 Amos 1 - 9 Questions and Answers |
| Q. When was the Book of Amos written? | A. 755 B.C. |
| Q. Who were Amos' contemporaries? | A. Jonah, Micah, Hosea, the writers of 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the writers of 1 and 2 Kings. |
| Q. What was Amos' occupation originally? | A. Amos 1:1 = Shepherd from Tekoa, which is in Judah. |
| Q. Who was king in Judah at the time? | A. Amos 1:1 = Uzziah. |
| Q. Who was King in Israel in the north at the time? | A. Amos 1:1 = Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash (Joash). |
| Q. What prompted the writing of this book? | A. Amos 1:1 = A vision that came to Amos 2 years before the earthquake. |
| Q. Is this book one of prophecy? | A. Yes. |
| Q. What was Amos' vision? |
A. Amos 1:2 = 1) God's voice roaring from His Temple in Mount Zion, resulting in lush pastures of the shepherds drying up and all the grass on Mount Carmel withering and dying. 2) Following that display of raw power in words is prophecy of the coming judgment of Israel's enemies: King Hazael and Ben-hadad, the slaughter of the people of Damascus, the ruler of Beth-eden, and the return of slavery in Kir of the people of Aram. |
| Q. Why did judgment come on these people? |
A. Amos 1:3 = They beat down God's people in Gilead and the same punishment would be theirs. Note: Don't pick on God's chosen ones! Be them Jews or believers, God acts as our Avenger. |
| Q. What did the people of Gaza do to Israel? | A. Amos 1:6 = They sent God's people into exile, selling them as slaves in Edom. |
| Q. Who did this? | A. Amos 1:8 = The people of Ashdod, the king of Ashkelon, Ekron and the Philistines. |
| Q. Were they completely destroyed? | A. Amos 1:7-8 = Yes. |
| Q. Who else went against Israel? | A. Amos 1:9 = Tyre. |
| Q. How? | A. Amos 1:9 = Tyre broke their treaty with Israel, selling whole villages as slaves to Edom. |
| Q. Would Tyre be completely destroyed? | A. Amos 1:10 = Yes. |
| Q. Who else went against Israel? | A. Amos 1:11 = Edom. |
| Q. How? | A. Amos 1:11-12 = They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords, showing no mercy, and were unrelenting in their anger. |
| Q. Would Edom be completely destroyed? | A. Amos 1:12 = Yes. |
| Q. Who else went against Israel? | A. Amos 1:13 = Ammon. |
| Q. How? | A. Amos 1:13 = Ammon attacked Gilead to extend their borders, committed cruel crimes, ripping open pregnant women with their swords. |
| Q. Would Ammon be completely destroyed? |
A. Amos 1:14 = Yes. Ammon's fortresses were destroyed and an obvious display of divine intervention in battle, in the form of wild shouts, swirling like a whirlwind in a mighty storm! Note: Note that: 1) An army that went wild was always destroyed. 2) A king who enslaved was always destroyed. 3) Merciless killers were always killed. |
| Q. And Ammon's king? | A. Amos 1:15 = Ammon's king went into exile with his princes. |
| Q. Who else was punished? | A. Amos 2:1 = Moab. |
| Q. Why? |
A. Amos 2:1 = Moab desecrated the tomb of Edom's king and burned his bones to ashes. Note: This was not a sin against Israel, yet God still goes up against gentile nations for their irreverence toward His kings on earth. |
| Q. Would Moab be completely destroyed? | A. Amos 2:2-3 = Yes. |
| Q. Who else was to be judged? | A. Amos 2:4 = Judah. |
| Q. For what? | A. Amos 2:4 = Going up against God! |
| Q. How? | A. Amos 2:4 = 1) Rejecting the laws of the Lord and refusing to obey Him. |
| Q. How did this happen? | A. Amos 2:4 = Judah was led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors. |
| Q. What did this lead to? | A. Amos 2:6 = Perverted justice. |
| Q.What is perverted justice? |
A. Amos 2:6-7 = 1) Selling honest people for money 2) Selling poor people for a pair of sandals 3) Trampling helpless people in the dust 4) Denying justice to the oppressed. |
| Q. What other sins did Judah fall into? | A. Amos 2:7 = Father and son slept with the same woman. |
| Q. What harm does that cause? |
A. Amos 2:7 = It corrupts God's holy name. Note: We are capable of corupting God's holy name. How? We give the world a false meaning of God -- that He is not holy. When we sin, we also warp the image of God to the world. Would you do something bad if you knew your earthly father would be soiled by it? A hateful child might, but not one who loves his father. |
| Q. What other sins did Judah commit? |
A. Amos 2:8 = At religious festivals, Judahites wore clothes stolen from their debtors. Note: A debt was never to be paid in wardrobe, no matter how nice it was. This is outright covetousness on the part of the loaner. |
| Q. What else did Judah do? |
A. Amos 2:8 = Judah offered wine in the Temple, bought with stolen money. Note: One has to wonder who they stole that money from. Poor folks, no doubt. Although Hosea mentioned the gangs of priests who robbed travelers along the road (cf Hos. 6:9). |
| Q. What were the Amorites like? | A. Amos 2:9 = Giants! |
