amos? I’ve heard of Famous Amos, but I don’t know anything about Amos in the Bible.

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Or, you might have known he was a minor prophet, but don’t remember much else about him.  

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Or, maybe you said he was a farmer, one of the 12 minor prophets, he prophesied during one of Israel’s golden ages about their coming destruction, but he also prophesied about a future restoration. If you said that, very impressive!  You’ve earned some Famous Amos cookies.

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Amos was a shepherd (Amos 1:1), who lived sometime around 793 B.C to 740 B.C.  We know he prophesied during the reigns of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel because he told us so, also in Amos 1:1.  At that point, both Israel and Judah were experiencing prosperity and peace. Both Elisha (in 2 Kings 13) and Jonah (in 2 Kings 14) had prophesied that Israel would be restored to a position of power and glory. Those prophesies had come true, but as a result, Israel had become complacent and smug – they engaged in idiolatry, immorality, corruption, and oppression of the poor. And yet, they still thought that they had God’s favor because they appeared to be so blessed.

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But God was not pleased. Amos had to tell Israel that God hated their elaborate feasts, their selfish sacrifices, and their false worship. He told them that God wanted to see “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).

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Amos lived around the same time as Hosea and Joel, two other minor prophets. However, while Hosea’s message was about God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness, and Joel prophesied that restoration and blessing would only come after judgment and repentance, Amos prophesied that God’s judgement over Israel would end in destruction, captivity, and exile. That came true about 30 years later, in 722 BC, when the Assyrians invaded Israel and took many Israelites captive.

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But Amos also told Israel that God would not forget his chosen people. In today’s verse, God tells Israel through Amos that though judgement was coming, so was future restoration. God would return His people to the land of Israel, where they would be restored with joy, growth, and peace. That also sounds a lot like Isaiah 61:4 - “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

What can we learn from Amos?

God is righteous.

God hates false worship.  

God does not overlook sin.

God loves social justice.

God restores. God re-builds. God lifts up.  

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Do you see yourself in the book of Amos? Maybe you’re like the Israelites – you’ve been blessed by God. If you’re feeling blessed, ask yourself if you’re like the Israelites in other ways – are you self-sufficient, proud in what you’ve accomplished, and do you overlook the plight of those who are less fortunate?

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Or maybe you feel like the Israelites after their blessing was taken away, and they were led into captivity, alone, impoverished, sick, and depressed. In that case, know that God is a God of restoration. Like David in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

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Pray:

Righteous Father, You are Holy. Help us to pursue holiness and to be worthy of Your calling. May we “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Whether we feel incredibly blessed, or we haven’t seen much blessing recently, help us to know that we are part of your plan. Give us the strength to take heart and wait on You. Amen.