Amos: The Forgotten Prophet Who Defied a Nation's Sin

have you ever felt helpless in the face of overwhelming Injustice often we feel powerless after all who would listen if we spoke up can we truly make a difference when Injustice is so widespread this is the story of a man as ordinary as any of us Amos was a simple Shepherd who confronted the powerful structures of his time and brought God's perspective to a complacent Society so dear listener let his story move your heart to act and to walk in faith if God could use him to impact his generation he can certainly use you to

shape yours before we dive deeper into the story of Amos don't forget to subscribe to our Channel and hit the notification Bell so that YouTube can notify you whenever we post a new video let's begin Amos was from takoa a village located 16 km south of Jerusalem in the southern Kingdom of Judah this unknown and unexpected Prophet addressed the nation of Israel known at that time as the northern kingdom which encompassed 10 of the 12 tribes after the nation split his message was proclaimed in bethl in the King's Chapel he had no Priestly or Noble

lineage but worked as a shepherd and a farmer let's read from Amos 1:1 the words of Amos who was one of the Shepherds of tocoa who prophesied concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of jeroboam son of joash king of Israel 2 years before the earthquake the mentioned jeroboam was in fact jeroboam II king of Israel or the northern kingdom here a date is also mentioned as 2 years before the earthquake this earthquake was also referred to by Zechariah about 200 years later according to the historian Josephus it

occurred during the reign of oziah regardless this detail helps us understand that Amos was a contemporary of Hosea and that he was one of the first prophets to prophesy to the northern kingdom or Israel this book of the Prophet Amos is the only mention we have of this man in the Old Testament neither the first nor the second book of Kings nor the first nor the second book of Chronicles mention this prophet and he should not be confused with amaz the father of the prophet Isaiah the text tells us that Amos was one of the

Shepherds of tcoa it seems that Amos did not have formal theological or prophetic training although there was a school of prophets known as the sons of the prophets at that time Amos was a simple man a farmer who had been specially called to Ministry Amos spoke of his background in calling in Amos 7: 14- 15 Amos answered amziah I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet but I am a shepherd and also a dresser of sycamore trees but the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me go prophesy to

My People Israel Amos uses an uncommon expression to describe his work instead of simply saying Shepherd the original Hebrew calls Amos a breeder of sheep probably Amos chose this title to emphasize that he really was a Shepherd not using the term symbolically or spiritually the way God used Amos reminds us of how he used the disciple of Jesus ordinary men who were called to accomplish great Deeds for God and amiah thought Amos was just one of the many professional prophets who abounded in both the North and South people who made their living by prophesying in

the name of the Lord who made themselves noticeable around the temple and the sanctuaries and who sold their services to the highest bidder therefore the first thing Amos does is deny that idea hence the words I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet the schools of prophets that existed in Israel from early on were groups possibly formed by young men with certain spiritual concerns who perhaps under the supervision of a prophet prepared themselves for this ministry records of this exist from the time of Samuel and it is possible that Isaiah also had

such a group of disciples around him the problem was that many of these men ended up treating the ministry as a livelihood prophesying according to the desires of those who paid them and even adopting Canaanite Customs to lend greater credibility to their words these are the ones the Old Testament calls false prophets about them the prophet Micah writes the heads thereof judge for reward and the priests thereof Teach For Hire and the prophets thereof Divine for money yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evil can come

upon us what the rulers the priests and the prophets had in common was greed and covetousness they did all this for their own gain disregarding God and their neighbor willing to trample on everyone to achieve their goals therefore it should not surprise us when the prophet says that they were devouring the people like cannibals why because of greed and the Love of Money my dear listener this is probably the root of the problem in many places when the leadership of a nation is corrupt no form of government can yield good results but let us return

to Amos after dissociating himself from these men he continues saying but I was no Prophet neither was I a prophet's son but I was an Herdman and a gatherer of psychor fruit we see that Amos also devoted himself to slashing figs referring to the fruit of the sycamore tree which needed a small incision to ripen properly what did Amos mean by this simply that he already had a profession and did not need to prophesy to make a living if he was there risking his own life it was because he was driven by a nobler motivation

verse 15 of chapter 7 gives us the answer and the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto me go prophesy unto My People Israel unlike many in Israel and Judah he performed this ministry by a Divine calling it was the Lord himself who called him and said go prophesy unto My People Israel was he in danger yes did his word start to become unpopular also yes but the important thing was that he was in the place designated and fulfilling the mission entrusted to him commentators highlight the strength of the

words and the Lord took me as I followed the flock took me can be translated as snatched up meaning it was a calling he could not resist this calling he experienced while he was busy at his work Amos was a courageous man with a message from God the prophet was not only unknown when he arrived at bethl in the northern kingdom or Israel but he is also quite unknown today indeed we should associate Amos with Hosea because both prophets were contemporaries and likely knew each other the messenger of Jose isah emphasized the love of God

