Lesson 32: Amos

Prophet of Justice and Righteousness

Amos is one of the prophets of the Old Testament who lived in the time between the division of the Davidic Kingdom into Judah/Israel and the fall of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) to the Assyrian Empire. Unlike Hosea who was resident in the north, Amos lived in Judah but was called by the Lord to preach against the sins, ills, and injustice of the north during one of its most prosperous times. But it was in that time that the “rich got richer and poor got poorer.”

Amos is a prophet of divine judgment, and the sovereignty of the Lord in nature and history dominates his thought. He called the people back to the high moral and religious demands of the Covenant. Amos’s message stands as one of the most powerful voices ever to challenge hypocrisy and injustice. He boldly indicts kings, priests, and leaders. He stresses the importance and the divine origin of the prophetic word; one must either heed that word in its entirety or suffer its disappearance.

Amos alludes to historical forces at work through which God would exercise judgment on Israel; several times he mentions deportation as the fate that awaits the people and their corrupt leaders. Israel’s rebelliousness has exhausted the divine patience and the destruction of Israel as a nation and as God’s people is inevitable.

For those who would like to explore details of this book, please consider videos from Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” program. You can find the entire playlist here.