Prophet Amos (est760-750BC)

Prophet Information:

Amos from the land of Tekoa, according to the Book of the Bee a priest of Bethel tortured him and afterwards killed him.

Mission/Message:

His overall mission was a call for social justice, emphasizing God’s forgiveness on the repentant and judgement on the unfaithful.  He traveled through the Northern Kingdom of Israel, in particular visited the cities of Samaria and Bethel.

Documentation:

The book of Amos was written at a time of prosperity of the Northern and Southern kingdoms and before the Assyrian captivity, and therefore it is believed that Amos’s years of ministry were from 760 to 750 B.C. during the reign of Uzziah (792-740 B.C.)

Occupation:

Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa; it is unclear if he was just a hired hand, or the owner of the herds. However it is clear that he was knowledgeable with words and with history and therefore he was probably not a peasant.

Best known for:

-Travelling to the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to give a message in a time of prosperity that the immorality and corruption had not gone unnoticed by God

Attributes of his personality:

A simple and humble man, in Chapter eight he is confronted by people telling him to go back to where he had come from, and he replies that he is not a prophet just a shepherd that has been sent by God to give a message. In another version he says "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet".

Supernatural Aspects:

In his verses of prophecies, he talks as if God speaks directly to him revealing things in imagery and words.

Examples of prophecies:

-Prediction of the invasion of the Northern kingdom by the Assyrians (722-721 B.C.)

-Prediction that the people of Israel will be exiled to all nations but they will be planted in a land of their own

-Prediction of the coming Messiah

End Times Prophecies:

-The Day of the Lord will come

-A day of darkness not light, pitch black without a ray of sunshine