Hosea, Amos, Micah

Gary V. Smith

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780310872672
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.

To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:

• Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
• Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible.
• Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved.

This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

Commentary on Amos

Amos 1:1–2

THE WORDS OF Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash was king of Israel.

2He said:

“The LORD roars from Zion

and thunders from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds dry up,

and the top of Carmel withers.”

Original Meaning

THE HEADING TO this scroll of sermons (1:1) introduces the readers to the person God uses to deliver his message, the general audience this message addresses, and the time when Amos interacts with his audience. It also contains a brief thematic statement about his message (1:2).

These two verses are not part of the message Amos spoke in Israel but have likely been added to his sermons when they were put in written form. They orient readers to what follows and prepare them to interpret these messages in light of their original context. “Two years before the earthquake” places this written document at least two years after their original proclamation. The large earthquake mentioned has already happened and is a reminder of Amos’s predictions that God will shake the earth (2:13; 8:8; 9:1–2, 5). It verifies the authority and truthfulness of this prophet’s claims and gives people a reason to preserve and publish his sermons.1

Structurally these two verses are independent of each other and are held together only by their common interest in “the words of Amos” and in how these words relate to the “LORD’s roaring” that Amos “saw’ ” or perceived from a divine source. The narrative style of verse 1 is traditional in all prophetic superscriptions, while the poetic format of the thematic summary in verse 2 fits the form of the prophet’s other messages. These two verses serve as an introduction to the whole book.

The Superscription (1:1)

THE FIRST VERSE of most prophetic books introduces the reader to the prophet and his occupation, residence, call, audience, and general date of preaching. Each author has his own way of putting these things together. Since this is likely the earliest prophetic book, this superscription has several unique characteristics.

The first thing that catches one a little off guard is the claim that “Amos” is the one who speaks “the words.” Although this is a natural way of identifying a speaker, it is not the way many later prophetic books start. They tend to focus on “the word/vision of the LORD” (Zeph. 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1) rather than the human author of the words.

In this introduction the original divine source of Amos’s sermonic material is emphasized by the verb “he saw” (ḥazah). His words have been based on the insight of divine revelation. The noun form of this root refers to “visions,” but the semantic field of the verb includes both the idea of spoken and visual ideas received by prophets (cf. Isa. 1:1; 2:1).2 The frequent introductory messenger formulas throughout these sermons verify that “this is what the LORD says,” and the concluding “says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:15) reemphasizes this fundamental belief about the source of Amos’s ideas.

Amos is largely unknown except for these sermons. The text says nothing about his family of origin or whether he has a wife and children (the father and family of Hosea are known to us in Hos. 1–3). He comes from Tekoa, a small rural Judean (not Israelite) village about ten miles south of Jerusalem, and we assume that he was born there. This village is located on the edge of the rugged desert area that extends to the east down to the Dead Sea. The area to the west is rocky and hilly and suitable for grazing sheep; thus, it is not unusual for Amos to be identified as one of the shepherds in this village.

The Hebrew word for “shepherd” used here (nqd) is a rare word in the Hebrew Bible,3 but the word is used in Akkadian and Ugaritic texts to refer to a person of status who is in charge of a group of shepherds. This implies that Amos is not a poor, uneducated shepherd, who spends his day leading a group of sheep. He probably is a manager of shepherds, possibly for a wealthy family or the government. This pastoral background explains why he uses illustrations about birds (Amos 3:5), lions (3:12), and the separation of the grain from other foreign material (9:9). These are all a part of his daily life in his natural surroundings. His involvement in the business world before going from Judah to Israel gives him insight into the way people sometimes unjustly treat others and makes him sensitive to the abuses he will observe later.

Amos’s ministry is in the northern kingdom of Israel, not in his homeland, Judah. These two nations have been separate now for almost two hundred years. They have fought wars against each other and have a clear sense of their own political and religious identity. Although the Israelites still speak Hebrew, there are many cultural differences between Amos and his audience in the key cities of Samaria and Bethel.

Amos’s ministry in Israel takes place during the prosperous days of the Israelite king Jeroboam II, who reigned at the same time as Uzziah in Jerusalem. The only exact date within this period is the earthquake, which took place two years after Amos preached in Israel. If this event can be connected with signs of an earthquake in the archaeological excavation of stratum VI at Hazor,4 then a date just before 760 B.C. is a likely time for his ministry. This is well after Jeroboam’s successful military campaigns to expand the borders of Israel as far north as the entrance of Hamath (6:14). These conquests have enriched the nation with tribute and trade, exactly the situation Amos observes when he visits Israel some years later.

The Theme (1:2)

THE POETIC PART of the introduction announces God’s roaring revelation from Zion in what appears to be a hymnic description of a theophany5 (possibly quoting from a well-known hymn of that time). This hymn emphasizes God’s roaring voice, his thunderous appeal from Zion6 (i.e., the temple in Jerusalem, where he resides). The imagery of roaring describes the bellowing warning that foreshadows an attack by a lion (3:4, 8). God’s roaring communicates his intention to attack. This warning is equated with the words Amos speaks both here and in 3:8.

The source of this warning is the Lord God, not Baal. The prophet reveals here his Judean theological position, namely, that God speaks from his temple in Jerusalem, not from the Israelite temples in Bethel and Dan. Since Amos does not use specific Judean theological issues to argue his case elsewhere, one can probably conclude that this verse was not part of his preaching in Israel, but has been put here after his ministry was completed, when these sermons were collected in written form. Thus, this verse is not an attempt by Amos to convert Israelites to a Judean ideological point of view during his ministry in Israel. His warnings have a more serious intent: He is proclaiming the approaching end of the nation of Israel.

The second half of this hymnic poem focuses on the nature and extent of the prophet’s warning. The thundering voice of God will not bring rain and blessing, but the curse of drought and disaster, signs of his punishment (Deut. 28:22–24; Isa. 5:6; 19:7; 42:15). God, not the Canaanite fertility god Baal, controls the land. His curse will affect even the forested hills of Mount Carmel in Israel and the pasturelands of their shepherds. What does a shepherd like Amos think when there is no grass for his sheep? When the grass is gone and the vineyards and trees of Carmel turn brown for lack of water, one must ask why. Is this not the hand of God? Is God not trying to say something to us?

Bridging Contexts

FOUR PRINCIPLES. Few principles can usually be derived from the introduction of a book. The issues discussed in verse 1 are unique to this time period and this historic situation. In other words, we should not try to draw any principle for application from the fact that Amos is a shepherd and then spiritualize this into an application suggesting that everyone who shares God’s word must have a shepherd’s heart. Although one may find other passages that encourage people to be good shepherds of God’s flock (John 21:15–16; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1–4), this is not the principle found in this passage. I propose four general principles here.

(1) Verse 1 illustrates the broad principle that God chooses regular people with common jobs, and sometimes foreigners who have to travel to a foreign land, to communicate his words to others. Amos is not a prince, the son of a priest, a well-known orator of international standing, or a person who is already well-respected in Israel. If we could ask the people in Tekoa about this fellow named Amos, they might describe him as a hard worker with a good reputation, but they would probably not suggest he is likely to become a prophet like Elijah or Nathan. God calls common people such as Amos to be his servants, and these people are not always the most qualified; they are simply people willing to speak God’s words.

(2) The brief reference to the earthquake is a powerful reminder that God does what he says. Amos warns of this earthquake in his preaching, but some probably took it as prophetic hyperbole—scare tactics designed to strike the fear of God into the heart—or perhaps just an empty threat. When it does not happen immediately, many simply forget about this warning. God is patient in not bringing this judgment immediately on the people of Israel. But eventually the land does tremble dramatically, moving up and down like the Nile (8:8; 9:5).

God’s words do come true. Everything he has predicted will come to pass on the day he has chosen. The prophet Isaiah makes the same point, for God says that his word will “accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). Jesus himself knows that everything in the Law will be accomplished, down to the smallest letter (Matt. 5:18).

(3) Verse 2 announces God’s ability to control the forces of nature.7 He is not just a God of history who marvelously redeems people from superior armies; he is also the God who has created and continues to control every aspect of this world. “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it” (Ps. 24:1); thus, he sends both the blessing of rain and fertility and the curse of drought and death. By implication, Amos’s claims devastate the Israelites’ belief in the fertility and power of Baal, for he is powerless, not even worthy of mention next to the mighty power of Yahweh. God’s daily providential care of nature and his unusual intrusion into the regular patterns of nature to create miracles are two primary ways of controlling the lives of people and accomplishing his will on earth.

(4) These two verses also picture God as one who reveals himself to humankind. His Word and will are known and are not a dark secret. He is near enough to communicate his wishes as well as his disappointment with his people. He can speak in many ways—from a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12–13) to sounding like a roaring lion. The analogy employed usually gives insight into the purpose of the message and lends support to the intensity of the message.

Contemporary Significance

GOD’S USE OF common people. Many of the great men and women of God in our time started out much like Amos. They were common people who had no special status and limited potential in the eyes of their friends and family. Yet God chose them to demonstrate his power through their weakness (1 Cor. 1:27). When God chose the young shepherd boy David, his father and brothers appeared surprised. When Samuel asked to see Jesse’s sons that he might anoint one as king, Jesse did not even bother to bring David in from the field. But Samuel was told that God does not look on the outward appearance, he looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:1–10). Therefore, it did not matter that David was a common shepherd of a relatively young age.

It is easy to forget that Moses was originally a slave’s son, destined to die in the Nile to reduce the number of Hebrews in Egypt. But God miraculously saved him from certain death when he was a helpless child (Ex. 2). Later he became a fugitive from Egypt and wandered in the Sinai desert, taking care of sheep (Ex. 3). He w...