| Q. How big were they? | A. Amos 2:9 = The Amorites were as tall as cedar trees and as strong as oaks. |
| Q. How did Israel become corrupt? |
A. Amos 2:12 = 1) Israel caused Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine. 2) Israelites told their prophets to shut up! |
| Q. Why does punishment happen? | A. Amos 3:2 = When you know what is right and do wrong anyway. Israel knew right from wrong, were told exactly what wrong was, and ignored all warning. |
| Q. What should we remember about disaster? | A. Amos 3:6 = Disaster comes because God's plans for it to come. |
| Q. Who did God have witness Israel's crimes? |
A. Amos 3:9 = The leaders of Philistia and Egypt. God invited them to sit on the hills around Samaria to witness the scandalous spectacle of Israel's crimes. Note: We shouldn't hide a brother's offensive behavior for the sake of unity. Don't be afraid of what the devil might do with it! Carry out justice. Let the world see us act rightly, deal out good and pure justice -- in love. It is not the justice that turns the world off, it is the hypocrisy that is allowed in our Christian communities that turns them off. The world wants to see us do right. They know that we know how to do that! They are disgusted that we refuse to do what we know is right. When I became a Christian, I took on all the standards of right and wrong in God's Word too. Christians are unique in that they are the only ones in the world who do! We are in God's eye view -- the world knows it. We become a scandalous spectacle if we don't acknowledge right from wrong (v.10). |
| Q. How was Israel behaving at the point when Egypt and Samaria were invited to see its sin? |
A. Amos 3:10 = 1) Israel had forgotten what it meant to do right 2) Their fortresses were filled with wealth taken by theft and violence |
| Q. What did Egypt and Samaria witness? |
A. Amos 3:11 = 1) An enemy shattering their defenses and plundering their fortresses. 2) Pagan altars at Bethel destroyed 3) The houses of Israel's rich folks destroyed. |
| Q. Do women oppress the poor? | A. Amos 4:1 = Yes. They also crush the needy. |
| Q. Is there judgment coming for them? | A. Amos 4:2 = Yes. Captivity by the hook in the nose! |
| Q. Which women oppress the poor? | A. Amos 4:4 = Idol worshipers. In this case, those who worshiped idols at Bethel and Gilgal. |
| Q. When believers are so monetarily blessed that they want to give back to God, how should it be done? |
A. Amos 4:5 = Secretly, not bragging about it everywhere. Note: I know folks who give half their cash away. But I shouldn't know that! Their hearts are sincere, they love the Lord and do missions and ministry with a passion. But they are really no different thatn the one who is whole-heartedly dedicated to God and is poor. God doesn't need our money. One can bear much fruit with very little. If you canot give in secret, then hold onto your money. Let God save His people, and show you how to trust Him to lead, provide and bear good fruit. |
| Q. Does hunger and famine turn people to God? | A. Amos 4:6 = Not always. |
| Q. Does physical suffering turn people to God? | A. Amos 4:11 = Not always. Even half-burnt people don't turn to God! |
| Q. Who shaped the mountains? | A. Amos 4:13 = God did. |
| Q. Who stirs up the winds? | A. Amos 4:13 = God does. |
| Q. Is God personable? |
A. Amos 4:13 = Yes. 1) God reveals to us His every thought 2) God turns the light of dawn into darkness 3) God treads the mountains under His feet. Note: God talks to us all day long; He created the world and the weather. He turns out the lights for us at night and walks amongst us. |
| Q. Did Amos have a funeral song for Israel? | A. Amos 5:1-2 = Yes. This one was for Israel, who was destined to fall. |
| Q. How could Israel have prevented their fall? | A. Amos 5:4 = By returning to God. |
| Q. What do wicked people think of righteousness? | A. Amos 5:7 = Wicked people think that righteousness is mere fiction. |
| Q. What is twisted justice to the poor and oppressed? | A. Amos 5:7 = A bitter pill. |
| Q. How does twisted justice manifest? |
A. Amos 5:10 = 1) It hates honest judges 2) It hates honest people who tell the truth 3) It tramples the poor and steals what little they have through taxes and unfair rent. |
| Q. Is there a time to be quiet? | A. Amos 5:13 = Yes. Wise folks keep quiet in evil times, or else be treated badly. |
| Q. How can a nation repent? |
A. Amos 5:14 = 1) Do good 2) Run from evil 3) Then the Lord wil truly be their helper, as we claim He is 4) Hate evil 5) Love what is good 6) Remodel our courts into true halls of justice 7) Repent. |
| Q. Will people wish for the day of the Lord in vain? | A. Amos 5:18 = Yes. They want to be rescued without repenting. The rescue that comes will be their disaster. |
| Q. What do these folks do wrong? | A. Amos 5:21 = Their relationship with God stops with show and pretense -- hypocrisy in religious festivals and solemn assemblies. |
