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, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
• Amos 5:24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
• Amos 9:11“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,