presenting a god of love who is also ready to judge while Amos spoke of the lofty and inflexible justice of God that leads him to judge sin it is remarkable to observe that Amos had a global appreciation of the situation a worldwide Vision he first spoke to the neighboring nations of Israel to the great world powers of that day which was not a new or unique fact later other prophets such as Isaiah J Jemiah Ezekiel and Daniel also did this but the approach used by Amos was to reverse this method he first spoke of God's

judgment on the neighboring Nations and then of God's judgment on Israel when Amos first spoke in bethl the king's Sanctuary indicating that God would judge Syria philistia Phoenicia Edom Ammon and Moab all filled the king's Sanctuary when Gathering a large number of people around me many liked to hear my preaching about the sins of the inhabitants of Moab because in doing so I was not talking about their own sins as Israelites today many people like to hear the preacher condemn the sins of others whether current or from other times but any preacher who speaks against

the current and personal sins of his listeners will face trouble I believe that even though I was a rural preacher from a desert region I used quite a bit of diplomacy in speaking first of other nations after all although simple I managed to express myself eloquently and was recognized as a great orator after speaking of God's judgment on the neighboring Nations I denounced Israel which had forgotten God's blessings Israel had become like its oppressors by imitating their sins moreover the Israelites had forgotten the duty and responsibility they had as God's people something that made them

deserving of divine judgment the reason for a harsher judgment was quite obvious privilege always creates responsibility the greater the light of Revelation someone receives the greater their responsibility before God it is evident that you my esteemed listener and I are more responsible before God than those who have been unable to read the Bible and are not hearing the word of God at all we often judge others for their unbelief but have we stopped to consider the tremendous responsibility that you and I have due to our privilege of possessing the word of God we pride ourselves

on having the Bible but what really matters is our personal obedience to the word of God and whether we are doing something to help that word reach others thus leaving the topic of the neighboring Nations the prophet moved on to address the sins of God's people starting with Judah the southern Kingdom from where I myself came let's read from Amos 2: 4 and 5 thus sayith the Lord for three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept

his Commandments and their lies cause them to Heir after which their fathers have walked therefore I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall Devour the Palaces of Jerusalem here I use the typical phrase of the Prophet to communicate that I could list many transgressions of which they were guilty but I would highlight one of them that was key because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his Commandments and their lies caused their followers to ER following in the footsteps of their fathers this phrase summed up in a few

words what took many pages for the prophets Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel to express God would judge the southern Kingdom and why because they disobeyed his Commandments and despised the law of God they even had the Temple located in Jerusalem and as a consequence would be judged like the other nations with fire against them and their palaces like the other prophets I repeatedly mentioned that there would be a judgment by fire when King Nebuchadnezzar Advanced against the city he completely burned Jerusalem only the stones remained in that particular area the repeated use of fire to express

judgment continues in the new test Testament certainly I referred to the material fire that would come against the walls and material palaces but the Bible also uses fire in a spiritual way to describe God's purifying work in The Believer the Bible says that God will test each believer's works with fire to burn away what is unworthy when we think of God's purifying fire we should remember how the Apostle Peter expressed it in his first letter chapter 4 vers 17 for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God and if it

first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God my dear listener we should invite God to burn down any wall or Palace we have built against him so that his work may continue in us and through us without hindrance after announcing God's judgment on Judah I Amos proclaim the Judgment against Israel the northern kingdom for immorality and blasphemy I remember proclaiming these messages in bethl in the northern kingdom speaking in the king's Chaple I believe that each time I stood up to speak I chose one of

these nations and pronounced God's judgment upon it at that moment when I even mentioned Judah I was getting very close to the people among whom I found myself however the 10 tribes of the North and the two tribes of the South were at war with each other most of the time occasionally they formed a line alliances but this occurred only out of fear and the necessity to face common enemies for the most part these kingdoms of the North and South were enemies therefore when I the prophet Amos communicated my message of judgment against the southern