| Q. How does God see superficially religious folks? | A. Amos 5:22-23 = God doesn't receive offerings or praise from hypocrites. |
| Q. Why did the Israelites wander for forty years in the desert? | A. Amos 5:25 = They worshiped idols the whole time. |
| Q. How deluded can we get? |
A. Amos 6:1 = 1) We think we're fine, being the ones other people go to for help 2) v.3 = We push away every thought of coming disaster 3) v.4 = Our food is only the best so we think we're okay 4) v.5 = We sing idle songs and think we're as great a musician as David was 5) We could care less that our nation was headed downhill. |
| Q. About these popular, rich ones -- What will become of them? | A. Amos 6:7 = They will be the first led into captivity. |
| Q. What is pride and false glory? | A. Amos 6:8 = Loving our riches and the things riches bring us is false glory. |
| Q. Did Israel recognize God as being the punisher when Babylon took her? | A. Amos 6:10 = Yes. |
| Q. What results when justice gets warped? |
A. Amos 6:12 = Warped justice is like scattering rocks all over the land. Horses and oxen trip over them. It is impossible to function! Food can't grow and horses fall down. Note: This is what happens to a nation that decides to put evil things into law. If one chooses to sin, it is his choice. But to ask that sin be made 'legal' is insanity. The whole natin will trip over these legal rocks! |
| Q. How does God describe this tragedy? |
A. Amos 6:12 = 1) Justice becomes poison 2) The sweet fruit of righteousness becomes bitter fruit. |
| Q. When this lawlessness is established, what happens? | A. Amos 6:14 = God intervenes and punishes. |
| Q. When did the locust plague mentioned in Hosea happen? | A. Amos 7:1-2 = Hosea didn't mentin when, but his contemporary, Amos, did. Uzziah was king in Judah in the South and Jeroboam II was king in the northern kingdom of Israel when the locust plague happened. |
| Q. Why did Amos beg God's pardon on His people? | A. Amos 7:2 = Amos knew Israel wouldn't survive a locust plague. |
| Q. What does God do when we fervently ask for mercy on behalf of people or nations? |
A. Amos 7:3 = 1) God changes His plans for our sake, delaying judgment and having mercy on people and nations, just for the asking. Note: This kind of prayer is called intercessory prayer. Always pray for: A) Your nation and loved ones B) For the world C) For hot political spots D) And drought spots E) For your worst enemies F) For folks battling sickness and death. God moves because of our prayers (cf. Daniel 9:23). God sent an angel to Daniel because he prayed. When we meditate on God's Word, see how God is so active in meeting every need to the smallest detail of every person and living creature, we respond by letting our prayers explode with gratitude and awe. Based on the Scriptures, we ask for the seemingly impossible. 2) Matthew 8:5-11,13 = The Roman officer burst in humble reverence to Jesus as his authority, so his servant was healed. 3) Matthew 9:19-22 = A hemmorhaging woman was healed, convinced that she onlyhad to touch Jesus' robe. No pursuasion necessary -- she came on her own faith, knowing the power of God wasn't small. 4) Matthew 15:21-28 = A Gentile woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. She spoke words of humble acknowledgment of God's power to provide, even for a dog. It was her own parable to describe awesome God as huge truth revealed. Jesus set her as an example of faith and healed her daughter because of it. She came, worshiping Jesus. This is a woman who sought after God. 5) Matthew 15:32 = Sometimes God feels sory for us and provides without asking. 6) Matthew 16:16-17 = God is the One who reveals Himself to people. 7) Matthew 17:19-20 = Youmust be convinced that God CAN and WILL heal when you pray. Meditate on God's power and be convinced He loves you and intervenes, always has intervened on our behalf, and continues His work in every area that He reveals to you to pray for. Nothing is impossible for God! To the mission! 8) Matthew 20:30-34 = God hears our wailing! Be specific about what you want and you will recognize the answers to your prayers as specifically answered by God. 9) Luke 22:50-51 = Jesus heals sometimes when we don't ask, to fulfill His purpose. 10) 2 Kings 20:1-11 = Hezekiah's death was delayed because he asked God to do it. Consider how passionate he was in his request. Pray like Hezekiah. Note: God answers prayer. May we all be convinced through understanding His willingness to intervene, as a result of our fervent study and meditations of His Word. May we learn to trust the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Godhead, our divine Helper, who has been amongst us since the Resurrection. Thank you Holy Spirit! I'm your vessel! Help em to see God rightly, to take up the mantle and do the work of the kingdom! To be both Mary and Marth -- Passionate for God and a busy servant. |
