Amos 1

Not so famous Amos!

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The Prophet (vs. 1)

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders 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.

√ The prophet

Unlike our friend Joel who gave us no information about himself, or the time and place of his ministry…

…Amos follows the pattern of the other prophets and gives us all that information so that we can place his ministry in the context of historical events and the fulfillment of his prophecies.

His Name…

His name means “to be burdened” and he was because of the sin of God’s people to whom he was called to minister.

His occupation…

He was a sheepbreeder as distinct from a shepherd. The word is rare and used only twice in the Bible. It refers to those who managed and bred sheep vs. a shepherd, like David who watched over the flocks in the field.

Chapter 7 also tells us that he cared for an orchard of sycamore trees that produced a fig-like fruit.

The significance is that unlike many of the other prophets of the Bible he wasn’t trained as a prophet or priest.

Rather he was an ordinary guy with an ordinary job who was called by God to an extra-ordinary ministry!

His home…

He lived in Tekoa a very small village (not a city) about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. In fact, it’s so small and mentioned so few times in the Bible that the only reason we know about it is that Amos lived there!

The village still exists and there is a Jewish settlement there but it is in an area dominated by the Palestinians and rather dangerous place for Israelis.

What makes his home unusual is that while he lived in the southern-kingdom of Judah he was called by God to minister to the northern-kingdom of Israel…

“which he saw concerning Israel” ~ vs. 1

His ministry…

He ministered during the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel…

…that is about 790-739 B.C. a time of great prosperity for both kingdoms.

Under the rule of righteous Uzziah Judah subdued the Philistines to the west, the Ammonites to the east, and the Arab peoples to the south.

In the north Jeroboam (the 2^nd) was able to expand his kingdom into Syria to the north and Ammon to the west due to a weakened Syrian (Armenian) kingdom in the north.

With their expanded territory both kingdoms controlled the trade routes between Europe, Asia and Africa and grew wealthy.

But rather than give thanks to God the people of the northern kingdom continued to worship false gods, exploited the poor in the land, and used their wealth to pursue the lust of their flesh.

So, God sends Amos from Tekoa in the Judean hills north to Israel to proclaim God’s coming punishment.

Timing…

Amos gives us one piece of information that really helps to nail down the time that he ministered, look again at vs. 1…

“The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders 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.”

This earthquake must have been a big one otherwise no one would have any idea of the time period that he was talking about.

Ex. Loma Prieta quake

I lived in California until I was 36 years old and lived through a bunch of earthquakes, including some big ones, but the one I remember is the one that hit on October 17, 1989!

It was a 7.1 quake

I can you where I was, what I was doing, and how I got home. It’s etched in memory.

That’s the kind of quake that Amos speaks of, big enough that everyone living at that time would remember it.

The Jewish historian Josephus ties the earthquake to the events of 2 Chron. 26 when Uzziah sinned by entering the Temple to offer incense before the Lord!

Archeological evidence places that earthquake at 760 B.C.

So, 2 years before the earthquake means that Amos was called to ministry around 762 B.C.

Ap. God still uses ordinary people to do the extra-ordinary

The vast majority of guys pasturing Calvary Chapel’s have never been to Bible college or seminary.

Most were living lives as engineers, lineman, policeman, and surf bums when God called them into the ministry.

The point is that God calls and equips a man for ministry.

So, be encouraged by God’s choice of Amos as His servant because it reminds us that you don’t have to be a “professional” clergyman to be effective in ministry.

The Prophecy (vs. 2)

Amos 1:2 And he said:

“The LORD roars from Zion,

And utters His voice from Jerusalem;

The pastures of the shepherds mourn,

And the top of Carmel withers.”

√ The prophecy

If this verse sounds familiar that’s because we just read an almost identical wording in Joel 3:16.

But, while Joel’s prophecy has in view the end of human history and the battle of Armageddon…

…Amos’ prophecy deals primarily with God’s soon judgment on Israel and six surrounding nations (though I would suggest there is an eschatological application as well.)

Specifically God gives Amos…

8 accusations to bring against the six nations surrounding Israel (chapters 1-2)

3 messages about the sins of Israel (chapters 3-6)

5 visions of future judgment (chapters 7-9)

…and closes with God’s promise of future restoration!

