I.  The Author and Theme of the Book,  Amos 1:1-2

II.  The Prophecies of Amos,  Amos 1:3-2:16

Amos is not exclusive to Israel in his prophecies.He includes surrounding nations as instructed by God Jehovah.

A.  Concerning Damascus,   Amos 1:3-5
B.  Concerning Philistia,   Amos 1:6-8
C.  Concerning Tyre,   Amos 1:9-10
D.  Concerning Edom,   Amos 1:11-12
E.  Concerning Ammon,   Amos 1:13-15
F.  Concerning Moab,   Amos 2:1-3
G.  Concerning Judah,    Amos 2:4-5
H.  Concerning Israel,   Amos 2:6-16

III.  The Sermons of Amos,  Amos 3:1-6:14

A.  The Doom of Israel,                                                                                  Amos 3:1-15
B.  The Depravity of Israel,                                                                            Amos 4:1-13
C.  A Dirge over Israel,                                                                                  Amos 5:1-6:14

1.  The ruin of Israel in coming judgment,                                                      Amos 5:1-17
2.  The rebuke of religious people,                                                                 Amos 5:18-27
3.  The reprimand of the entire nation,                                                           Amos 6:1-14

IV. The Visions of Amos,  Amos 7:1-9:15

A.  A Vision of Devouring Locusts,                                                               Amos 7:1-3
B.  A Vision of Fire,                                                                                       Amos 7:4-6
C.  A Vision of a Plumb Line,                                                                        Amos 7:7-9
D.  An Historical Interlude: Opposition from the Priest of Bethel,                Amos 7:10-17
E.  A Vision of a Basket of Summer Fruit,                                                    Amos 8:1-14
F.  A Vision of the Lord Judging,                                                                   Amos 9:1-10
G. A Vision of Future Blessing,                                                                     Amos 9:11-15

The Minor Prophets and their [Primary] Message

1. Hosea  – The Lord loves Israel despite her sin.  755-715 B.C.
2. Joel – Judgment precedes Israel’s future spiritual revival. 835–796* B.C.
3. Amos – God is just and must judge sin. 765-750 B.C.
4. Obadiah – Sure retribution must overtake merciless pride. 848* B.C.
5. Jonah – Divine grace is universal. 780-750 B.C.
6. Micah – Bethlehem-born Messiah will be mankind’s Deliverer. 740-690 B.C.
7. Nahum – Doom is to descend on wicked Nineveh. 630-612 B.C.
8. Habakkuk – Justification by faith is God’s way of salvation. 625 B.C. or earlier
9. Zephaniah – The Day of the Lord must precede kingdom blessing. 625-610 B.C.
10. Haggai – The Lord’s Temple and interests deserve top priority. 520 B.C.
11. Zechariah – The Lord remembers His people Israel. 520-515 B.C.; Zechariah 9–14 after 500 B.C.
12. Malachi – Let the wicked be warned by the certainty of judgment. 433-400 B.C.

Remarkably these Bible book descriptions can be read as a single progressive statement:

The Lord loves Israel despite her sin however Judgment precedes Israel’s future spiritual revival. God is just and must judge sin. Sure retribution must overtake their merciless pride. Thankfully Divine grace is universal. Bethlehem-born Messiah will be mankind’s Deliverer. Nonetheless, Doom is to descend on wicked Nineveh. Mankind’s Justification by faith is God’s way of salvation. The Day of the Lord must precede kingdom blessing. The Lord’s Temple and interests deserve top priority. The Lord remembers His people Israel. Let the wicked be warned by the certainty of judgment.
(JIV; Jim’s Introspective View)

• All dates are approximate. *The text does not specifically date these prophets. As a result differences of opinion exist concerning the time of their ministries. (from The New Unger’s Bible Handbook). However, these dates are close enough for bible history discussion. Credit to Bible.org

Do facts equal the acts of the church today?

1) Everyone Answers to God- Amos pronounced judgment from God on all the surrounding nations. God is in supreme control of all the nations, they all are accountable to Him.

2) Complacency- With all the comfort and luxury that Israel was experiencing finds a false sense of security. Prosperity brought corruption and destruction.

3) Oppressing the Poor- The wealthy and powerful people of Samaria, the capital of Israel, had become prosperous, greedy and unjust. Illegal and immoral slavery came as the result of over-taxation and land-grabbing. There was also cruelty and indifference toward the poor. God is weary of greed and will not tolerate injustice.

4) Superficial Religion- Although many people had abandoned real faith in God, they still pretended to be religious; merely participating in ceremony or ritual falls short of true religion.

Our faith in God is constantly under negotiation with our social and environmental demands to compromise; just a little here then a little later. All of it is too often subtle. CoVid 19 proved that a church gathering can be totally eliminated by law to shut down. This is so without a vote or say of the public. This is the foundation for establishing colonies by the first European to the Americas.

Far too many people who call themselves Christians, even true believers, ignore God’s Word and commandments. Or, they seek God only for His blessings or to help in times of trouble. Like the Israelites of Amos’s day, some live only to please themselves.

Judgment on the Nations. Amos opens the way for his message to Israel by proclaiming the Lord’s judgment upon six surrounding nations—Damascus (Syria), Gaza (Philistia), Tyrus (Phoenicia), Edom, Ammon, Moab. Then he comes nearer home and pronounces judgment against Judah (Amos 2:4), and against Israel itself (Amos 2:6), and finally against the whole nation (Amos 3:1–2).

He denounces the sins of the northern kingdom of Israel in more graphic detail than Hosea, dwelling especially on the careless ease and luxury, the oppression of the poor, the extortion and lying and cheating which prevailed, and the utter hypocrisy in worship.