Amos

About Amos

Amos thundered against a wealthy, comfortable Israel whose worship services ran on schedule while the poor were crushed. He insists that God cannot be bought off with religion when justice is for sale in the courts and markets. Judgment is coming, he warns, yet the book ends with a promise to rebuild David's fallen house. In the Bible's story, Amos ties true worship to everyday fairness, a thread the prophets and Jesus keep pulling.

Written by

The book presents the preaching of Amos, a shepherd and fig grower from Tekoa in Judah who was sent north to Israel, and his authorship is widely accepted.

When

Amos preached around 760 to 750 BC, during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II, 'two years before the earthquake.'

Themes

• Justice for the poor
• Worship without obedience is empty
• God judges all nations
• Comfortable religion exposed
• Hope after judgment

Key verses

• Amos 5:14-15Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
• Amos 5:24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
• Amos 9:11¶ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: