Amos | "What Does The Lord Require Of Us? a Minor Prophets Series

1. A sermon series
on the
Minor Prophets

2.  Obadiah  Nahum
 840 BC  660 BC
 Joel  Zephaniah
 835 BC  625 BC
 Jonah  Habakkuk
 760 BC  607 BC
 Amos  Haggai
 755 BC  520 BC
 Hosea  Zechariah
 740 BC  515 BC
 Micah  Malachi
 730 BC  430 BC

3. 6 With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow
myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with
calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of
rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does
the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

4.  Injustice flourishes where indifference prevails
(Obadiah)
 Injustice flows from a low regard for human
worth (Joel)
 Injustice finds a home where the heart does not
feel what the eye sees (Jonah)

5. Messages of the Minor Prophets:
Amos

6.  Meaning of the name: “Burden”
 Amos 1:1-2, 7:10-17
 Home town: Tekoa in Judah
 Occupation: Shepherd, but also growing figs
 Tenure
 Uzziah reigned in Judah
 Jeroboam II reigned in Israel
 Overlap – 791-753 BC
 Two year before the earthquake
 Date uncertain
 Most likely between 767 and 753 BC
 Unpopular

7.  The nation of Israel (Northern Kingdom) during the
reign of Jeroboam II
 World power
 Great wealth
 Luxurious living
 Arrogance
 Physical security
 Formal worship
 Moral decay
 Oppression of the poor

8. Outline
 Introduction (1:1-2, 7:10-17)
 Amos the prophet
 Burden of the nations (1:3-2:16)
 General statements of judgment of Israel and
surrounding nations
 Burden of Israel (3:1-6:14)
 Specific statements of judgment of Israel
 Visions (7:1-9; 8:1-9:10)
 Symbols of the impending judgment of Israel
 Conclusion (9:11-15)
 Promise of renewal and restoration

9. Damascus (1:3-5)
Tyre (1:9-10)
Israel 2:6-16
Gaza (1:3-6)
Ammon (1:11-12)
Judah (2:4-5) Moab (2:1-3)
Edom (1:11-12)

10.  “X and X+1”
 1, 2 (Job 33:14, Psalm 62:11)
 2, 3 (Job 33:29)
 3, 4 (Proverbs 30:15, 18, 21, 29)
 6, 7 (Job 5:19, Proverbs 6:16)
 7, 8 (Micah 5:5)
 Also used in other ancient Near Eastern cultures
 Items enumerated
 Often the second number
 Convey the concept of “enough, more than enough”

11.  Message One (3:1-15)
 Excessive luxury
 Message Two (4:1-13)
 Economic exploitation and religious hypocrisy
 Message Three (5:1-17)
 Legal injustice
 Message Four (5:18-27)
 Religious hypocrisy
 Message Five (6:1-14)
 Complacency and self-indulgence

12.  Locust Plague
 Judgment averted (7:1-3)
 Devouring Fire
 Judgment delayed (7:4-6)
 Plumb Line
 Judgment determined (7:7-9)
 Basket of Summer Fruit
 Judgment imminent (8:1-14)
 Striking of the Doorposts
 Judgment executed (9:1-10)

13.  Renewal of the Davidic kingdom (9:11-12)
 Salvation will continue to be extended to Gentiles as is
in the Church age
 Acts 15
 Romans 11
 Restoration of the blessings of the kingdom (9:13-15)
 Complete restoration
 Complete security

14.  Message One (3:1-15)
 Excessive luxury
 Message Two (4:1-13)
 Economic exploitation and religious hypocrisy
 Message Three (5:1-17)
 Legal injustice
 Message Four (5:18-27)
 Religious hypocrisy
 Message Five (6:1-14)
 Complacency and self-indulgence

15. Prophet Amos
 Announcing judgment (1-3)
 Beseeching repentance (4-6)
 Charging injustice (7)
 Describing God (8-9)
 Charging injustice (10-13)
 Beseeching repentance (14-15)
 Announcing judgment (16-17)

16.  Turn justice to wormwood (5:7)
 Judicial system meant for healing
 Turned into bitter poisonous weed
 Turning aside the needy in the gate (5:12)
 Closing the courthouse to the poor
 Cast righteousness to the ground (5:7)
 Parallel in 6:12
 Tossed away as a useless weed
 Afflicting the righteous or innocent (5:12)
 Accepting bribe to pervert justice

17.  Structure of Message 3 (5:1-15)
 A–B–C–D–C–B–A
 Emphasis on D (5:8-9)
 Description of God
 God controls the universe (5:8)
 Creation of the constellations
 Control of time
 Consignment of the seasons
 God controls the nations (5:9)
 Human strength cannot thwart God’s purpose
 Message: Injustice is contrary to God’s order and will
result in judgment

19.  Amos 5:24
 Message 4 (5:18-27)
 A–C–B–C–A
 Emphasis on repentance
 Chiastic arrangement of the verse
Roll down - like waters - justice
righteousness – like stream – flow
 Justice/righteousness
 Related to social order
 Roll/flow
 Bubbling and pervasive

20.  Obadiah
 Injustice flourishes where indifference prevails
 Joel
 Injustice flows from a low regard for human
worth
 Jonah
 Injustice finds a home where the heart does not
feel what the eye sees.

21.  Amos
 It is an injustice when the access to redress for
the oppressed is cut off or perverted by people
who claimed to be religious.
 Remedy
 James 1:27
 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to visit the orphans
and widows in their affliction, and to keep
oneself unstained from the world.”