The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash  was king of Israel. (1:1) 

With these words the book of the prophet Amos starts.  The writer clearly sets Amos in a certain time – about 781 bc in our way of counting the years, so about 2,780 years ago.  He is described as a shepherd, and later on in the book he says he tended some Sycamore trees as well, but given his knowledge of politics and religion he may have owned sheep and orchards and been more middle class and educated.  He is a contemporary of Isaiah and was concerned with many of the same things that they were, however, his lot was to minister in a time when Israel was, superficially at least safe and secure. 

As we have heard over recent weeks the superpower of the Age was Assyria.  These were a people from the area now covered by Iran and Iraq.  They were building and empire and seek alliances with states around them who would become vassals.  If these states didn’t agree or stood against them they were conquered and their middle classes would be taken off into exile. 

Israel’s northern neighbour, Syria had been invaded and weakened by Assyria and Israel had taken advantage and expanded its own boarders into Syria under the King Jeroboam.   Assyria, itself, had political problems and was not being as aggressive as these problems at home were being sorted out.  It was a good time, then for Israel.  It didn’t face an immediate aggressor, it had expanded its boarders and, with Assyria being less threatening than normal, trade and commerce could thrive.  Israel was doing well, very well.  It was at peace, it was rich and it felt it was secure. 

Amos’s task was to speak the truth and tell the Israelites what was really happening.  He was, in particular, concerned with oppression and social justice: 

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.   Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.  In the house of their god  they drink wine taken as fines. "I destroyed the Amorite before them, though he was tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. "I brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the desert to give you the land of the Amorites. I also raised up prophets from among your sons and  Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel?" declares the LORD. "But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy. "Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life.  The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life.  Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD.  (2: 6-16) 

Through Amos God remonstrates with the people.  To make sense of the passage you need to know that sandals and cloaks were given in pledge of a loan – but couldn’t be kept over night according to the Law.  Not only is clothing kept over night – when the poor would need it as it was so cold, but Amos says it is used for bedding material for immoral sexual relationships.   God tells the people what He had done for them and how they have repaid him.  The Nazarites referred to were people like the figure of Samson who vowed not to cut their hair or drink wine devoting themselves to God’s service.  Because the poor have been oppressed and because the people have turned away from God then God will allow the Assyrians to come and conquer them.   

Now often preachers try to find ways to make a mark on their hearers.  I myself wonder about different ways to make a sermon more memorable – that’s why we use clips from films and slides on powerpoint every so often.  But I haven’t quite got round to being as ruthless as Amos as he tried to make a point to the women who listened to him: 

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD. (4: 1-3) 

Calling your congregation greedy cows is not normally designed to win friends and influence people!  Amos attacks the idle rich in Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom for their disdain of the poor.  Of course he sees that these idle rich will be lead away into exile as if they were animals going to slaughter.   

Now all this preaching made him unpopular and it didn’t help that he was from the Southern Kingdom which was seen to be a bit self-righteous.  So the king’s main priest came along to try and shut Amos up: 

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: "Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.  For this is what Amos is saying: " 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.' " Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king's sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom." Amos answered Amaziah, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.' Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, " 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.' "Therefore this is what the LORD says: " 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land.' " (7: 11-17) 

Those who work for change always suffer resistance.  Amos was disturbing the status quo and the religious and political authorities weren’t happy.  Now I doubt Amaziah was happy with the prophecy that his wife would end up a prostitute and his children killed; I wonder if Amos’ words came back to him when the invasion happened. 

So What’s All this Got to Do With Us? 

Now hopefully you’ve found this interesting so far, you have, I hope, learnt a bit more about Amos, and the other prophets, we’ve looked at over recent weeks.  But what has Amos’ message about the impending invasion of the Assyrians got to do with us almost 3,000 years later?  I think the message of Amos tells us one thing in particular: God is interested in Social Justice.  A key theme of Amos and of the other prophets is that God is on the side of the poor.  The rich have a responsibility to use their wealth and their resources wisely and to help the poor.  There is nothing wrong in making money; it’s what we do with it having made it that is important.  Amos, like the other prophets, goes further.  He teaches that we can be as religious as anything, perform the right rituals, attend the right services but if we ignore the plight of the poor then God isn’t interested in our religious devotions; indeed God despises them as they are hypocritical.   

We live in an affluent society.  We have resources that are only dreamed of in many other countries around the world.  Yet in this city we also have some of the poorest and most deprived parts of the country.  So called “failed asylum seekers” who are destitute walk the same streets as millionaires.  I wonder what Amos would make of our city, who he would call greedy cows and what he would say to us.  Would he be pleased with our efforts in fighting for justice or would he say we could do more, so much more?