The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy? -Amos 3:8
I urge you to read The Book of Amos. It’s extraordinarily prophetic for the day in which we live. It may not have originally been intended for us, but it certainly applies to us.
As you read it take note of three things.
- The word “citadels”. It occurs 11 times in this short book. God is speaking truth to power and putting His muscle behind it.
- The oft-repeated phrase, “And yet you did not return to me.” Spoken after God’s judgments go unheeded.
- The mention of God’s plumb line. Assuring us that God is the one who sets the standard and not any one of us.
Amos begins by addressing the judgment of the LORD against Israel’s neighbors, but in very short order Israel itself takes center stage as God deals with His own people and the conflict He has with them.
A prominent aspect of the ministry of Amos revolves around God’s justice. He addresses the powers that are at work in the world and reminds us that there is still a God in Heaven who knows how to deal with the powerful on Earth.
Amos speaks of the ultra-powerful, the ultra-wealthy, and their oppression of the powerless. As I read this book it’s apparent to me that God wants us to clearly understand that in due time He will deal with those who are reckless and corrupt in their use of power, position and wealth. Those who use their exalted status to oppress others will be dealt with by God. They’re not actually getting away with anything!
If you’ve ever wondered how God feels about tyrannical rulers all you need to do is read The Book of Amos. If you’ve ever wondered why they always seem to get away with everything you need to read the book of Amos. The answer is, they don’t. Their time is coming. The wheels of God’s justice may turn slowly, but they grind to an exceedingly fine powder!
A prominent feature that stands out to me in the Book of Amos is how clearly God sees all that happens on the face of the Earth. He does not turn a blind eye. Neither does He appear to be seeing in shades of gray. The issues at hand are black and white to Him, as are the ways He chooses to deal with what He sees.
And what is it exactly that God sees? A very powerful ruling class, and an equally impotent population under it’s oppressive heel. Exploitation of the poor to make oneself rich is clearly not a business model endorsed by God! There does not appear to be a middle class in the Book of Amos. We have the “haves” and the “have-nots”. The disparity presented in the Book of Amos could not be more clear.
It is not wealth and power itself that God opposes, but those who wield it as a sword against the defenseless will find themselves in the crosshairs of God’s anger!
Over and over again Amos talks about God striking “the citadels” of these powerful people. They think that nothing can touch them in the safety of their citadel fortresses. The Book of Amos, however, leaves no doubt that they are not beyond the reach of God! God sees the oppression and He judges the oppressors.
Furthermore, the LORD pays special attention to the fact that these oppressors are themselves living in the very lap of luxury. It’s clear that they’ve grown fat by impoverishing and abusing others.
There comes a time when God decides to do something about it. The fierceness of God’s anger breaks forth across the pages of Amos. A whole world of untouchable potentates suddenly find themselves reduced to rubble in a moment of time. It’s staggering how many scenes of judgment are depicted. Not only does God know how to topple nations and their rulers, but He gives the punishing blow to their private lives as well, striking their “summer homes and their winter homes and their ivory palaces” and sweeps it all away.
And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy— their winter mansions and their summer houses, too— all their palaces filled with ivory,” says the LORD. -Amos 3:15
When the people of God live in unrepentant sin
Another strong theme of the Book of Amos is that God hates it when His people are engaged in sin and live in an unrepentant lifestyle. The sins of God’s people do not go unnoticed, nor do they go unjudged. Over and over again in this prophetic book Amos prophesies about the sin of God’s people and declares the judgment of God upon it.
What is most striking is that God’s judgment most often comes in natural ways that people are quick to ignore and fail to ascribe to Him. He sends a plague, He sends drought, He sends wars and other natural disasters. And yet, in all that, the people somehow fail to see that these events are actually God’s attempt to turn them back from their sin. God says over and over again, “And yet you did not return to me”. Calamity after calamity is sent by God in the Book of Amos and yet they refuse to repent. The likely reason for their refusal is that sin has so blinded their minds that they no longer see clearly enough to recognize the hand of God in the judgments that occur in their lives. These judgments were meant to cause them to understand that God was displeased with them. He was attempting to turn them out of the way of sin, but they plowed ahead in their sin failing to see the hand of God in the judgments that befell them.
