Amos 1-5:15
Before we do anything else, let’s note the historical context of Amos’s ministry:
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Amos 1:1
It seems to me that we have jumped into Amos a bit prematurely. That is, although we met this Jeroboam (i.e., Jeroboam II of Israel, not the Jeroboam that was the first king of the Northern Kingdom) in II Kings 14:23-29, we have not yet met Uzziah of Judah (aka Azariah in II Kings 15:1). Oh well. At least Uzziah/Azariah is not otherwise specifically mentioned in the rest of Amos, so I guess that’s OK.
Amos himself is a shepherd, not a professional prophet. (See also Amos 7:14.) He is from Tekoa, south of Jerusalem, which goes to say that he is from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but he prophesies primarily to the Northern Kingdom of Israel — where Elijah and Elisha previously operated. But Amos does not speak only to the Northern Kingdom. He addresses the surrounding nations and Judah, too.
Most of what Amos has to say is a strong indictment of the evil practices he sees all around him: brutality, injustice, oppression, idolatry. But today’s reading ends with a remedy:
Seek good, and not evil,
Amos 5:14-15
that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Will the people of Israel heed all the warnings and pursue the remedy?
Will we?