A Simple Prophet: Amos 1:1
Amos’ words in this book are timely for all generations, but especially now. If Amos lived today, he would feel like not much is changed in the hearts of the people. Technology has changed life, but the hearts of the people have come full circle.
Amos is a shepherd who tended sycamore figs. In other words, he was an ordinary laborer among the Hebrew people. He lived sometime during the eight century B.C. during the reign of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam in Israel. This puts him very close to the peak of Assyrian power. Elsewhere in the world, the epic of Homer is about to be written, Rome is being founded, and the Iron Age is spreading into Europe and India.
Amos was not associated with the temple in any way. He was not a member of the religious tribes. He tended the sycamore fig, a tree whose fruit needs a symbiotic relationship to help it ripen. In the wild, the sycamore fig depends upon fig wasps because the fruit of the sycamore fig doesn’t ripen unless it has been pierced. Amos took the place of the wasps, piercing the fruit to ensure a harvest.
The sycamore fig is edible, but many people consider its fruit to be inferior to the common fig because the flesh of the fruit is more firm and less sweet. Since the fruit was less desirable than other figs and it produces fruit year-round, it became a staple in the diet of poor people. The rich preferred not to eat it, so the poor people were not competing with the wealthy for this resource.
Amos’ background ties directly into his ministry. The Hebrew kingdoms are in their heyday. Amos observes the opulent lifestyle of the elite, connecting their lifestyle to a lack of genuine worship of God. Amos gives great passages about how easily people fall away from God’s ways when life goes well.
As a shepherd and a worker providing food to the poor, he lived among the poor and understood their plight. Amos gives great passages regarding how easily people overlook the poor. In fact, Amos accuses the wealthy of not only overlooking the poor but intentionally taking advantage of them to make their lifestyle better.
Amos will also speak about the Day of the Lord. Since both Hebrew kingdoms were flourishing, people assumed the Day of the Lord would be a joyful celebration when God elevates the Hebrew people into what they believed was their proper place. Amos is the first prophet historically to suggest the Day of the Lord won’t be pleasant. Amos will go so far as to call God an adversary to the Hebrew people, implying they will take part in His judgment. Amos is one of the first voices in the Old Testament to focus on how all have fallen short of the glory of God and how all need Him.
Amos’ words in this book are timely for all generations, but especially now.
