by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. Amos was a herdsman from the city of Tekoa (about 12 miles south of Jerusalem)<\/p>\n
A. Tekoa was a small town on the edge of the wilderness. <\/p>\n B. During the reigns of King Uzziah in Judah and King Jeroboam in Israel, he was\ngiven a vision.\n C. He when went from a humble shepherd from an outlying town to a prophet of God\nappearing before kings.\nII. The first section is a pronouncement of judgment on nations neighboring Israel and the\nnation of Israel herself. Amos 1:2-2:16\n A. Each starts with the phrase “For three transgressions of ______ and for four, I will\nnot turn away its punishment.”\n 1. Means God has been overlooking the sins of this nation for a while, but\nnow they have pushed him too far.\n 2. Their punishment is certain. For the most part, their punishment was their\ndestruction.\n
B. Damascus (Syria)<\/p>\n 1. Had attacked a portion of Israel and had cut down everyone in their path,\nlike a farmer taking a sickle to wheat.\n
C. Gaza (Philistine)<\/p>\n 1. They conquered whole communities in Israel and sold them as slaves to\nEdom\n
D. Tyre (Philicea)<\/p>\n
1. They conquered communities in Israel and sold them as slaves to Edom<\/p>\n 2. They also did not honor their agreements made during the reign of\nSolomon.\n
E. Edom<\/p>\n
1. Attacked Israel without pity.<\/p>\n
2. Kept alive their hatred of their kinsmen.<\/p>\n
F. Ammon<\/p>\n
1. Killed pregnant women while enlarging their borders<\/p>\n
G. Moab<\/p>\n
1. Attacked Edom and burned the king of Edom to death<\/p>\n
H. Judah<\/p>\n
1. They have turned their backs on God’s commandments<\/p>\n
2. They lie and have followed after lies.<\/p>\n
I. Israel<\/p>\n
1. They sold righteous people and poor people off as slaves<\/p>\n 2. They oppressed the poor. They even use the cloaks they have taken from\nthe poor (a violation of the Law) as padding while they worship idols.\n 3. They encouraged Nazirites to break their vows and insist that prophets be\nsilenced.\n
III. Amos’ second message was to Israel and Judah – Amos 3:1-6:14<\/p>\n A. God holds them to a greater responsibility because He had chosen them as a\nspecial people – Amos 3:2\n
1. Yet how can they be His people when they do not agree? – Amos 3:3<\/p>\n 2. The problems the Israelites faced were not random events. They had a\ncause — God was punishing them for their sins.\n 3. Those prophets the people were shushing were there to warn the people. \nGod is not acting as a secret assassin. – Amos 3:7-8\n
a. Famine – Amos 4:6<\/p>\n
b. Partial droughts – Amos 4:7-8<\/p>\n
c. Crop diseases and locust – Amos 4:9<\/p>\n
d. Losses in war – Amos 4:10<\/p>\n
e. Disasters – Amos 4:11<\/p>\n f. Yet the people never turned to God. At least their ancestors during\nthe times of the Judges saw the need for God.\n
B. Amos details the sins of Israel. They do not know how to do right – Amos 3:10<\/p>\n
a. The ruling class – Amos 3:9-10<\/p>\n
b. The women – Amos 4:1<\/p>\n
c. The religious – Amos 4:4-5<\/p>\n
2. A remnant will be saved, though it will not be much – Amos 3:12<\/p>\n
3. The people do not want to hear any rebukes – Amos 5:10<\/p>\n
a. They are wrapped up in their wealth.<\/p>\n
b. They take comfort in their ill-gotten riches.<\/p>\n
C. Judah is no better.<\/p>\n
1. They think they are protected – Amos 6:1<\/p>\n
2. They are a society wrapped up in self pleasure – Amos 6:3-6<\/p>\n
3. But they face judgment as well.<\/p>\n
IV. In the third prophecy – Amos 7:1-17<\/p>\n A. God shows Amos a vision of locust swarms destroying the second season’s crop,\nthe one the people use to survive over the winter and to plant next year.- Amos\n7:1-3\n
1. God is saying he will destroy the people at their most vulnerable time<\/p>\n
2. Amos intercedes and God relents.<\/p>\n B. God then shows Amos a vision where Israel is destroyed by fire. (Amos 7:4-6)\nAmos again intercedes and God relents.\n C. Finally, God shows Amos a plumb-line. A device to check if a wall is truly straight\nup and down. \n
1. God is measuring Israel against His word.<\/p>\n
2. Amos sees how far Israel has departed and this time he does not intercede!<\/p>\n
3. Even Amos can see that Israel has gone too far.<\/p>\n
D. A debate occurs over this bad news – Amos 7:10-17<\/p>\n 1. Amaziah, a self-made priest charges Amos with treason against the king of\nIsrael.\n
a. His preaching is too negative and the people don’t like it.<\/p>\n
(1) Same description Isaiah gives in Isa 30:9-11<\/p>\n b. He is claiming the king will die (not what Amos said, see Amos 7:9)\nand Israel be taken captive. (Implied: obviously false!)\n c. He tries to run Amos off. You can’t speak such bad things in their\nchief city, the headquarters for their religion and where the king\nlives.\n
d. Besides, Amos would make more money where people liked him.<\/p>\n
2. People do this today.<\/p>\n
a. Acts 4:17 – 18 – The Jews wanted the Apostle silent.<\/p>\n b. You can’t say bad things about other people’s religions. Its not\nnice.\n
c. People don’t want face to face confrontations. II Tim 4:3-4<\/p>\n
