Amos was a shepherd and a gardener in Southern Israel; he was called by God to deliver a devastating message to Northern Israel (Amos 7:14-17). His message was one of justice—that God was on the side of the poor and as such, God’s justice was coming against Israel who was oppressing the poor. This was a warning of judgement, and it was God’s desire that Israel would repent, show that repentance in seeking social justice, and that God would have mercy on them.
A cry for justice
The last 18 months have seen many cries for justice in our world, particularly after the death of George Floyd and the emergence of the black lives matter movement in the USA. More recently, in the UK, after the death of Sarah Everard there has been a fresh cry for justice for women who are oppressed and victims of violence. Whether it be race or gender-related, social or economic, there are lots of cries for justice in our world right now. Justice is a good thing. Injustice makes us mad!
The book of Amos starts with a similar cry. God roars like a lion from Zion because he is mad at all the injustice he sees in the world, both in the nations surrounding Israel & Judah (1:3–2:3) but more specifically for the injustice he sees within his own people. God’s critique of the injustice and sins of his chosen people is far greater than it is against the nations who don’t know him (3:2).
Idolatry & injustice in the church
Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II (1 Kings 14:21-31), in the 8th Century BC. Israel was enjoying a time of political prosperity and wealth, but that wealth had led them into idolatry and injustice. They had set up false altars away from Jerusalem in Bethel & Gilgal and were mixing their religion with Canaanite practices (e.g shrine prostitutes, see Amos 2:7-8). Their idolatry had lead to them ignoring the poor, selling the weak into slavery and denying the powerless legal representation.
God says he hates their religious assemblies (5:21) and though he has tried to wake them up, Israel refuses to listen (chapter 4). He longs that they would seek him and live (5:4,6 & 14) and forsake their idols and seek justice, but their wealth has led them into complacence and comfort (6:1). God is going to bring an end to all their feasting and comfort and send them into exile (7:6). His judgment is coming.
Justice without mercy?
One of the things that is striking about modern cries for justice is that they often lack any willingness to be merciful to those in the wrong. Tim Keller recently wrote insightfully on the offence of forgiveness in our world and how we can end up with a religion without grace.
When we read the Bible, we find a God of justice who confronts evil and injustice. He cannot condone sin; he must punish it. That is the message of Amos. And yet he is a merciful God. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. His desire is for us to repent, be restored and live lives of social justice that reflect his character
So whereas many of the cries for justice in our world lack any mercy, when God confronts Israel with their wickedness, he does so that they might turn to him and be forgiven. What does God ultimately want for Israel?
‘Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, (5:4)
God wants them to give up their idolatry, seek him and live.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:14-15)
God wants them to hate evil, maintain justice, seek good and live. He wants to have mercy on them.
Justice & Righteousness
The most famous verse in the book of Amos, quoted by many seeking social justice in society over the years is Amos 5:24.
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (5:24)
God doesn’t want more religious rituals and noise; he wants an ever-flowing river of justice and righteousness to flow through the world.
In Hebrew the words are misphat and tsedaqah. These words pop up, often together, throughout the Hebrew scriptures. We might call misphat ‘rectifying justice’ (actions taken to correct injustice, punishing evildoers and care for victims of injustice) and tsedaqah ‘primary justice’ (living day to day with equity, generosity and fairness in all relationships, regardless of social differences). In other words, if we practiced tsedaqah and treated everyone fairly, it would render misphat unnecessary. Therefore, tsedaqah is as much about living in a right relationship with God as it is with fellow humankind. And this is Amos’ key contribution to the subject of justice.
Amos wants to call people back to true worship. If Israel returns to the Lord, they will seek rectifying justice (misphat), live righteously (tsedaqah) and love their neighbour. In other words, being in a right relationship with God leads to a righteous life—which is profoundly social. If worship of the false gods has led to injustice, worship of the true God will lead to justice.
The book of Amos after so much ‘doom and gloom’ ends with an extraordinary prophesy of hope, picturing a day of peace, plenty, equality, restoration, abundance and joy. Not only will Israel return from exile and the house of David be restored, but all the nations will be included in God’s great purposes for a world of justice that is to come (Amos 9:11-15).
Justice for our day
As we have said, the western world around us longs for justice. Yet many in the west are turning their back on belief in God. They don’t want the God of justice, but they want justice in society. Many philosophers have pointed out that a grounding for justice only makes sense if God exists and therefore, we have a moral obligation to the poor.
The Bible’s command for justice is grounded in three things: the character of God, the image of God and the grace of God. We seek social justice because that is who God is; it is his very character to be just. We seek social justice because each person we meet is a glorious and precious image bearer of our infinitely valuable God, and therefore we treat them with dignity and respect. But more than that, it is the grace of God shown in Jesus that makes us just.
How is God going to punish all wrong doing and bring justice to our world without destroying all of us? How is God going to be both just and merciful? Where Amos is silent, the New Testament joyfully proclaims that Jesus faces the punishment we deserve for our evil and sin, so that we can be forgiven. Amos 8:9 says
‘I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
When did this happen? On Calvary, when Jesus died on a cross for the sins of the world (Mark 15:33-34). He faced the justice we deserved and was therefore condemned. In grace, we receive what we don’t deserve, and are given life and hope. He was trampled on (Amos 2:6-7 & 5:11) so we could be lifted up and restored.
When grace touches your heart, it makes you humble and generous, which means when you see others in need, you remember how God treated you when you were needy, and you therefore disadvantage yourself to lift others up. A right relationship with God indeed leads to love for our neighbour.
Preaching Series
Here is how we’re going to break up the book over 8 weeks, with final week being the CCC Banquet where, depending on COVID guidelines, we will host a banquet for our neighbours in Dublin.
- The Lion’s Roar (Amos 1:1 – 2:5)
- God has no favourites (Amos 2:6-16)
- Religion without repentance (Amos 4:1-13)
- Seek me and live (Amos 5:1-17)
- Religion gone wrong (Amos 5:18-27)
- Woe to the complacent (Amos 6:1-14)
- Justice is coming (Amos 8:1-14)
- What hope has the world? (Amos 9:1-15)
- The CCC Banquet
As ever, it is well worth watching the Bible Project video:
Further Reading
- Podcast by Guthrie & Michael McKelvey on how to teach the book of Amos
- Generous Justice – Tim Keller
- 4 part series on racial justice by Tim Keller
- The message of Amos: the day of the lion – Alec Motyer (or see his superb summary in the new Bible commentary, which is a must have book of any Bible student)