I’m afraid history is repeating itself in this regard. It’s common enough to hear churches teach that God doesn’t send sickness. They laugh the idea off as being beneath Him, as something that He would never do because, as is often cited, “He’s a God of love”. Perhaps we need to remember that He has always been a God of love and yet we are told in the Book of Amos that He sent a plague against His people. What is a plague, if not sickness? His judgments come in many forms and they run throughout the entire Bible all the way through to the Book of Revelation. As mentioned, they are often His attempts to turn us back to Him, but if we see things like plagues and natural disasters as merely the works of nature, of an unfeeling and impersonal cosmos, rather than the corrective hand of God, then we are unwittingly turning our backs on His corrective and loving mercy.
To those who are skeptical about what I’ve just written, consider the fact that Paul speaks to the Corinthian Church, telling them, “Many are weak and sick among you and some have even died”. He explains to them that the judgment of God fell upon them for the way they treated their brothers and sisters concerning the Lord’s Supper.
For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. -1 Corinthians 11:29-32
When is the last time that you have heard a church preach that people may be falling sick and dying because the judgment of God has come upon them? Today’s church would consider this an outrageous thing to teach, and yet it is exactly what Paul taught the Corinthians!
I am by no means of the mind that God is constantly sending sickness among His people, but to believe that He never does so is a completely unscriptural viewpoint. Every Sunday I hear pastors preaching about the authority of the Word of God, and yet, when it comes to these blatantly obvious truths in the Bible we are told something other than what the Bible actually teaches!
We need to go back to the Book of Amos, then we need to go forward to the book of Acts and consider Ananias and Sapphira. After we have thought about that, we need to move forward again to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and the judgment that came upon those who were treating the Lord’s Supper in a way that was dishonoring the Lord and His people. And if that has not convinced you, go further still to the Book of Revelation. Consider the terrible judgments of God that are written about in that book, and recall that just as it is written in the Book of Amos, it is echoed again in the Revelation, that there were people who refused to repent and return to God, and thus came under His judgment.
Do you believe that Jesus is the same “yesterday, today and forever”? Then you must necessarily embrace the truth that the God of the Old Testament walked straight into the pages of the New Testament unchanged.
The Apostle Paul seems to have a very clear understanding of this. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the things that were previously written in the Old Testament were written as “examples and warnings for us” so that we would not set our heart on evil things as they did, and thereby come under the corrective hand of God.
The plumb line of God
Finally, God speaks a word through Amos meant to align the perspective of God’s people. This word is as true for us as it was for the people in the day in which Amos lived.
God gives Amos a vision of the Lord standing at a wall that is “true to plumb”. In the vision the Lord holds a plumb line in His hand. By which God is saying, “This is the right standard, this is the correct way, this is what it’s supposed to look like”. He measures us by the plumb line. Are we measuring up to it, or are we falling short?
Paul never hesitates to draw from the Old Testament when teaching the Corinthians about what it looks like to live the christian life. His words leave little doubt that Paul walked in the fear of the Lord and he expects everyone who names the name of Jesus to do the same.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? –Hebrews 12:26
Whatever is not in accordance with the plumb line of God will be dealt with. God gives notice that He’s going to put things back in their proper order.
The prophetic word that Amos delivered was met with immediate resistance.
And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. -Amos 7:12
Amos is quick to point out that it was never his goal in life to become a prophet. He was a herdsman of sheep by trade and tended sycamore fig trees, it wasn’t his idea to “enter the ministry”. Nevertheless, God used him to prophesy to Israel and Amos was entirely faithful to the call.
It will not surprise me in the least if God does the same thing in our day- calling those outside of the normal channels of “ministry” who will faithfully declare the Word of the Lord to both an unbelieving world and an unbelieving pulpit and church.
Perhaps one of the most amazing things about this book is that at the very end of it there is a pronouncement of blessing upon the people of God after giving a litany of corrective judgments by the hand of the LORD.
The Lord is yet compassionate and gracious, abounding in mercy and love. We are left with the realization that God never abandons His people. His intent in everything He does, even in His terrible judgments, is to bring restoration and blessing into our lives. What an amazing prophetic book for the times that we live in!
The Book of Amos is a call to intercession. The problems described in this book are such that they can only be addressed by God. It brings me tremendous comfort and encouragement to know that when I see the world around me looking a lot like the Book of Amos I can cry out to God knowing that He is poised to do something about it.