√ The message

God begins with a word of judgment against Israel’s and Judah’s neighbors something that Amos’ hearers would have been glad to hear!

But then God speaks against both Judah and Israel because they too had sinned against the Lord reminding them that God is fair when He judges.

Each message of judgment follows the same pattern…

Proclamation of inescapable judgment

Accusations for which they are being judged

Description of God’s coming punishment

What’s interesting is that while the Gentile nations did not have the Law to instruct them regarding what is right and wrong…

…God still holds them accountable for their sin!

That’s because God has placed a conscience within every person, Jew and Gentile…

…and holds us accountable to how we respond to that inner voice.

In the New Testament Paul demonstrates that same truth in his argument in Romans 2:12-16 proving that we are all guilty before God and in need of a Savior!

Ap. What about the Pygmy?!

Every person has a conscience that convicts of our sin and that prompts us to search for God.

Just as we see in the example of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Cornelius the Centurion.

So, what about the Pygmy? God loves them and will make sure that they get a fair chance to be saved.

Prophecy Against Aram (vs. 3-5)

Amos 1:3 Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.

Amos 1:4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,

Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

Amos 1:5 I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,

And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,

And the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden.

The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”

Says the LORD.

√ Prophecy against Aram

The first prophecy of judgment is against the nation that we would today call Syria, but in Amos’ day was called Aram.

Aram’s capital was the city of Damascus the oldest continuously lived in city in the world ~ about 5,000 years!

At the time of Amos the Armenians were preoccupied with defending their northern border against the Assyrians so they didn’t cause Israel much trouble.

However, about 50 years earlier they had done great harm to God’s people and for that sin God was going to punish them.

Thus we see in vs. that God names those who sinned against His people…

“But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,

Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.”

Ex. Hazael & Ben-hadad ~ 2 Kings 8

For their sin God pronounced an irrevocable judgment…

“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment”

We’ll see this pattern used with each nation that God plans to punish, Bible students suggest that it is sort of a nice prophetic way of saying…

“The dies been cast ~ there’s no turning back”.

Or, as one Middle Eastern scholar has pointed out it an alternative and perhaps better translation would be…

“For three sins…and for four”

That is, we’re supposed to add the 3 and 4 to equal 7 the Hebrew number of completion.

That is, the sins of the nation in view have gone as far a God is willing to let them go, they are completely wicked and unable to repent.

The prophecy was fulfilled when the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser conquered Damascus and took the people of Aram captive.

Prophecy Against Philistia (vs. 6-8)

Amos 1:6 Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they took captive the whole captivity

To deliver them up to Edom.

Amos 1:7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,

Which shall devour its palaces.

Amos 1:8 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.

√ Prophecy against Philistia

The Philistines were the perennial arch-enemy of the people of Israel and Judah.

They we not native to the land of Israel, rather, they settled along the coastal plains of Israel beginning in the 12^th century B.C.

There is a lot of debate about the identity of the Philistines.

What we know is that they were a sea-faring people who worshipped a fish-god (Dagon) and had superior weapons and armor because they had already figured out how to make bronze (smelted metals).

One interesting theory is that they are the descendants of what was thought to be the mythological city of Troy!

And that after Troy’s fall to the Greeks some escaped and sailed southeast to build a new life.

That theory is based on archeology that has discovered Philistine words which share a commonality with the Euro-Asian peoples of ancient Greece and Troas!

Biblically we know that they established 5 main cities along the coast of Israel in what is today called the Gaza strip (see vs. 6-7)…

Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath

The only city not mentioned here is Gath, the home of Goliath! The Philistines harassed the people of Israel are were responsible for the deaths of king Saul and his sons (including righteous Jonathan.)

√ Their sin

Vs. 6 tells us that God will punish them because they engaged in slave trading!

“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they took captive the whole captivity

To deliver them up to Edom. “

Historically we know that the Philistines would send out raiding parties to capture people for sale as slaves.

In other words, they had no compassion for other people…

…rather they saw other human beings as objects for commercial profit!

They had apparently been involved in that trade for so long that God communicates through Amos that they He is going to punish them so that not even a remnant will survive!

“And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”

God has done just that! The Philistines disappeared from the records of human history and today no one can trace their lineage to them!

