Amos | The Bold Shepherd Who Prophesied Israel’s Fall

The book of Amos delivers a powerful message from a humble shepherd turned prophet, speaking to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during its most prosperous period. Amos, though from Judah, is called by God to deliver a stern warning to Israel about the dangers of their opulence, injustice, and disregard for the poor. His words cut through the illusion of success, confronting the people with the reality of their sin and God’s impending judgment.

Amos uniquely begins with a historical anchor—an earthquake referenced in both Scripture and confirmed by archaeology—giving credibility and context to the prophetic message. This concrete timeline lends weight to Amos’s prophecy, showing that biblical accounts are grounded in real history. Throughout the book, Amos emphasizes Israel’s failure to uphold justice and righteousness, particularly condemning their treatment of the poor and needy.

One of the standout verses includes Amos 4:1, where wealthy women are harshly rebuked for indulging in luxury while oppressing the marginalized. Amos's message is not just about religious failure but social failure—highlighting how genuine faith must be lived out through compassion and equity. God’s judgment is portrayed through vivid imagery of Assyrian brutality, illustrating how far Israel would fall due to its unfaithfulness.

Despite the heavy tone, Amos ends on a hopeful note with a restoration prophecy in chapter 9, promising a rebuilt kingdom and a faithful remnant. This prophecy is later quoted in Acts 15 during the Jerusalem Council, where early church leaders affirm the inclusion of Gentiles into God’s family—showing that Amos’s message extended far beyond its time. It connects the Old Testament judgment and restoration to the New Testament’s gospel of grace and unity.

Ultimately, the book of Amos is a sobering yet redemptive reminder that God cares deeply about justice, mercy, and faithfulness. It challenges modern readers, especially those living in prosperity, to examine their hearts, align with God's vision for justice, and live generously. The podcast episode brings historical insight, theological reflection, and relevant application for today’s believer.

#BibleStudy #BookOfAmos #GodsWholeStory #ProphetsOfTheBible #JusticeInTheBible #FaithAndJustice #OldTestamentProphets #AmosBibleStudy #ChristianPodcast #BiblicalHistory

Transcript

 GWS-Amos

GWS-Amos

[00:00:00] Hey everyone. You're listening to God's whole story. This year. We're taking a book by book Journey throughout scripture to see how God uses the story of scripture to accomplish his purposes. If you enjoy the content, we would love to partner with you. Look at the show notes to see how you can do that, and we hope you enjoy this episode.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to God's whole story. We are ready to tackle another book, and this one comes to us from a shepherd. Amos the shepherd from Judah written to his brothers in the north. So this is kind of an interesting twist here. Amos gets to write to the next door neighbor and their nation during the height of their prosperity, and he does bring a lot of.

Words about some of the things they're not doing so well. Um, so this is, yeah, it's kind of unique this way. And this is the second prophet specifically to the northern kingdom. We already talked through Hosea a few weeks back and now we are gonna be looking at [00:01:00] Amos and all the good stuff that they were doing.

Mm-hmm. At the height of their prosperity, all the good stuff they were doing. Uh, this, this book kicks off with something worth calling out. I like calling out the nerdy historical stuff. Uh, literally. Verse one, uh, talks about, uh, I'll just read it from the top, the days, the, the words of Amos who was among the shepherds of Koa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Siah, the king of Judah.

And in the days of Gerome, the son of Joe Ash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. One, it's kind of actually unique to like. In scripture for that to be called out. Some kind of like actual, um, event. I, I think, yeah, it's usually specifically earthquakes. I suppose the reins of kings are often called out and yes, we track things that way, but there's not a lot of climactic climate kind of events.

Yeah. Or, uh, those kind of things. So that gets our attention because the author is actually referring to it as though people can use it as a point in time that they would understand. Uh, I believe this same earthquake is called out in Zacharia 14 five. Um, it talks about an [00:02:00] earthquake there as well. And the, that actually, I think the quote, I think the quote is, the earthquake in the days of AYA is in that book as well.

