A guide to Amos

Who wrote Amos, and when?

Amos, a herdsman and fig farmer from Tekoa. About 760–750 BC, under Jeroboam II of Israel.

Amos introduces himself as a shepherd and a grower of sycamore figs from Tekoa, a village south of Jerusalem in Judah. He insists he was not a professional prophet and had no prophetic training; God simply took him from following the flock (see chapter 7:14-15). He prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel, and the book dates itself two years before an earthquake that archaeologists have found evidence of, giving a date of roughly 760 to 750 BC. This makes Amos one of the earliest prophets whose words were written down. Most scholars accept that the oracles are his, though the book's final editing may have happened later in Judah.

Who was Amos written to?

The prosperous northern kingdom of Israel, especially its wealthy and religious elite at Bethel.

Amos was sent from Judah to the northern kingdom of Israel at the height of its wealth. Under Jeroboam II Israel had expanded its borders and grown rich through trade. The elite built summer and winter houses, decorated with ivory, and enjoyed elaborate feasts and busy religious festivals at Bethel, the royal sanctuary. Under this surface the poor were being crushed: debtors sold into slavery, judges bribed, honest people silenced, and merchants cheating with false scales. Amos's hearers were confident that God was on their side and looked forward to the day of the LORD as their victory. The priest at Bethel told him to go home (see chapter 7). His audience today includes any comfortable society that keeps its religion but forgets its poor.

What was happening at the time?

Israel was at a peak of wealth and security. The rich built ivory houses and kept the festivals while trampling the poor and selling the needy for a pair of sandals. Amos, an outsider from the south, was sent north to say that God hated their worship because of their injustice, and that the day of the LORD they hoped for would be darkness, not light.

Why was Amos written?

To denounce social injustice and empty religion, and to warn of coming judgment on Israel.

Amos declares that God hates worship offered by people who trample the poor, and that Israel is about to be judged for it. He begins with oracles against the surrounding nations, which his hearers would have cheered, and then turns the same standard on Israel itself. He announces that the day of the LORD will be darkness, not light, and that exile is coming. The book wants readers to let justice and righteousness be seen in the marketplace and the courtroom, not only in the sanctuary. It ends with a short promise that David's fallen house will be rebuilt and the land restored. In the wider story of the Bible, Amos's demand that worship and justice go together is echoed by Isaiah, Micah, Jesus and James, and Acts 15 quotes his closing promise.

How to read Amos today

Read chapters 1 and 2 in one sitting and notice the trap being set as the oracles circle closer to Israel. Then read chapters 5 and 7, which contain the heart of the message and Amos's clash with the priest at Bethel. Watch for the series of visions in chapters 7 to 9 and for the sarcastic tone in places, where Amos mocks the religious routine. Do not soften the book into a general call to be nice; its target is specific economic injustice. Also do not miss the last five verses, which change the tone. As you read, pray for eyes to see who is being overlooked around you, and ask God whether your worship and your wallet agree with each other.

The key verse in Amos

But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.

Passages worth knowing in Amos

• Amos 1–2

  For three transgressions and for four

  Judgment circles the nations and lands on Israel.

• Amos 4

  Yet you have not returned to me

  Prepare to meet your God.

• Amos 5

  Seek the LORD and live

  I hate your feasts; let justice roll down.

• Amos 7

  The plumb line

  Amos confronted by the priest of Bethel.

• Amos 9:11-15

  The fallen tent of David raised

  Hope at the end; quoted in Acts 15.

The main themes of Amos

• Justice for the poor
• Empty worship
• The day of the LORD
• God’s judgment on all nations
• Restoration

An outline of Amos