Kingdom all present must have nodded an agreement because they agreed that God should judge Jerusalem and Judah but what was to be said to the northern kingdom starting with verse 6 of chapter 2 I the prophet would speak to the northern kingdom bethl was the city where the king worshiped and this man was speaking in the King's Chapel thus with my words of judgment I was approaching these people of the north whose future I was beginning to intrude upon with this I the prophet Amos would begin to speak of the sin of the congregation before

me I was no longer speaking about the sins of the moabites but of the sins of the northern kingdom they also had the law of God and had been taught according to the Ten Commandments let us then read what the prophet Amos said in verse 6 of chapter 2 thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes there were more transgressions than these and I would mention them I would address

the laws of Moses not just the Ten Commandments as I did with Judah but the laws that dealt with the daily life of the people the verse continues because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes as we have said the 10 tribes of the North had the law of Moses but they were committing the same sins as the neighboring Nations it was then a fact that the same people whom God had removed from the promised land were guilty of the same sins that Israel was committing at that time

first I mentioned the mistreatment of the poor as we read this book we will see that I Amos had much to say about the poor in ch 4:1 we read he this word ye kind of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria which oppress the poor which crush the needy and in chapter 5:1 we also read for as much therefore as your treading is upon the poor and ye take from him burdens of wheat ye have built houses of heun stone but you shall not dwell in them ye have planted Pleasant Vineyards but ye

shall not drink wine of them as we study the prophets we find again and again that the poor will not be treated justly or equitably in this land until the Lord Jesus Christ Reigns The Only Hope for the poor is found in the Lord many have promised to care for the less privileged classes but once they have the means to do so they often fail in their promises and protect only their own privileges therefore we are grateful that there is someone like the Lord Jesus Christ who will finally bring Justice to the poor it was

clear that God would judge this nation here for mistreating the poor he gave them various laws on this subject and we will mention just one recorded in Deuteronomy 16: 19 Thou shalt not rest judgment Thou shalt not respect persons neither take a gift for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous God delivered this law to protect this social class in those days a man could be absolutely innocent yet his adversary might bribe the judge to receive a favorable verdict I must say that this practice does not

seem to have gone out of fashion other Customs have changed or evolved but this one has not in cases where money appears to be a determining Factor it is difficult for a person without resources to be treated justly I was speaking of a pertinent problem of my time where even a pair of shoes could pervert judgment and cause suffering to the poor as I have mentioned before there were more transgressions in the northern kingdom and I would mention them but in summary we can say that Israel developed a lifestyle far from what pleases God as

a result of their spiritual Rebellion self-centeredness and self-reliance I the prophet invited Israel to seek God let us read from Amos 5:4 thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel seek ye me and ye shall live when Israel was ripe for judgment the key to survival was simply to seek God however they could not seek the Lord unless they ceased seeking places of Disobedience and stubbornness exemplified by bethl and gilgal other rival centers of worship esteemed listeners God is always willing to forgive our iniquities it only depends on us to recognize them and run

to his presence in search of Mercy Amos explained why God was worthy to be sought and why he could deliver Israel from their imminent ruin let us read verse 8 of chapter 5 from The Book of Amos seek him that maketh the pleades and Orion and turneth the shadow of death into the morning and maketh the day dark with night that calleth for the Waters of the sea and porth them out upon the face of the Earth the Lord is his name again God made herd a message of Grace and compassion God is much more

patient than we are we come to the conclusion that we need to learn to be patient and with the help of the Holy Spirit to observe the character of God how longsuffering and patient he is it says here seek him that maketh the ples and Orion Orion is one of the many constellations that we can see in the sky and with which the people of that time were familiar and it added the verse he turneth the shadow of death into the morning and maketh the day dark with night he is that calleth for the Waters

of the sea and porth them out upon the face of the Earth this means that he is the one who brings down the rain it is true that rain is controlled by the law of hydrodynamics but who made the law of hydrodynamics who takes water from the ocean concentrates it over the clouds and moves it with the wind until they are positioned in the right place place and then releases the water that descends in the form of rain esteemed listener God is the one who performs this activity the prophet Amos said the Lord is his

name indeed I was telling the people of Israel that they had given themselves over to idol worship and that their lives did not honor their profession of faith in the Living God the Creator God dear listener in the world you will not find what your soul truly desires seek God and you shall live turn around and you will find him with open arms saying come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest yes he who made the stars that announce morning and night spring and winter who turns

Darkness into morning invites and waits for you he is the answer he is the way he is the truth and the life life if you have him you have everything God was firm and finally I Amos point to the persecution that the Servants of the Lord face reporting the difficulties I lived through because of the accusations of the priest amziah let us read 7: 10 and 13 then amiah the priest of bethl sent to jeroboam king of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the House of Israel the land is not

able to Bear all his words for thus Amos saith jeroboam shall die by The Sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land and amaziah said to me Amos oh thou sear go flee thee away into the land of Judah and there eat bread and prophesy there but prophesy not again anymore at bethl for it is the King's Chapel and it is the king Court the place from which I was preaching was not an ordinary City or Village of Israel it was the country's main sanctuary bethl where God was worshiped

in the form of a calf this place was undoubtedly a great platform to expand my message for two reasons first because of the variety of my audience people from all corners of the country from major cities and small villages both poor and Rich came there let us not forget that the king Came To Worship there and had a temporary residence hence the phrase the king's sanctuary and the capital of the Kingdom second this audience was constantly renewed the pilgrim who came to bethl probably stayed no more than 2 or 3 days sometimes less and their

place was taken by someone else there were always new people hearing the prophet and the possibilities for my message to spread were great this began to bother especially the religious authorities why because that preaching firstly denounced the falsity of the state religion which despite the beautiful and elaborate worship they had in reality God was not with them as they preached but against them secondly it endangered the privileged position they enjoyed before the authorities and the people as mediators between man and God thirdly it exposed how they had conformed to the system and in reality Justified