| Q. What if I pray, yet worse things happen? | A. Amos 7:4-6 = Pray withthe same fervency. Never lose heart when praying. Never be embarrassed when answers are delayed or different than expected. God knows and does what is best for our sakes and for the sake of His kingdom. |
| Q. What is a name God used for Himself in the Book of Amos? | A. Amos 8:7 = "Pride of Israel." |
| Q. Why does the earth sometimes shake? | A. Amos 8:8 = It becomes unstable from the weight of sin. |
| Q. Did God's people get to hear the Word in the Law and the Prophets in Amos' time? | A. Amos 8:11 = Yes. As well as living prophets who spoke to them. |
| Q. What is it like to not have God's Word, once you've had it? |
A. Amos 8:11-13 = It's like a famine: You long for it; you grow faint and weary, thirsting for the Lord's Word. Note 1: The Israelites wouldn't know wht they had until it was gone. Even the worst of them will miss God's Word! Note 2: I wandered away from God's Word for a while in the '90s. I can't remember how it started, but my family had suddenly been uprooted from all signs of familiarity. As I reflect on that time, I see that my thinking had been subtly changed at the beginning of this upset. I believed that I had been abandoned by someone close to me; other believers in my life thought that it was obvious.That seed of rejection rooted itself in me so deeply that I felt like an island. I knew all the Scripture verses that promised God would never abandon me, but it wasn't enough. I was like Job and his friends were my friends. It was a testing period! The test ran five years long! At the end of year four, I decided to wash my face, as David did when Bathsheba's first son died, and move on. I began to hope again, to look forward insted of at the present, and take the lessons with me. I tell you all this to help explain that I had abandoned God's Word. I was so preoccupied with my plight that I let it overwhelm my good sense. Picking up the Word anew, I was suddenly filled with God's peace— His Words were pure truth. I knew then that God had never abandoned me. Every false conclusion that family and friends made proved to be just wrong. I want to be a person who blesses, one who has hope for every person alive and breathing, a true friend to those God has placed in my life, and a healer to those in trouble. It is a joy to speak a blessing! Like a pond, a blessing ripples outward. Words are powerful. May I always use them with respect for that power. |
| Q. Judgment was delayed because of Amos' prayers. But it happened later, didn't it? | A. Yes. Israel and Judah both fell. The Bible was still a work in progress and the survivor descendants of that fall are with us today. |
| Q. Did everyone die who was supposed to die in the fall of God's nation? | A. Amos 9:2-4 = Yes. Not even the most clever escape artist survived if he was destined to fall. |
| Q. What are the heavens to God? | A. Amos 9:6 = The upper stories of God's house. |
| Q. What is the earth's surface to God? | A. Amos 9:6 = The foundation of God's house. |
| Q. Where does rain come from? | A. Amos 9:6 = God draws it up from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. |
| Q. Who else in history did God free from slavery? | A. Amos 9:7 = The Philistines were freed from Crete (Caphtor) and the Arameans (Abraham's people) were freed from Kir. |
| Q. How does God see all Jewish people? | A. Amos 9:8 = As "The family of Israel." |
| Q. Are captivity, slavery and persecution testing times? | A. Amos 9:9-10 = Yes! |
| Q. How does God describe a time of hardship? |
A. Amos 9:9-10 = We are grain sifted through a sieve. True believers, true kernels are never lost. Note: God's church goes through times of testing. He knows how to grow it up, the hidden toxic things that need exposure, and wants believers to always keep their eyes up. Sometimes pastors ask members to leave. They are concerned for the kingdom of God and won't knowingly let someone who disrespects God's plan stay and bear rotten fruit in the congregatin. Why go to church if you don't hve reverence for God and His message to mankind? Be true to God. Know His Word, do the mission. Bless, bless, bless! |
| Q. How big will Israel be in the future? |
A. Amos 9:11-12 = Israel will possess Edom and all the nations God has called to be His. Note: I wonder if the USA will be among those God calls His own? When the USA goes into the sieve, what will fall out? Those things that go up against God's Word, for sure. Bad lawmakers, deniers of prophecy, everything God has said is evil. People who live in willful ignorance, hypocrites. True believers aren't perfect. They just know Who is in charge. Will you fall through the sieve? |
| Q. What precedes the Jews' worldwide return to Israel? |
A. Amos 9:11 = 1) Israel's restoration 2) Expansion 3) Grain and grapes that grow faster than they can be harvested. |
| Q. And after the Jews' return? | A. Amos 9:15 = God will finally plant them there, never to be uprooted again. |