The book of amos is a prophetic book of the hebrew bible, one of the twelve minor prophets. The book of amos was written during the era of divided kingdoms of israel but in an age which is much prosperous than the previous times especially the northern kingdom of isreal with ruler jeroboam ii reached at such a level of growth and prosperity as was not seen after david and solomon. Amos prophecy was a judgement message to a few nations, but primarily against the 10 tribe kingdom of israel, warning of gods judgement against them for their false worship, immorality. Israel, the northern country consisting of ten tribes, and judah, the remaining two tribes in the south. The theology of the book of amos old testament theology.
Many books on amos continue to be published, evidencing scholarly interest in this prophet and the book that bears his name. They were selling off needy people for goods, taking advantage of the helpless, oppressing the poor, and the men were. The theme that is used in the first two chapters of amos is not new to the writings of the hebrews. This book in the hebrew bibles is called sepher amos, the book of amos. The main themes of the book of amos are social justice, god\s omnipotence, and. Although there are sermons using a verse or part of a. Hear this word, you cows of bashan on mount samaria, you women who oppress the poor. He speaks of hope for the children of israel when they will be restored to a kingdom under. Amos lived in the kingdom of judah but preached in the northern kingdom of israel. Studying the book of the prophet amos is an excellent way to begin a study of the prophetic tradition of israel.
The israelites had a unique and privileged relationship with god. He writes about the terrible things that they have done. It is a prophecy for the period just ahead of us, a prophecy dealing with a specific two. The day of the lord is the theme of this book joel he was a prophet of ancient israel. Not one of the recognized prophets of israel, nor was he a priest, not even a native of israel but a farmer called of the lord from judah to warn the northern kingdom of the coming judgement. It is certain only that he fulfilled some of his prophetic ministry at bethel amos 7. Amos is a shepherd and a fruit picker from the judean village of tekoa when god calls him, even though he lacks an education or a priestly background. Answer amos may have delivered the prophecies of this book at different places in the northern kingdom, such as samaria and bethel. Find out what true worship looks like in the book of amos. He speaks of hope for the children of israel when they will be restored to a kingdom under the house of david. It is a short book full of passion and anger whose subject matter is a protest in the name of god against social injustice, complacency and hypocrisy.
Book of amos summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of amos for bible study or sunday school lessons. Editors and copyists added comments to the prophets original oracles that they deemed appropriate in light of events that occurred after his death. The covenant lawsuit, woe oracles, laments, promise. A real relationship with god should show in social justice and righteousness. If there is a theme in amos, it is that israel had accepted the covenant relationship with yahweh but failed to meet its responsibility to that relationship. Book of amos overview insight for living ministries. His major themes of social justice, gods omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy.
God raised up the prophet amos, as an act of his great mercy to a people who repeatedly shunned and disobeyed him. This is the 4th part of our bible study on the book of amos, found in the old testament. The book of amos is one of the least understood in the holy scriptures. The theme that runs through all of the material is one of protest against the social injustices that prevailed in northern israel during the reign of jeroboam ii. The book of amos, which is the earliest of the prophetic writings to be preserved in book form, consists of nine chapters. This book provides a detailed exploration of this theme and other important elements of the theology underlying the book of amos. Five messages describing the reasons for the judgment and just how bad they were. Intro to amos biblica the international bible society. Amos intro to amos biblica the international bible society.
The concept of justice in the book of amos heartwell. The prophets name, amos, has been variously explained, and its exact meaning is still a matter of conjecture. Mar 14, 2018 every book of the bible has a theme and a purpose, and that is true of the book of james as well. Amos the book of, one of the twelve minor prophets, is part of the christian old testament. Amos contains all of the literary types he described. Not much has been written about it in the new church. The prophet amos the bible brief the best bible summary.
Apr 02, 2020 book of amos, the third of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in one book under the jewish canon titled the twelve. The message of amos lands on the global church today with as much force and necessity as it landed on the people of god 2,700. Amos and his message changed the center of gravity in religion from the externally correct to the internally moral. The book of amos is the third of the twelve minor prophets in the tanakhold testament and the second in the greek septuagint tradition.