Ap. Yassar Arafat’s claim

When he was still alive he floated the idea that the modern day Palestinians were the descendants of the Philistines as an argument to suggest that they had a legitimate right to the land of Israel.

Simply not true!

The word “Palestine” was a Latin transliteration of the Hebrew “Philistine”.

After Rome put down the Bar-Kokhba rebellion of 132 AD they destroyed all remnants of Jewish ties to the land and renamed it “Palistina” as an insult to the Jewish people.

The so-called Palestinians are simply the descendants of the Arab peoples who were conquered and then intermarried with the Muslim hoards of Mohamed and his followers in the 7^th Century A.D.

Prophecy Against Tyre (vs. 9-10)

Amos 1:9 Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,

And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

Amos 1:10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,

Which shall devour its palaces.”

√ Prophecy against Tyre

While Israel and the Philistines had never been friends the people of Tyre had a long history of friendship with Israel dating back to king David’s rule.

During David’s life the king of Tyre in Southern Lebanon was a man named Hiram.

He loved and admired David and later his son Solomon and entered into a mutual assistance treaty with them.

Hiram provided David and Solomon the timber to build David a palace, and later to build the Temple.

He also provided the master craftsman Huram to design and oversee the building of the Temple.

In exchange David and Solomon provided crops, wine and oil to Tyre.

But after the deaths of David and Solomon when Israel and Judah were under attack by other enemies the people of Tyre did not honor that treaty…

“Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.” ~ vs. 9

So, God proclaims that He will bring punishment upon the city.

Ex. Fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland city of Tyre but could not breach the walls of the island city. 200 years later Alexander took the debris of the mainland city, built a causeway to the island and destroyed the city.

Prophecy Against Edom (vs. 11-12)

Amos 1:11 Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because he pursued his brother with the sword,

And cast off all pity;

His anger tore perpetually,

And he kept his wrath forever.

Amos 1:12 But I will send a fire upon Teman,

Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

√ Prophecy against Edom

Historically the people of Edom and Israel are related, cousins really!

Isaac and Rebecca had twins and while she was pregnant the twins were always fighting.

So much so that Rebecca asked God about it…

“And the LORD said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger.”

Gen. 25:23

From the time of their conception they fought with one another and so did their descendants!

√ Their sin

Their worst sin came during the final days of the southern kingdom of Judah when Nebuchadnezzar finally destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

Refugees from Judah fled in every direction to try and escape the Babylonians.

One place they sought refuge was with their relatives the Edomites who had a safe refuge in the ancient city of Bozra (Petra).

But instead of helping their brothers they captured the Jews and turned them over to Nebuchadnezzar!

So, God promises that He will punish them for that sin!

Ex. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Edom

After destroying Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar turned his wrath on Ammon and then went south to Edom where he leveled all their cities!

Today the area is remote and reached only by leaving the main desert highway and traveling to an area that is only sparely populated.

Edom never regained it’s prominence.

Prophecy Against Ammon (vs. 13-15)

Amos 1:13 Thus says the LORD:

“For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,

That they might enlarge their territory.

Amos 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,

And it shall devour its palaces,

Amid shouting in the day of battle,

And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.

Amos 1:15 Their king shall go into captivity,

He and his princes together,”

Says the LORD.

√ Prophecy against Ammon

The people of Ammon are also relatives of the Jews through Abraham’s nephew Lot.

Lot’s two sons Moab and Ben-ammi (Gen. 19) are the progenitors of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Yet, like the people of Edom did not have friendly relations with the Jewish people and were often at war with them.

During one such campaign (unidentified) they killed the innocent woman and children even ripping open pregnant woman and casting their unborn babies into the streets.

This was a somewhat common practice in ancient warfare and was meant to terrorize an enemy.

But God took note of their sin and promised to bring judgment upon them.

Ex. Nebuchadnezzar

The people of Ammon entered into an agreement with king Zedekiah of Judah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar…

..but backed out and left Jerusalem to fend for herself.

They thought they had escaped war when Nebuchadnezzar skipped them and went straight for Jerusalem.

But after destroying Judah he turned his attention to Ammon and leveled every city in Ammon!

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√ Not so famous Amos