Impending Judgment and the Need for Repentance
Amos was among the “herdmen of Tekoa” in Judea and was called to prophesy to both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. As in Isaiah 28, the northern kingdom represents the Jews during the Tribulation period who will settle in the northern part of the land; they do not represent the ten tribes, as in Hosea’s prophecies. The ten tribes will not be in the land during the Great Tribulation and when the King of the North attacks the land. (See Letters of J. N. Darby, vol. 3, p. 359.)
Amos had the task of denouncing the evil among the people and pronouncing judgment by a northeastern invader—the Assyrian. The state of the people of that day is a moral picture of the state of the apostate Jews in the land of Israel who will have received the Antichrist as their king. The impending attack from the northern invader pre-figures the attack of the King of the North at the end of the Great Tribulation (Dan. 11:40-42).
Amos focuses on the moral causes for the Lord’s dealings with His people in judgment, and like Joel, speaks more specifically of the Assyrian invasion than Hosea does. It will result in a remnant of the people returning to the Lord in true repentance and being brought into His kingdom blessings (Amos 9:11-15).
Three Sections in the Book of Amos
There are three sections in the book of Amos. They are:
• Chapters 1-2.
• Chapters 3-6.
• Chapters 7-9.
SECTION I: The Nations Judged in the Consumption
Chapters 1-2
Amos fixes the date of his first prophecy as being “two years before the earthquake” during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. Josephus states that the earthquake occurred when king Uzziah entered the temple and attempted to offer incense on the golden altar and was smitten with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16-21). Some expositors tell us that there was also an eclipse of the sun on that day (Zech. 14:5-7). If this is true, it was truly a momentous day. Prophetically, the (false) “king” of the Jews, the Antichrist (Isa. 8:21; 30:33; 57:9; Dan. 11:36-39), will enter the temple and desecrate it by setting up an image of the Beast (Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3-4; Rev. 13:11-18). It will cause a moral and spiritual upheaval in the land, and through his apostasy he will remove all spiritual light and truth from reaching men (2 Thess. 2:9-12; Rev. 9:1-2; Isa. 5:30; 8:22; 13:10; Joel 2:10, 30, etc.). Apart from the grace of God working in the hearts of some, none would be saved (Matt. 24:22).
Amos states that the Lord will proclaim His own rights from the place of His throne (“Zion”) and will call for judgment on the land by a northern army. In the end, the Lord will “roar from Zion” (vs. 2) and judge the last contingent of that great northeastern confederacy under Gog.
Amos uses the inroads of the Assyrian of his day to depict the devastation in the coming day by the King of the North. He shows that when this enemy comes into the land of Israel, six other nations situated on Israel’s promised inheritance (Gen. 15:18; Josh. 1:4) will come under judgment by that northern invader. Prophetically, these other nations will be part of the great northeastern confederacy under the King of the North. But when the millions of soldiers pour into the land from the north and east, order will be lost, and mayhem will result. They will kill and loot everything in sight, and the lands surrounding Israel will be ravaged as well as the land of Israel. This judgment is spoken of by Amos in chapters 1-2. It is called “the Consumption” (Isa. 10:23; 28:22; Dan. 9:27 – J. N. Darby Trans.).
Chaps. 1:3–2:16
Chaps. 1:3–2:16—Amos lists the various nations whose lands will be devastated by this massive invasion of Islamic soldiers. There are eight nations in total, when counting the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judea. Amos gives a specific message of impending judgment on each of these nations, prefaced with the words, “Thus saith the LORD.” The phrase, “For three transgressions ... and for four” is also used in each prophetic message denoting that the measure of their guilt was more than full.
• Concerning “Damascus” (southern Syria) – chap. 1:3-5.
• Concerning “Gaza” (Philistia) – chap. 1:6-8.
• Concerning “Tyre” (Lebanon) – chap. 1:9-10.
• Concerning “Edom” – (An Arab state southeast of Israel) – chap. 1:11-12.
• Concerning “Ammon” (northern Jordan) – chap. 1:13-15.
• Concerning “Moab” (southern Jordan) – chap. 2:1-3.
• Concerning “Judah” (southern Israel) – chap. 2:4-5.
• Concerning “Israel” (northern Israel) – chap. 2:6-16.
Chap. 2:6-16
Chap. 2:6-16—Amos focuses on some of the evils that will mark the state of the Jews in the coming Tribulation—thus justifying the Lord’s judgment on them. They disregarded the claims of the legal covenant in regards to slave trafficking (vs. 6; Lev. 25:42), they perverted legal procedures to exploit the poor (vs. 7a; Ex. 23:6; Deut. 16:19), they profaned the moral holiness enjoined in the Law (vs. 7b; Lev. 18:8), they disregarded the claims of the Law by taking pledges of forbidden things (vs. 8a; Ex. 22:26-27; Deut. 24:17), and they broke the two most important commandments (Ex. 20:3-5) by having fellowship with idols (vs. 8b).