The prophecy of amos is characterized by great boldness coupled with great tact. The most popular bible verses from amos found 146 verses amos 4. Amos 12 contains a great example of this entrapment technique, and recognizing what amos is doing here really helps us to understand what is being said and what is the theme of the book. The major themes in the book of amos judgment, injustice, lament, the sin of gods people, repentance are not easy subjects. The twelve include hosea, joel, amos, obadiah, jonah, micah, nahum, habakkuk, zephaniah, haggai, zechariah, and malachi. The prophet gains the attention of his audience by pronouncing judgment on israels enemies before delivering the main burden of judgment against israel herself. One thing of interest, as you read through the scriptures, is that each author seemed to use a theme device to get his point across, and sometimes the theme was borrowed from another writer. Amos wrote at a time of relative peace and prosperity but also of neglect of gods laws. A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. Since i started working on this study of amos, i have searched our library holdings with the hope i would turn up a hidden or forgotten study by some new church scholar. The purpose of amoss prophecy is to awaken israel and its surrounding nations to the fact that the nation is both responsible and accountable for its sins. More than almost any other book of scripture, the book of amos holds gods people accountable for their illtreatment of others. The purpose of the book of amos was to announce gods holy judgment on the kingdom of israel the northern kingdom, call them to repentance, and to turn from their selfrighteous sins and idolatry.
Amos perhaps borrowed his theme from the canaanites. The book of amos was likely written between 760 and 753 b. The book of hosea consists of fourteen chapters, which was the record for a minor prophet until zechariah tied it a couple centuries later. It repeatedly points out the failure of the people to fully embrace gods idea of justice.
His major themes of justice, gods omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. The book of amos is great stuff, and as the schedule here at the chapel happens to break out, for better or for worse, you and i will be together like this 3 times in the next 6 weeks, so i thought we would use that time to do a short three week series in the book of amos. Pastor allen continues his indepth study in the book of amos part 4. Apr 30, 2012 in modern times amos has come to be considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice. Lessons from the book of amos, part i steps to life. His theme then, is national accountability for national sins. The israelites clearly expected a day of the lord when all their enemies would be judged 1.
The book of, one of the twelve minor prophets, is part of the christian old testament. That is restored under the rule of christ for he is the son of david, the messiah. The central idea of the book of amos is that god puts his people on the same level as the surrounding nations god. The main themes of amos and lessons that we learn from this book are. The theology of the book of amos in modern times, amos has come to be considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice.
Amos may have delivered the prophecies of this book at different places in the northern kingdom, such as samaria and bethel. He prophesied in israel at the great cult center of bethel, from which he was finally expelled by the priest in charge of this royal sanctuary. Many books on amos continue to be published, evidencing scholarly interest in this prophet and the book. The basis for these predictions is not the rise in power of the assyrian empire, with its threat of invasion from the north, but rather the immorality expressed in the political, economic.
Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah, was active c. Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah was active during the reign of jeroboam ii, making the book of amos the first biblical prophetic book written. Aug 30, 2017 the book of amos kjv audio holy bible high quality and best speed book 30 duration. Reading them today we may well be tempted to downplay the force of the message and dilute the challenge it brings. Amos declared that god was going to judge his unfaithful, disobedient, covenant. According to the heading of his book i, 1 amos was a herdsman of thecua, a village in the southern kingdom, twelve miles south of jerusalem. The coming downfall and the utter collapse of the northern kingdom are two major themes in the book of amos.
The main theme of james is that of faith and actions, but there are also other themes and key topics addressed in this book. More than almost any other book of scripture, the book of amos holds gods people. Amos, a judaean prophet from the village of tekoa, was active in the northern kingdom of israel during the reign of jeroboam ii c. He spoke against an increased disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor.
Amos was a vigorous spokesman for gods justice and righteousness, whereas hosea emphasized gods love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. This summary of the book of amos provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of amos. The book of amos is an intriguing scripture from a unique individual, amos, a shepherd and fig tree farmer dwelling in southern judah who is called by god to go to bethel and announce warnings of judgment to the northern kingdom of israel. Amos called by the lord to prophesy to the northern. Not all of the material found in these chapters came from amos himself. Then he says something to his own people who live in israel and judah. May 18, 2017 the book of amos is a prophetic book of the hebrew bible largely dating to the 8th century bce and considered to be scripture by modernday jews and christians. Repentance in nineveh resulted from his preaching jonah the prophet of northern kingdom of israel got the name jonah. So, with these things in mind, we see amos is preaching in the northern kingdom to the israelites, and he begins by giving a series of speeches against israels surrounding enemies. Amos was a sheepbreeder of tekoa in judah, who delivered his oracles in the northern kingdom during the prosperous reign of jeroboam ii 786746 b. Amos dated his prophecy by reference to which two kings. The prophet amos lived among a group of shepherds in tekoa, a small town. During the time of the minor prophets, the nation of israel had divided into two separate countries, each with its own government. Themes in the book of james scripture confident living.