As the prophecies of Amos come to an end, just like we so often see in the Psalms, what begins as sad or broken ends with a note of hope because, even though sometimes it does not feel like it, God does have a plan. And the plan for Israel was to be a nation from which salvation would come – a fact Jesus reminds the descendant of the Northen Kingdom of Israel of when he speaks to the woman at the well: John 4:22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Amos 9:11

Amaziah the High Priest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He is undoubtably aware of the parallels going one between the first Jeroboam and the unnamed prophet 150 years earlier and the current Jeroboam and Amos. (1 Kings 13:1-10) Amaziah is not about to let this turn into the kind of event which took place 150 years ago - so he decides to cut this whole thing short. As a result, he is only remembered for compromise.

Amos 7:10

One of the questions Amos forces us to ask is what makes a nation, a community or individual righteous? How does God measure righteousness? This is the lesson in the plumb line.

Amos 7:7-8

As we continue in the book of Amos, one of the themes in his preaching was the abuse of the poor by the rich. It was an abuse of economics, and an abuse of justice – both of which often went hand in hand. In Chapter six, he uses words to paint a picture which presents a group of people who are living lives completely numbed to reality by their comforts and entertainments.

Amos 6:1

It seems that the people of Israel felt that God had to be with them, had to support them, and would never allow their Kingdom to fall simply because they were Israelites. They were the people of promise, the children of Abraham, and God simply had to be with them, and for them, because of who they were. They could not conceive that God’s hand could ever be against them. Are we any different? What can we learn from this?

Amos 5:24

I know my first inclination when I face difficulty is to say, “life is hard in a fallen world”. However affliction is different. Affliction has the element of the “deliberate” attached to it. Most often affliction is brought about by some area of unrighteousness in a nation, or individual’s life, it is brought as a wakeup call by God, not Satan. You may say, “That seems cruel of God” but when you read the scripture, God only brings this affliction when people, especially those who claim him as their God, ignore him and go deeper and deeper into sin. It is the slap he uses to get our attention. It hurts, but it is happening to prevent greater harm.

Amos 3:2-3