THE BOOK OF AMOS
LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION
Holy Lord,
You called Amos, a shepherd, to be Your voice to a people
lost in sin. He bravely answered Your call to service despite his humble
background. Give us the courage of Amos to answer "yes" when You call us to
serve in Your Kingdom of the Church. Help us realize that when You call us to a
specific ministry or service to Your Kingdom of the Church, You will send the
Holy Spirit to give us the skills we need to succeed. We ask You to bless our
study of the Book of Amos in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
All Biblical passages are from the New Jerusalem Bible translation. The New Jerusalem Bible uses God's holy covenant name, Yahweh, as it was written in the original Hebrew text. Most modern English translations substitute the Divine Name of God with the word LORD. CCC is the abbreviation for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and NABRE is the abbreviation for the New American Bible Revised Edition.
INTRODUCTION
The Book of Amos is the third book in the collection of books known as the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Nevi'im of the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian canon of the Old Testament, probably because the book's setting is one of the earliest among the Twelve Minor Prophets. However, the Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation puts it second after Hosea. His book may be the earliest prophetical book in the Bible and the first to predict the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.1 The book only has nine chapters and about 146 verses. The central message is not difficult to discern, and most of those who study it come away with a vivid impression of the words and the man who delivered God's message.
Amos, a native of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, dates his oracle to the 8th -century BC in Amos 1:1. Unlike the other prophets, Amos did not come from a priestly family like Jeremiah or Ezekiel, nor was he a professional court prophet like Nathan with a prophetic tradition or a member of a brotherhood of prophets like Elisha. In Amos 7:14-15, he told King Amaziah, I am not a prophet... nor do I belong to a prophetic brotherhood. I am merely a herdsman and dresser of sycamore figs. But Yahweh took me as I followed the flock, and Yahweh said to me, "Go and prophesy to my people Israel." Yahweh suddenly intervened in his pastoral life in Tekoa, a town in the Southern Kingdom of Judah about five miles south of Bethlehem, and sent him to preach repentance to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.2 His mission was to stir the people to defend the poor and needy against exploitation by the rich and powerful and to call them to repentance in their actions that included sincere expressions of liturgical worship. Amos reminds us that when God calls someone to a special mission, He gives them the gifts they need to succeed.
The book is set in the last period of the political strength of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC, before its destruction by the Neo-Assyrians and the deportation of its people into Assyrian lands (2 Kng 17:1-23). The book focuses on the covenant failures of Israel, which it evaluates and condemns as one of apostasy, social disintegration, wrong leadership, failed alliances, and, foremost, a period in which knowledge of and reverence for Yahweh are lacking. Amos's oracles probably began during the last years of Jeroboam II (783-743 BC), two years before a massive earthquake that archaeologists have dated to circa 742 BC.
Amos writes that his ministry began during the reigns of King Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel. It was a prosperous period for the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel despite the increasing religious apostasy and moral corruption of the people. The chart below lists the kings who ruled the Northern and Southern Kingdoms in the 8th century BC. The dates below are from the New Jerusalem Bible; however, dates may vary according to the source. Names in bold type are listed in Amos 1:1.
| Important Dates and Events |
| 930 BC ~ After King Solomon's death, his kingdom was divided into two states: the Northern Kingdom of Israel (with its capital at Samaria) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (with Jerusalem as its capital). |
| 783 BC ~ Jeroboam II son of Jehoash became king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. |
| 781 BC ~ Uzziah son of Amaziah became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. |
| 743 BC ~ Zechariah son of King Jeroboam II, reigned for six months before being assassinated. Shallum son of Jabesh ruled for one month and was assassinated. Then in the same year, Menahem son of Gadi became king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. |
| 740 BC ~ Jotham son of Uzziah became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. |
| 738 BC ~ Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of the Northern Kingdom. |
| 737 BC ~ Pekah son of Remaliah became king of the Northern Kingdom after the assassination of King Pekahiah. |
| 736 BC ~ Ahaz son of Jotham became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. |
| 732 BC ~ Hoshea son of Elah assassinated Pekah to become the last king of the Northern Kingdom. Neo-Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser conquered and annexed the northern parts of the Kingdom of Israel, including Galilee. |
| 727 BC ~ Shalmaneser V became king of Assyria. Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. For two decades, Judah remained an ally of Assyria. |
| 722 BC ~ Shalmaneser V died while besieging Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. His successor, Sargon II, conquered, annexed the Northern Kingdom's territory, and exiled the people. |
| 716 BC ~ Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. |
| 705 BC ~ King Sargon of Assyria died, sparking hope throughout the empire that Assyrian power would diminish. His son, Sennacherib, ascended the throne of Assyria. |
| 701 BC ~ King Hezekiah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah revolted against Assyrian domination, prompting Sennacherib to attack Judah. Jerusalem, Lachish, and 44 other cities were besieged, but Jerusalem was spared after King Hezekiah paid tribute to the Assyrians. |
| 701-688 BC ~ King Hezekiah built a second city wall and tunnel to better protect Jerusalem and its water supply from future Assyrian attacks. |
| 694 BC ~ King Sennacherib of Assyria completed his new palace at Nineveh, including reliefs commemorating his 701 BC siege of Lachish. |
| 690 BC ~ Tirhakah became pharaoh of Ethiopia and Egypt and an ally of King Hezekiah against the Assyrians. |
| 688 BC ~ Assyrian King Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem again. This time the city withstood his siege because God struck his army with a plague, and he withdrew back to Assyria. |
| 686 BC ~ King Hezekiah of Judah died. |
| 681 BC ~ King Sennacherib was murdered by his sons. |
Events are from the Biblical record and Assyrian and Egyptian annals.
