Amos

Chapter 1
If you have not read Chapter 1

Please do so.
This chapter talks about different places

 Damascus (modern day Syria)—

located on the upper right of the
map
 Gaza and Tyre—Philistine City
States—located on the
Mediterranean Sea—center left of
map
 Edom—South of Judah—at bottom
of map
 Ammon—Located right next to
Israel—almost in center of map
Remember what we said about
Amos
 While he is a shepherd (Amos 1.1), the
Hebrew original indicates that he is
most likely a manager of a sheep farm.
 He also was well educated in the Torah
and the covenant (I am your God and I
will give you land, prodigy, and make
you prosperous, but you need to
worship me)
Notice in 1.1, it says that Amos
saw something
 The Hebrew does not indicate that he
saw something like I would see a
baseball game.
 The Hebrew word is Haza meaning a
reception of visions or in other words a
prophetic mode of seeing
In this chapter, Amos exposes
the sins of nations around
Israel but not Israel--yet

However, what is interesting is as he rattles off the

nations he gets closer and closer geographically to
Israel
Damascus (1.3)
 Damascus was the capital of
Aram which is modern day Syria
 It was known in the past for its
savage warfare and its horrible
treatment of prisoners.
 Hazael ruled there from 841-806
BC
 This reference to Damascus
indicates that God is angered by
the disregard of the value and
dignity of human life.
 Also there is an important
theological claim here
 God is the God of all nations not
just Israel.
 Gaza and Tyre
 Gaza is the sight of the modern day
conflict between the Israelis and the
Arabs. There are mortar attacks
from Gaza hitting Israel and the
Israeli Navy has a blockade shutting
off the area.
 Back in Amos’ Day people were
kidnapping other people and selling
them on international slave markets.
 Again inhumanity is shown
 One has to wonder what it is about
this specific region which has
caused so much conflict and misery
for so long.
 Edom and Ammon
 The relationship between these countries and Israel
has been very poor.
 Remember Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27)? From
Esau came Edom and from Jacob came Israel.
 So there has always been unusual cruelty and
inhuman violence between these countries.
 There was also a lot of inhuman wrath and revenge
between these places.
 God gets angry by the disregard of the value of
human life.
Verse to Ponder—Verse 2- The Lord roars from Zion

 What makes God roar in judgment of

Christians and the Church today?
 What makes God roar in our own lives?
 Questions?

andyhart@oldfirstchurchhuntington.org