Um, what's really interesting is that archeologists have found evidence of significant seismic activity around seven 60. Uh, bc and so it's very likely that that lands around the right time. Obviously, it's give or take because it's archeology. Um, but they've actually found it in Hazel and Gaer and in Beersheba, so, or Beersheba, uh, however you wanna say that.

Um, but it, I love calling out instances where it's like, Hey, the Bible says it, and the archeology mm-hmm. Proves it. And that's actually a faith affirming thing. Yes. It's like, Hey, this guy was recounting something that actually did happen, so. It's hard to say. It's completely made up when a lot of things line up like they do.

Yeah. And we definitely, throughout this podcast, wanna call it those kind of things so that we, I love it. We can build your faith and trust in scripture. Yep. Um, I think God has orchestrated [00:03:00] such, such an incredible book that has historical backing there. Some of the literary connections that just go from book to book are just, you can't just make this stuff up.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But anyway, we do have, uh. This message of judgment coming, Amos is bringing it, and he's specifically talking again, as we mentioned in Hosea to Israel when they're at the height of their prosperity. And, uh, there is some pretty descriptive verses here in Amos that, that talk about some of what their prosperity look like and what they were doing.

Um, there, there's a reference to your, your summer houses, meaning that they had multiple houses. Uh, one of my. Personal favorite verses in Amos is chapter four, verse one. And Amos is addressing this and he says, here are this word you cows of baan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crushed the needy, who say to your husbands, [00:04:00] bring that we might drink.

I don't think that these were grass eating cows. These are, what do you think they were, Chris? I think they were. Women who had too much to drink. I, I hesitate to say they were large, but, um, they definitely had too much to drink. And they're pressing the poor, they're crushing the needy. Uh, other places in this book we see that the righteous are, are being sold for silver.

Uh, so it's, there is, there is some. Injustice taking place in Israel with regard to faithful believers, but specifically something that we see many times in this book, uh, to the poor and needy. Mm-hmm. They, they are being oppressed. And AMO specifically says Israel is going to be judged for their treatment of the poor.

Um, you just, you cannot get around that. And I think, um, that's sobering. When, when we see that God takes this seriously, [00:05:00] um, one of the themes that I, I see from cover to cover in scriptures, God always has a heart for those who are less fortunate or society cast down, uh, or those who just don't have as much.

Mm-hmm. Uh, remember back in the law. He told them not to glean the edges of their field so that the pork could come and gather it and have something to eat. There was always, uh, a looking out for those with, with less, um, when they didn't do that, uh, judgment and the judgment that is prophesied here, uh, is not going to be pleasant.

Mm-hmm. Uh. As Ryan was saying, this, this book is written somewhere in the, in the seven hundreds or these words are spoken, and the fulfillment of this judgment is when Israel is taken into exile in 7 22 by the nation of Israel. So we're, we are not that far right away, right? They're at the height of their prosperity and quickly it's going to go downhill in a hurry.

Which actually makes that, that generosity piece, I think is [00:06:00] what, what is getting called out Like they're, they're called to be generous because ultimately what God is asking these people to do is represent himself to the world. And they're not taking that generosity piece that is very clear throughout the law.

They're not taking it seriously. They're not practicing it, particularly, they're not practicing it when they're at the height of their opulence. Mm-hmm. And that's. Obviously disappointing. It's, it's very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Like, oh, why, why wouldn't they do that? And then it's like, oh, wait.

Like most of us, like if you're listening to this podcast, uh, you most likely are living in a culture in a time. Mm-hmm. Yes. Where we are probably one of the most wealthy cultures to have ever existed on the face of the earth. And we should not ignore God's desire for us to be generous with all the things he has given to us.

Mm-hmm. Not, you know, God has made everything in our lives. Possible and all the things we have is simply because of God's grace in our lives. Yeah. And so we should, um, heed his encouragement to be generous with those things. And there, there [00:07:00] is definitely, I think a blessing, uh, on nations that we, we do come from a nation with a lot of wealth, uh, in America, but the, the ultimate commandment to be a blessing to others mm-hmm.