Further to this, they despised His grace (vss. 9-16). The Lord had “destroyed” the “Amorites” in order to bring them into the land of Canaan, and He cared for Israel through the “wilderness” journey on the way there. Moreover, when they reached the land, in grace the Lord raised up spiritual men (“prophets” and “Nazarites”) to speak His Word to them and help them. However, in spite of His grace toward them, they were unwilling to hear the prophets and defiled the Nazarites by giving them “wine to drink.” Hence, the Lord was just in bringing His just judgment on the nation (vss. 14-16).
Chapters 3-6
In this section of the book, we have three prophetic messages pertaining to the sad state of Israel and the Lord’s retributive dealings with them. These messages document the moral reasons for the coming judgment of God by the hand of the Assyrians, a foreshadow of the coming attack of the King of the North. The sad state of the people foreshadows the even sadder state of the apostate mass of Jews that will be in the land during the Great Tribulation. Each discourse begins with the expression, “Hear this word.”
• The doom of Israel – chap. 3.
• The depravity of Israel – chap. 4.
• The disaster over Israel – chap. 5-6.
The FIRST Prophetic Message
Chapter 3
Chap. 3—The first prophetic message is to “the whole family” of Israel—the twelve tribes. Amos reminds them that they were the most privileged nation on earth because they had a special relationship with the Lord. He had redeemed them and brought them into a unique bond with Himself. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (vss. 1-2). But with privilege comes responsibility. Since they had departed from the Lord morally and spiritually, there would be punishment for their iniquities, if they didn’t repent.
SEVEN Rhetorical Questions in Verses 3-6
Amos asks seven rhetorical questions in verses 3-6. The point in each of these questions is that one event does not take place unless another event has already happened. Hence, one is consequent upon the other. Amos uses this to show that since the nation has committed evil, it would surely have corresponding judgment to go with it. Apart from there being repentance, these two things always go together in God’s dealings with men. Hence, these verses focus on the moral cause for the coming judgment.
Chapter 3:9-15
Chap. 3:9-15—“Ashdod” (the Philistines) and “Egypt”—people well versed in the practices of evil and injustice—are called to witness the incredible injustices being practiced in “Samaria,” the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. They would surely be astonished at what they saw. Hence, an “adversary” would come in and “bring down” God’s judgment upon them. But in judgment, the Lord would remember mercy (Hab. 3:2) and promises that a remnant would be “rescued” from the jaws of the predator. Not only would their capital city (Samaria) be destroyed, but their religious center in “Bethel” and its “altars” would also be destroyed. Moreover, “the horns of the altar shall be cut off” (vs. 14). The horns of the altar were the place of asylum for fugitives; they could find mercy there (Ex. 21:12-13; 1 Kings 1:50; 2:28). The cutting off of these horns would mean that there would be no mercy for them.
The SECOND Prophetic Message
Chapter 4
Chap. 4—In the second message, Amos declares that God would exile the upper-class women in Israel (the “kine [cows] of Bashan”) because of their love of opulence (vss. 1-3). He would also judge the nation for its religious hypocrisy (vss. 4-5) and for its obstinate refusal to repent, despite the Lord’s repeated chastisements (vss. 6-13).
Chapter 4:1-3
Chap. 4:1-3—Amos exposes a condition that existed in Israel that could be traced to the women. Their lust for opulence and being pampered with upper-class dainties created a situation where their “masters” [“lords” or “husbands”] were forced to exploit “the poor” and “needy” in order to support their wives’ expensive lifestyles. In exposing their true state, Amos speaks as though the women were doing the oppressing, but they really did it through their husbands. It was a pitiful situation in which their husbands were reduced to obeying their wives like servants.
Chapter 4:4-5
Chap. 4:4-5—Amos then exposes the religious hypocrisy with which the people were characterized. “Bethel” was a false center of worship set up by Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He broke away from the divinely owned center (Jerusalem) where the Lord had placed His name and led the ten northern tribes away with him (1 Kings 12). Amos warns that to go to worship the Lord in Bethel was to transgress. It was the same with “Gilgal.” Gilgal was the place where Israel cut off their foreskins—a picture of judging the sins of the flesh (Josh. 5). But these people were going to Gilgal and multiplying their transgressions!
Chapter 4:6-13
Chap. 4:6-13—Amos then focuses on the people’s refusal to repent. He tells them that they had been given “cleanness of teeth,” due to the shortage of rain to grow food. This was a retributive dealing of the Lord designed to produce repentance, but the people hadn’t repented. The Lord, speaking through Amos, said, “Yet have ye not returned unto Me” (vss. 6-8). The Lord had also sent disease into their crops. There was “blasting and mildew,” and “the palmerworm” that had devoured what they had grown. They had experienced “pestilence after the manner of Egypt.” Also, the Lord had allowed their soldiers (“the young men”) to fall in battle and their “horses” had been taken away. Thus, their military strength had been greatly weakened. Again, the Lord said through Amos, “Yet have ye not returned unto Me” (vss. 9-10).
