Business had never been better. For the first time in generations, Israel faced no military threat. Since they controlled the crucial trade routes, merchants piled up big profits. Luxuries became readily available - new stone houses, ivory-inlaid furniture, top-grade meat and fine wine, the best body lotions.
Amid such peace and prosperity, one lone voice scraped like fingernails on a blackboard. Amos spoke bluntly with a farmer's vocabulary, calling the city socialites "cows" (4:1). A mere shepherd - among the poorest of all professions - he treated luxury with scorn. Worst of all, Amos was a foreigner from the South - from Tekoa, a small town in Judea. Since Israel had split from the South about 170 years before, Israelite leaders did not take kindly to criticism from a Southerner.
But to Amos, social acceptance didn't matter. He was no professional prophet, making his living talking smoothly about God (7:14). God had called him to leave his job and carry a message. God had said go, and Amos had obeyed.
God's View of "Religion"
The people Amos addressed had plenty of "religion." They went regularly to shrines for worship. They looked forward to "the day of the Lord," when God would fulfill all their expectations for their country. But Amos brought unexpected bad news from God: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts . . . " (5:21). God didn't want sacrifice or singing. He demanded justice.
Amos listed all Israel's neighbors, announcing God's judgment for their crimes against humanity. Israelites liked this kind of talk; they felt superior to all these nations. But |
