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lesson 28 AMOS I. BACKGROUND 1. Author - Amos the prophet, a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees from Tekoa, a town about 5 - 10 miles SE of Bethlehem. His name meant "burden" or "burden bearer." 2. Date - Probably about 760 B. C. 3. Setting - During the reign of Uzziah, King of Judah, and Jeroboam II, King of Israel. Oppression of the poor by the rich was common, as well as heartless indifference among the wealthy toward the poor and hungry: justice among the people was rare. Godlessness and immorality ruled the day. II. PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 1. Key Verses: 3:2; 4:6c. 8b.; 10c; 11b; 4:12; 5:4; 6:; 5:14-14; 5:21-24 2. Theme: Warning the people of the coming severe judgment of God for sins committed, yet with the hope and promise of a better day. 3. Outlines: 1) The prediction of judgment on the surrounding nations: 1:1 - 2:3 2) The judgment against Israel - 2:4 - 6:14 3) Amos' five visions of judgment and blessings to follow: ch. 7 - 9 4. Judgment was coming because: 1) The nations practiced: a. Cruel and merciless warfare: 1:3-5; 13-15 b. Selling others into slavery: 1:6-10 c. Refusing to honor kinships: 1:9-10 d. Humiliating defeated people: 2:1-3 2) Israel knew God but practiced: a. Rejecting His words: 2:4-5; 11-12 b. Oppressing the poor, the needy, and the righteousness: 2:6; 12; 4:1; 5:7; 10-12 c. Immorality: 2:7-8 d. Violence: 3:10 e. Rejecting God's correction: 4:6-11 f. Luxurious, idle lives without care for God's people: 3:12; 15; 4:1; 5:10-11; 6:1; 3-6 g. Empty religious ceremony: 4:4-5; 5:21-24 i. Idolatry: 5:25-27 III. THE MESSIAH Amos foretold of the new spiritual kingdom that the Messiah would usher in: 9:11; 15:16 IV. APPLICATIONS - LESSONS 1. God is in control of all nations: 1 -2 2. The privilege of being a child of God carries with it the consequences of weightier and more certain judgment for sin: 3:2 3. It is possible to be outwardly religious and still far from God: 2:7-8 4. Religious formalism alone is meaningless to God: 4:4-5 5. Social crimes are a sin against god: 4:4-5 6. Sins committed against God cannot be mended by means of mere religious rituals: 9:1-4 AMOS QUESTIONS 1. When we seek God, what is the result? 5:4 2. What two things were missing in the lives of God's people that caused God to reject their worship of Him? 5:21-24 3. Because of their sinfulness, what kind of famine did God promise, in the days of Amos, to send His people? 8:11-12 |