Moreover, the Lord had overthrown some in the land “as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” and the people who were spared were as “a firebrand plucked out of the burning.” Yet for all this, there was no repentance among the people. Again, the Lord said through Amos: “Yet have ye not returned unto Me” (vs. 11). The solemn consequence was that they were going to meet with God and His judgment. The day of recompence was at hand; it was as sure as His Word for “He is the Lord, The God of Hosts.”
The THIRD Prophetic Message
Chapter 5
In his third prophetic message, Amos emphasizes the imminence of the coming judgment upon the land by the hand of the Assyrian—a foreshadow of the King of the North. To portray the certainty of it, the prophet is led to give this final message as a “lamentation” (vss. 1-2). Historically, ninety percent of the population in the northern kingdom was killed or taken away captive by the enemy (vs. 3). Prophetically, two-thirds of the population of Jews will be “cut off” (Zech. 13:8-9). As mentioned earlier, those in the northern kingdom prophetically represent the Jews at the time of the 70th week of Daniel (Dan. 9:27) who settle in the northern part of the land. (See Letters of J. N. Darby, vol. 3, p. 359.)
The doom of the northern kingdom of Israel was at hand, but there was still a way of escape—it was to “seek” the Lord (vs. 4) and to leave off their sins (vs. 5). If this were done sincerely, they would continue to “live” in the land (vs. 6); the Lord would turn away the invaders. The wealthy had been establishing themselves by oppression, but they needed to seek Him who made the constellations. The One who had such creatorial power in His hand could “strengthen the spoiled” (Israel) “against the strong” (the Assyrian) (vss. 7-9).
The unrighteous ones who sat in the administrative seats of the city, “in the gate,” hated those who judged righteously. They would take bribes etc., but Amos reminds them that it had all been seen by the Lord (vss. 10-13). Even with all this evil having been done, if there were true repentance with the people and they would “seek good, and not evil,” they would live (vss. 14-15). But on account of their obduracy, there was judgment coming upon the land. There would be “wailing” in the streets, the highways, and in the vineyards (vss. 16-17).
Amos then breaks out with a warning against those who wanted “the day of the Lord.” Evidently, they didn’t realize what it meant—it would not be deliverance from the Assyrian, but judgment from the Lord by the Assyrian (vss. 18-20). This shows that they had been spiritually blinded and confused. The people were trusting in their sacrifices offered at Bethel, the false center of worship, but the Lord (through the prophet) told them that He had refused to accept them (vss. 21-23). What the Lord really wanted from the people was right judgment and practical righteousness, but they had not turned away from their idolatry even from the days of the nation’s passage through the wilderness. The Lord said, “Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus.” (vss. 24-26).
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 focuses on the wealthy class in the capital cities of both the southern kingdom (“Zion”) and the northern kingdom (“Samaria”). These people lived in luxury and indulged themselves in pleasure, but it made them insensible to the reality of the coming judgment. They had a false sense of security and it led to complacency. There had been a “breach of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:30-32), but they had not been grieved about it. Joseph, here, stands for the ten tribes who had broken away from the divine center in Judah. Consequently, they would be the first to go into captivity (vss. 1-7).
The Lord had “sworn” that the judgment by the hand of the Assyrian would surely come. He would no longer protect the nation but “deliver up the city” and all in it. The decision was immutable (vs. 9). If there were ten men hiding in a house from the Assyrians, even they would die by the plague that would rise from the contamination of dead bodies strewn in the streets. If a relative came to burn their bodies to prevent disease, and he found a survivor hiding in the house, he would beg the survivor not to mention the name of the Lord. Supposing superstitiously that such an invocation would call the Lord’s attention to that house; they would die too, for He had commanded that all houses (great and small) should be destroyed (vss. 10-11).
Amos reasons that horses don’t run on rock and neither do those who plow with oxen, yet the magistrates in Israel had done the unthinkable; they had turned “judgment [justice] into gall [poison]” and “righteousness into wormwood [bitterness]” (vs. 12). Since they thought themselves to be immune to disaster, the Lord would surely send the northern invader (the Assyrians) and they would destroy the land from “Hamath” in the north to “the river of the wilderness [the torrent of the Arabah]” in the south (vss. 13-14). This is a foreshadow of what the King of the North will do in a coming day (Dan. 11:40-42).
Chapters 7–9:15
We now turn from Amos’ prophetic messages to his prophetic visions. These are marked by the words: “The Lord God showed me ... ” or, “I saw ... .”