| Biblical Period | #7 THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS | |||
| Covenant | The Sinai Covenant & the Davidic Covenant | |||
| Focus | Introduction and 8 Oracles | 3 Sermons on Judgment | 5 Visions of Judgment | 5 Promises and Conclusion |
|
Scripture |
1:1--------------------3:1-------------------------7:1------------------------------9:11---------------------9:15 |
|||
| Division | Judgment of Israel and Neighboring Nations | Sins of Israel: Present, past, and future | Describing Israel's Judgment | The Promised Restoration of Israel |
| Topic | Pronouncements of Judgment | Provocations for Judgment | Future of Judgments | Promises After Judgment |
| Yahweh's Divine Judgment | Hope for the Future | |||
| Location | Northern Kingdom of Israel | |||
| Time | Amos's ministry lasted two years (as the ancients counted *) in the mid-eighth century BC. It began two years before a devastating earthquake that apparently marked the dramatic end of his mission, during the reigns of kings Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah. | |||
*The ancients counted without the concept of a zero-place value, which is why Scripture records Jesus was in His tomb three days from Friday to Sunday before His Resurrection.
The Book of Amos is divided into four parts and includes an introduction and a conclusion.
Amos prophesied Yahweh's coming judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He also foretold the promise of deliverance for the faithful "remnant of Joseph" (5:15). "Remnant" is a Biblical term for "those who are left" of a people or nation. Usually, it refers to a faithful minority who refuses to join the apostasy/the sinful acts of the majority, and to the blessed few who survive a catastrophe that overtakes the majority. Theologically, often the remnant has been chosen by God to become the object of his special protection and spiritual blessing. It is a theme that often occurs in the Bible. Throughout salvation history, God has always preserved a faithful remnant of His covenant people. See examples in the chart below:
| The Protection of the Faithful Remnant | Scripture reference |
| Noah and his family in the Great Flood | Genesis 7:1 |
| Joseph, his brothers, and their families in Egypt during the famine | Genesis 45:7 |
| The new generation of Israel in the Promised Land | Deuteronomy 4:27-31 |
| The 7,000 faithful who had not worshiped Baal | 1 Kings 19:18 |
| The remnant who returned to Judah after the Babylonian captivity | Isaiah 10:20-23 |
| The remnant of Zion | Micah 2:12-13 |
| The New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ (Jews and Gentiles) | Romans 9:22-27 |
St. Augustine pointed out that the beauty of the prose and poetry of Amos, the humble shepherd, could only be a reflection of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He and other Church Fathers also point to many analogies in the Book of Amos anticipating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ:
As with the other patristic interpretations of the minor prophets, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 was seen as a monumental prophetic sign heralding the end of the Old Sinai Covenant and the inauguration of the New Covenant in the earthly Kingdom of Jesus the Davidic Redeemer-Messiah.
Questions for reflection or group discussion:
Question: Kings Saul, David, and Solomon ruled a United
Monarchy of Israel. What happened to cause the United Kingdom to split into two
rival kingdoms after Solomon's death in 930 BC? See 1 Kings 11:43-12:33.
Question: What promises did God make concerning His covenant with King David? 2 Samuel 7:11b-16; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Sirach 45:25; 47:11/13
Question: What warning did God's prophet give Jeroboam I of the Northern Kingdom concerning his false shrine at Bethel? What kind of worship was established in the Northern Kingdom? See 1 Kings 13:1-10.
Endnotes:
1. Many Biblical scholars consider Amos chronologically as
the first writer of the Minor Prophets, followed a few years later by Hosea and
then by the major prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. The reason for placing Amos
after Joel is because, like the Book of Joel, it begins with oracles against
Israel's pagan neighbors, and the theme of both books has to do with repentance
and conversion.
2. Tekoa was also the hometown of Ira, the son of Ikkesh, one of David's mighty warriors (2 Sam 23:26; 1 Chron 27:9) and the wise woman chosen by Joab to convince David to reconcile with his son Absalom (2 Sam 14:2). King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, strengthen the town's fortifications (2 Chron 11:6). After the return from the Babylonian exile, people from Tekoa assisted in rebuilding the city walls of Jerusalem (Neh 3:5, 27).
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