Amos prophesied during a period of national optimism in Israel. Business was booming and national boundaries were expanding—but below the surface, greed and injustice festered among the people. Hypocritical religious rituals had replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God’s disciplining hand.
The complacent kingdom of Israel stood ripe for judgment because of her hypocrisy and spiritual indifference. Amos, the farmer-turned-prophet, lashed out at sin unflinchingly with the goal of revealing the nearness of God’s judgment and mobilizing the nation to repentance.
Amos came from the southern kingdom of Judah but did his prophetic work in the northern kingdom of Israel, slightly earlier than the prophet Hosea. He was from Tekoa, a small town about eleven miles south of Jerusalem. He did not consider himself a prophet or the son of a prophet (Amos 7:14). His only qualification was the calling of God. Amos received his training as a prophet straight from the hand of God.
The name Amos is derived from the Hebrew root amas, “to lift a burden, to carry.” Thus his name means “Burden” or “Burden-bearer.” Amos lived up to the meaning of his name by declaring divine judgment to rebellious Israel. The Greek and Latin titles are both transliterated in English as Amos.
Themes: God will discipline those who become spiritually indifferent or commit idolatry.
Author: Amos.
Time: Amos prophesied at the time when Uzziah sat on the throne of Judah (792–740 B.C.) and Jeroboam II was king of Israel (793–753 B.C.).
Structure: In the first two chapters, the prophet pronounces judgment against neighboring nations. The final seven chapters of Amos speak of judgment against the kingdom of Israel because of its oppression, social injustice, and hypocrisy. Five of Amos’s visions (7–9) told the people that they still had time to turn back to God; however, in the final two visions, judgment became inevitable. Only the closing verses of chapter 9 express hope beyond God’s judgment.