The judgment upon Israel by the Assyrians is portrayed in five symbolic visions, all of which foreshadow the inroads of the King of the North (Dan. 11:40-42).
The FIRST Prophetic Vision—A Locust Invasion
Chapter 7:1-3
Chap. 7:1-3—Amos saw God forming swarms of locusts and sending them over the land to devastate it. (The first cuttings were called “the king’s mowings.”) This led Amos to intercede for the land and the Lord heard him and repented of it. This act of divine mercy illustrates the fact that the Lord is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish. Judgment is “His strange work” (Isa. 28:21). That is, it is foreign to His nature which is love, but necessary because of His holiness. The result of Amos’ intercession was that judgment was postponed.
The SECOND Prophetic Vision—A Devouring Wildfire
Chapter 7:4-6
Chap. 7:4-6—Amos then saw a fire break out and spread in all directions. This led Amos to intercede for the land again, and again the Lord repented of it, and restrained His judgment.
The THIRD Prophetic Vision—a Testing Plumbline
Chapter 7:7-17
Chap. 7:7-17—Amos then saw the Lord standing with a “plumbline” in His hand testing His people Israel. The nation is found to be away off the mark morally and spiritually, and thus, needing to be torn down. The Lord quickly precluded any appeal from the prophet to restrain judgment from falling this time, stating: “I will not again pass by [spare] them any more” (vs. 8). Hence, Amos does not intercede for the land as he had with the first two visions. Having failed the test of the plumbline, the nation’s idolatrous shrines and chief sanctuaries for idol worship would be destroyed (vs. 9).
Having announced coming judgment on the land and on the idolatrous houses of worship, it drew forth the ire of “Amaziah the priest of Bethel” who informed the king that Amos was raising a conspiracy. To denounce Bethel as a system of worship was to attack the very foundation of the northern kingdom of Israel. Amaziah then told Amos to leave Bethel because his ministry against the false center was not appreciated. As a retributive judgment on this priest, his wife would be reduced to be a harlot in the city in order to provide for herself! This would be a special disgrace to one who was the chief priest of Bethel (vss. 10-17).
The FOURTH Prophetic Vision—a Basket of Fruit
Chapter 8:1-14
Chap. 8:1-14—Amos then sees “a basket of summer fruit.” The Lord informs him that it is a picture of His people Israel being ready to be taken by the enemy into a foreign land. The Lord again states: “I will not again pass by [spare] them anymore.” Judgment was certain and their deportation from the land was certain, pictured in the basket of fruit being taken away. Thus, Israel was ripe fruit ready for a dreadful harvest of judgment. Thus “saith the Lord God, There shall be many dead bodies in every place” (vss. 1-3).
The cause of the judgment was their despising of the Sabbath. It was clearly something that was in the way of their corrupt business practices; they couldn’t wait for it to be over so that they could continue with their dealing and cheating, etc. (vss. 4-6). The Lord promised that He would remember their works in the day of judgment; there would be “mourning” and “lamentation” everywhere in the land (vss. 7-10). The result of the judgment would be a famine for the Word of God; the truth would be taken away from them and they would perish with their calf worship in “Samaria” and in “Dan” (vss. 11-14).
The FIFTH Prophetic Vision—The Lord as the Avenger
Chap. 9:1-10
Chap. 9:1-10—In the last vision, Amos sees the Lord “standing upon the altar” at Bethel as a great conquering Warrior leading the Assyrian armies against His people. As Commander-in-chief of the armies, He is seen ordering the soldiers to destroy the false center at Bethel (vs. 1). No one will escape (vss. 2-3). They would surely “go into captivity,” and those who are not taken captive would be slain by the sword of the Assyrians (vss. 4-5). The Lord’s ability to effect this judgment is proved by the fact that He holds all creation in His hand (vs. 6). This is all a foreshadow of the inroads of the King of the North and his slaughter of the apostate Jews in the land—which are those who will receive the Antichrist.
After judgment is executed upon the apostate Jews (vss. 7-8), the Lord will spare a remnant of the ten tribes of Israel and they will return out of “all nations” to Zion. The sinners among those who return to the land after the judgment will perish at the borders of the land (Ezek. 20:34-38), but not one who is righteous will fall (vss. 9-10).
The Lord’s Blessing on the Restored Remnant of Israel
Chap. 9:11-15
Chap. 9:11-15—In the closing verses of the book we have a happy picture of the future blessing of Israel. After these judgments are executed upon the Jews by the King of the North, Christ will return and restore a remnant of the 12 tribes of Israel, and they will be blessed in His millennial kingdom. The Lord’s throne will be in heaven (Psa. 103:19), but His blessing will be upon Israel and all the nations of the earth, and they will all greatly benefit from the millennial prosperity.