Injustice economic and personal interests weighed more than the truth of God as happened later with our Lord Jesus Christ as occurred with the apostles and as happens with the Church of God and the Believers when we are faithful to the message opposition soon appears in this case it was embodied by amziah this was a wicked man because he is identified as the priest of bethl one of the centers of idolatrous worship he sent a message to jeroboam King of Israel who was a successful King by worldly standards but a wicked King before God amziah involved

me in a conspiracy to discredit King jeroboam and the people of Israel he also said that my message was too harsh the land cannot Bear all his words and jeroboam shall die by the sword it was true that I had spoken something about the sword and about jeroboam but I the prophet had not said that jeroboam personally would Die By The Sword wound the priest amziah was an ecclesiastical politician who was distorting the truth and this is the worst kind of lie a certain author said that hired Priests of this class have always been the

great enemy of the true prophets of God and when they could not bring any accusation of false Doctrine or immorality against them they accused them of conspiring against the government because they had preached against sin they accused them of instigating Insurrection among the people and we can also see that amziah with sarcasm and Venom trying to ridicule and with a condescending attitude told me oh thou Seer go flee thee away into the land of Judah and there eat bread and prophesy there and prophesy no more at bethl for it is the King's sanctuary and it

is the king's court in reality he was telling me who told you you that you were a preacher where is your title to which school did you go who ordained you to the ministry where did you preach before coming here get out of here oh thou Seer and so he told me in other words to disappear from sight here amiah was insinuating that I Amos prophesied simply for money and that he no longer wanted to see me there dear listener I want you to hear the response that this great prophet of God presented this man

who preached the righteousness of God and the Judgment of God was considered by some as a prophet as fiery as fire but let us observe how gentle and polite I really was let us read verses 14 and 15 then answered Amos and said to amiah I was no Prophet neither was I a prophet's son but I was an Herdman and a gatherer of pamore fruit and the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto me go prophesy unto My People Israel dear listener I must tell you that if you spread

the word of God you will be doubted and challenged Amos was a man of God who proclaimed God's message simply because the people of Israel practiced a superficial religiosity which did not guarantee that God would not judge them for their sins because the Israelites rejected Divine Law especially in their deceits thefts violence and opposition to the poor God told told them that he despised their feast days although they offered their burnt offerings and grain offerings he would not accept them the songs of the people would fade and God's judgment would descend like Waters and his

righteousness like a mighty stream as shown in verses 16 and 17 of the sth chapter of the Book of Amos now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord thou sayest prophesy not against Israel and drop not Thy word against the house of Isaac therefore thus saith the Lord thy wife shall be a harlot in the city and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall By The Sword and thy land shall be divided by line and thou shalt die in a polluted land and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land the word

of God to amiah through the prophet Amos was nothing less than the Calamity by which he sought to silence Amos would indeed come upon him the text says Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land this was exactly what amziah accused Amos of saying as part of the so-called conspiracy Amos was bold enough to speak for the Lord and tell amziah and all others that the imminent captivity of Israel was indeed true this was a hard word in the most difficult circumstances but I was faithful in proclaiming it dear listener God truly fulfills

his promises he would carry out the verdict he decreed the Judgment against Israel the northern kingdom would be carried out with its fall in the year 722 BC at the hands of the Assyrians thus amos's message underscores God's justice although rejected by many God's justice is as holy and worthy of Praise as his grace and Love sometimes it seems that God delays his Justice however it is his goodness that leads him to issue many warnings before executing his judgments Amos also points to the future restoration of Israel with the Messiah as we can see in

chapter 9: 11 and 15 of the Book of Amos the biblical story continues although the Northern Kingdom Israel sinned and suffered the consequences God's people will enjoy his blessings through God's anointed the Messiah dear listener the lessons we learn from Amos are to preach with courage a deceived and slumbering heart will not awaken without a confront ing message Amos stands as a model of fidelity to God and courage he reminds us of The Importance of Being intentional in preaching the gospel with love and courage it is depressing and frightening to see the news these days

however Amos encourages his contemporaries with Promises of God's grace and mercy and exemplifies the value of doing the same before the day of judgment Christ commanded us to make disciples as we go into the world therefore let us also Proclaim his Mercy