Is not national. Uh. It's not nationality based, it's not country based, it's faith-based. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All the way back to Abraham. Uh, I want to multiply your descendants as numerous, the sands of the sea so that you can be a blessing to the nations of the earth. And, um, that's the Christian mandate.

Mm-hmm. That's not, uh, any one government's mandate or any non, you know, humanitarian mandate that is the Christian mandate. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that verse that I read that kind of was indicting them for some of their sin, it is followed immediately by kind of a prediction of this judgment that's coming. And the prediction itself is, is quite, um, accurate.

Uh, it says in verse two and three of chapter four, the Lord God is sworn [00:08:00] by his holiness. That behold, the days are coming upon you when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fish hooks. And you shall go out through the bre, through the breaches, each one of you ahead, and you shall be cast out into Haman, declares the Lord.

Uh, the historical evidence of when Assyria came and overthrew the capital city of Samaria, uh, Assyrians were brutal. They were the most brutal nation on earth. Sure, for sure. At this time. And perhaps one of the most brutal empires ever. And it would be known. And there's actually, um, artistic release of this mm-hmm.

Uh, that are still around. You can see them in museums, uh, where they would string their captives up. With hooks in their noses and lead them single file away to Nineveh, to the capital of Assyria as they destroyed the city, and they would often put the hooks through the nose or through the lip, [00:09:00] sometimes even the ears.

That actually is probably one of the kindest things they did. Just putting, uh, hooks. Uh, some of these other release will show, uh, the Assyrian cities with piles of skulls outside them. They would pile up skulls of their enemies as an intimidation factor. Uh, they were known to flee, uh, and whip and, and skin their, their opponents to tear their opponents into.

They were just incredibly brutal. They ruled. With fear, uh, is kind of was their mo and this is the nation that God raised up to bring judgment on his people when they oppressed the poor. Mm-hmm. When they did not, when they worshiped idols. When they did not follow him. Uh, and when it, uh, the Northern Kingdom goes into Exxon, a series 7 22, we never hear from them again as a nation.

Um, it's very likely these nations do not regather, do not return. Uh, they're, they're just. [00:10:00] Lost. There's, there's some cases for, maybe there was some small pockets of them still around, but Judah in large part, like leaves and returns Yes. With still some kind of sense of identity. Right. The, the northern kingdoms, like certainly they didn't all die.

The, they just like became parts of other cultures. They came, became assimilated. They're gone. Mm-hmm. The 10 tribes never regather as the 10 tribes again. Right, right. Um. Yeah. And so this, this is actually a sad part of our, our, of our journey here. That's, you know, 10 of the sons of Israel, uh, and their descendants are taken into captivity, never really to be seen from again.

And from this point on the remainder of our Old Testament and then into New Testament journey is when we're dealing with the Jewish people we're dealing with. Uh, the two tribes of Judah, Judah, and Benjamin, um, that were known as the Southern Kingdom. So this is a significant event. 7 22 is one of those markers on your biblical [00:11:00] calendar of mm-hmm.

This was a, a big, big event. We got any New Testament stuff in this book, apparently. Apparently it seems to be, seems to be. And almost so far it feels like there's been at least one, almost every book. Yeah. I think we'll break that streak with Obadiah, but yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, we've got, um, I, Amos chapter nine, uh, there is a, I just flipped all the way to Micah, um, AMS chapter nine.

There is a prophecy that. Um, is a restoration prophecy, talking about raising up the booth of David, repairing its breaches, the remnants. Um, the, one of the most famous verses in there is when the plow man should overtake the reaper. Um, that's one that's, that gets talked about a lot and, you know, this is like a future good thing as you're reading this.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but it's not immediately obvious, like the prophecy of Joel was pretty quickly obvious. Yes, yes. This is Pentecost. This one's a little bit harder to go. Okay. So [00:12:00] what's this pointing to? Mm-hmm. And again, this is where if the New Testament quotes it, uh, that's our authority on it. Mm-hmm.