3. Amos doesn’t back down <\/p>\n a. He didn’t become a prophet because of a life-long ambition (like\nAmaziah)\n
b. He wasn’t born into a family of prophets (like Amaziah)<\/p>\n
c. Amos was happy as a herdsman, but God grabbed him<\/p>\n d. In other words, he wasn’t in it for the money or the fame. He could\nnot be bought, so brace yourself, because I’m going to tell you\nwhat the Lord has said about you.\n
e. Very much like Paul – I Cor 9:16<\/p>\n
4. Amaziah would face<\/p>\n
a. His wife becoming a prostitute<\/p>\n
b. His children being killed in a war<\/p>\n
c. His land divide by others<\/p>\n
d. And he would die as a captive in a foreign land<\/p>\n
5. Strangely, there is no reply.<\/p>\n
V. Which kind of preacher would you prefer?<\/p>\n A. Amaziah would never be so rude as to disturb the peace of a congregation by\npointing out errors. He would not bother people by calling them to repent. No\none would leave his preaching with feelings of guilt. Everything would be so\nsweet and pleasant.\n B. Amos would not always be pleasant, in fact it would be down right uncomfortable\nas you are made to see yourself in the clear light of the gospel. His stern rebukes\nwould cause some guilty feelings and even unrest in the church.\n
C. Which kind of preacher would you prefer? God prefers Amos.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. Amos was a herdsman from the city of Tekoa (about 12 miles south of Jerusalem) A. Tekoa was a small town on the edge of the wilderness. B. During the reigns of King Uzziah in Judah and King Jeroboam in Israel, he was given a vision. C. He when went from a humble shepherd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[1178,536],"class_list":["post-61771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-amos","tag-preaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-preachers-amos-and-amaziah\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":0},"title":"Two Preachers: Amos and Amaziah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark White The Old Testament prophet Amos was a shepherd turned preacher. The crowd to whom he preached was the upper class of Israel, including the King himself. He was not their choice of a preacher, however. They did not choose him -- God chose Amos for them. His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57606,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-can-change-so-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":1},"title":"It Can Change So Fast","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Allen The wealth and materialistic excess of God's people eight centuries before Jesus were almost unparalleled. The level of prosperity almost certainly equaled that of the days of David and Solomon. Amos gives us a vivid detail of life during the reigns of Jeroboam II of Israel and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/storm-1-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/saying-the-things-people-dont-want-to-hear\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":2},"title":"Saying the Things People Don’t Want to Hear","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 7:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God brings to Amos a vision of terrible destruction \u2013 the destruction of the northern kingdom, Israel - Amos 7:1-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Israel had failed to measure up to God\u2019s standard. They were no longer straight. They were no longer true. They were like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52474,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-lord-in-amos-7-refer-to-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":3},"title":"Does “the Lord” in Amos 7 refer to Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Mr. Jeffery, I noticed in the vision in Amos 7 that Amos had at two different times referred to God as the Lord (no caps and not as Jehovah). It also appears that Amos is visually seeing the Lord (no one has ever seen Jehovah fully), so could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-will-the-sabbath-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":4},"title":"When will the Sabbath end?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jeff, I have a quick question. Is my understanding correct in saying that in Amos 8:5 the question is asked when will the Sabbath be past (end)? A few verses later (Amos 8:9-10) God answers the question: Sundown at noon darkness in broad daylight mourning (death) of an only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53911,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/and-then-there-were-none\/","url_meta":{"origin":61771,"position":5},"title":"And Then There Were None","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 6:3-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of my favorite mystery writers was Agatha Christie. She would write books where you tried to figure out who did it before the end of the book, but in the process you were distracted by so many possibilities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}