# 🐑 Amos – The Shepherd Who Shook a Nation

# I. The Man: A Shepherd from Tekoa

## A. His Background (Amos 1:1, 7:14-15)

- Not from a prophetic school
- Not from a priestly line
- A layman called directly by the Lord
- During the reigns of:
    - Uzziah king of Judah
    - Jeroboam II king of Israel

## B. His Location

- Tekoa – a small town in Judah
- About 10 miles south of Jerusalem
- Rural, rugged terrain
- Ministered primarily to the Northern Kingdom (Israel)

# II. The Times: Prosperity Without Righteousness

## A. National Wealth (2 Kings 14:23–28)

- Expansion of borders
- Commercial success
- Luxurious living among elites

## B. Social Corruption (Amos 2:6–7, 5:11-12)

- Exploitation of the poor
- Bribery in courts
- Oppression of the needy

## C. Religious Formalism Rejected (Amos 5:21–24)

- Active worship centers at Bethel and Gilgal
- Sacrifices offered
- Feasts observed
- Songs sung
- Yet God rejected it

# III. The Structure of the Book

## A. Oracles Against the Nations (Chapters 1–2)

Pattern:

- “For three transgressions… and for four…”
- Judgments are pronounced on Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and finally Israel, with a climactic focus on Israel.

## B. Sermons Against Israel (Chapters 3–6)

- Privilege Increases Responsibility (Amos 3:1-2)
- False Security (Amos 5:18–20)
- Ease in Zion (Amos 6:1)

## C. Five Visions of Judgment (Chapters 7–9)

1. **The judgments of Amos include locusts, fire, the plumbline, the basket of summer fruit, and the Lord by the altar.**
2. Key passages:  Amos 7:7–8 (Plumbline), Amos 8:11–12 (Famine of hearing the word), Amos 9:1

# IV. Major Themes of Amos

## A. God’s Moral Standards Apply to All Nations

- Judgment begins with the Gentiles
- Ends with covenant Israel

## B. Privilege Does Not Guarantee Immunity

- Election increases accountability
- Knowledge increases responsibility

## C. Worship Without Righteousness Is Abomination

- God rejects ceremony detached from justice

## D. The Certainty of Judgment

- The “Day of the LORD” is darkness, not light (Amos 5:18)

# V. The Closing Hope (Amos 9:11–15)

- After severe judgment, restoration is promised.
- “I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen.”
- Promise of restoration and permanence in the land.
- This looks beyond the immediate Assyrian destruction toward future national restoration.

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