And, um, we see it show up in once again in acts. Um, do you wanna tell us a little bit about the context for. How this is used in Axion. So this is, uh, what is it, XX 15, right? The Jerusalem Council X 15. Um, so essentially what's going on in X 15 is that the, the. Early church, which is now kind of far flung all over the place mm-hmm.

Is trying to figure out, um, what, what's the base level requirement to actually be a follower of Jesus. And what's interesting, I always think from Acts 15 is that the, the recommendations they come up with are not very extensive. Like, it's, it's pretty simple. Mm-hmm. Essentially what they're recognizing is that you don't have to become, I would say you don't have to become Jewish before you can be a follower of Jesus.

You can just decide to be a follower of Jesus. And so, um. I'm gonna give you credit, you're highlighting before we got in here, um, that this is a [00:13:00] quote that's used in that council. Mm-hmm. To support the, the, the, uh. Agreement that they come to. Yeah. And this whole council was even necessary because Paul had started on his missionary journeys.

Yes. And Gentiles start getting saved. Yes. And they started getting filled with the Holy Spirit. Yes. And you know, what are we gonna do with these gentiles? Well, it's fairly scandalous too, because it was like, Hey, these people all come from different cultures and backgrounds and beliefs. And so, I mean, I, I would say much like we can fall into today, like we would really like these people to become more like us before we let them into our faith.

Some of it was around food. Yeah. Some of it was around cultural issues. Some of it was just around preference probably. Yes. Yes. Um, you know, like I'm sure they. Sang and talked different and did, you know, and it's like, and, and of course, you know, do they need to get circumcised? Yep. That was one of the big things.

Yep. Um, so Paul brings the evidence of, of God's work back to Jerusalem, presents this to the elders and they say, okay, what do. [00:14:00] What do we need to do? Are we going to require these Gentile believers to be circumcised and in their discussion, uh, this is where James actually is the one who, uh, quotes this passage from Amos starts in verse 16 or 15, I'm sorry, acts 15, 15.

And he says, and with this, the words of the prophet agree, just as it was written. After this, I will return and rebuild the tens of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, and the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. And all the gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord, who make.

These things known from Avol, he, that word gentiles is not actually in the original. James kind of interprets mm-hmm. What he's seen before him as this is the fulfillment of this prophet prophecy that James had. And so James is basically saying that picture of restoration, um, following the judgment that was predicted in Amos.

It's going to involve, yes, the faithful Jewish [00:15:00] ones, but God's thinking bigger. Uh, he's thinking about the Gentiles coming into the kingdom and it was really, this was kind of one of the, like, when lawyers present kind of their, you know, other cases as evidence to support, you know, precedence. That's what the word I'm looking for.

This was kind of, um, James' use of scripture was kind of a defining moment in this argument that. Enabled them to say, okay, we think it's good. Mm-hmm. They do this, we just want them to remember the poor, which is interesting 'cause this came from Amos. Mm-hmm. And, uh, they needed to abstain from, I think, meat sacrificed.

Mm-hmm. Or sexual immorality. Mm-hmm. Maybe that was it. Um, yeah. And so this, um, through opened the doors of acceptance officially. It took many decades for that to work itself out, but officially welcomed the Gentiles as full errors into the kingdom. Uh, I would point out, again, I made this case in Joel that the fact that these passages are just freely quoted, [00:16:00] um, shows how familiar with the scriptures these guys were and I think encourages us today to make sure that we are just as familiar with these passages.

Obviously, it's not like a legalistic sense, like, you know, you gotta perform this or not, but, you know, they, they were very familiar. With what God was revealing and they were able to see what was in front of them and interpret their lives according to what they knew from scripture, which I think is a great example for us to follow today.

So we're close to the end of that, right? I mean, we're, we're close to the end of the book. Uh, yeah. That was that. That's the end of Amos. That's how it ends. There you go. It's over. It points towards the New Testament. Yeah. Like it, like they all do. Hey, thanks for joining us, uh, again on God's whole story. Um, we'll see you next week.

Bye bye.