Mark Taylor, Professor of New Testament and Associate Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Seminary, preached from the Book of Amos in SWBTS Chapel on September 30, 2025.
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I invite you to take your Bibles, if you have not already, and find the book of Amos in the Old Testament. Thank you, Dr Dockery, for the invitation to move over into the Old Testament today and to bring a message from the Book of Amos. Always deeply privileged to be able to preach in chapel. And thank you for the kind invitation. Thank you to the musicians who have led us so well this morning. Thank you to those who have already brought messages from the Minor Prophets and have already laid a great foundation for us as we as we look into the Book of the 12, as it’s called. Few months ago, I was waiting for my car to be serviced at the local dealership, and a news story caught my eye in the lobby there where I was waiting to have my car serviced. The report was about a famine that has taken hold in Gaza because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it is estimated that more than half a million people have been trapped in a situation of widespread starvation and destitution. The images are hard to watch as the humanitarian crisis deepens and people suffer from acute malnutrition, which often leads to death. We have no idea in our country what it’s like to experience a famine of these immense proportions. And any such famine is a tragedy of immense proportions. Our focal passage today is Amos, chapter eight, verses 11 to 14.
This text speaks of a particularly dreadful famine, but not a famine of food and water as bad as that is, but one that is actually far worse. It speaks of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, when the prophetic voice falls silent, when divine revelation ceases, when all warnings of judgment have ceased, and when time for repentance and forgiveness has passed, and All that is left is the terrifying wrath of God. I’ll read now from Amos 811, to 14. Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, from north to east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. In that day, the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst, those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, as your God lives odan and as the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again. The immense tragedy of this prophecy is that it is directed toward the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, Hebrews 10:31, could well serve as the theme of the book of Amos, which says the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. To fully understand the prophecy of Amos, 8:11, to 14, we need to understand the whole prophecy.
Why does God declare a famine of hearing his word? Why does God fail to answer those who are seeking His word? What has happened so that God declares an end to divine revelation, which results in panic and confusion. This morning, I want to do three things. I want to first look at the setting and the theme and the tone of the prophecy. Then I want us to survey briefly the structure and the content of the prophecy. And then I’m going to attempt to bring four points of application at the end to our lives, to our contemporary setting, from the Book of Amos, first, the setting and the theme and the tone. The opening verses of this prophecy provide the setting, the theme and the tone of the prophecy. Uzziah is the king of Judah, the southern kingdom. Jeroboam, son of Joash, is the king of Israel, the northern kingdom. The prophecy occurs over 700 years before the time of Christ. The content of the prophecy is stated in one.
These are the words of Amos which he saw concerning Israel. We know very little about Amos. The opening verses simply tell us that he was among the shepherds of Tekoa, a small village not too far from Jerusalem. This tells us that Amos was from Judah, the southern kingdom later in the prophecy in his confrontation with Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, Amos says this, I was no prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of Sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, And the Lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel. From all appearances. Amos came from a humble background lacking economic or social prestige, but he was a man of God with a deep sense of God’s call who faithfully proclaimed God’s message against Israel during spiritually dark days as other god called prophets. Amos had a keen sense of what is right and what is wrong. He was a man of courage and faith. The opening words of the prophecy announced the theme and set the tone. The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of Carmel withers this lion’s roar is mentioned again in chapter three, verse four. Does the lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Judgment is on the horizon. Now, it’s worth noting at the outset that the coming famine of the hearing of the words of the Lord announced in Chapter Eight is not for a lack of the Lord speaking. The Lord, in fact, speaks loudly and clearly and repeatedly. In the first major section of the prophecy, the phrase thus says the Lord, or says the Lord, or declares the Lord. The first two chapters occurs 14 times in the central section of the prophecy. Each message of judgment against Israel begins with the phrase, hear this word now the structure and the content of the prophecy, surprisingly, the prophecy begins not with Israel, but with oracles of judgment against Israel’s neighbors, Damascus, Gaza, tyre Edom, Ammon, Moab Judah is also included, but the ultimate Target is Israel. Perhaps there is a rhetorical strategy at work. One can almost imagine Israel agreeing wholeheartedly with Amos as he announces judgment on the surrounding nations for their egregious sins. Each Oracle begins the same way For three transgressions and for four, I will not revoke punishment.
God punishes sin. God punishes all sin. The sins of Israel’s neighbors involved outrageously inhumane conduct, extreme cruelty, slave trading, sexual violence against women with child, just to name a few. Judah, the southern kingdom, the homeland of Amos, is also guilty, but even more so than the other nations because of their covenant relationship with Yahweh, Amos two four says they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his statutes. Their lies have led them astray. Finally, Amos announces his judgment upon Israel in two, six to 16, the ultimate target of the prophecy. Surely Israel would have agreed with Amos up to this point, sin. Yes, sin must be punished. It is easy to sin. See sin in others, but how easily are we blinded to the reality of our own sin? The opening indictment against Israel is longer and more detailed than the others, and it anticipates the themes of the prophecy, including mistreatment of the poor, the utter hypocrisy of their worship, the abuse of the privileges afforded to them in the Exodus and their opposition to the ministry of the prophets judgment is inescapable. Their actions profaned God’s holy name. Israel sinned against the Holy God, who delivered, protected and who revealed Himself and His will to them. The next four chapters, chapters three through six expand upon and repeat the themes introduced in Amos two, six to 16, in three messages of judgment against Israel. Israel.
Each message begins with the phrase, hear this word. The first message mentions for the second time, Israel’s unique relationship to Yahweh. Amos 31 and Two says, Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. You see, a privileged relationship entails substantial responsibility. God especially holds his people accountable for their sins. Recall Hebrews 10:31 again, the Lord will judge his people. A series of cause and effect statements warned Israel of their impending judgment. The second mention of the roar of the lion recalls the opening of the prophecy. Does the lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? The Lord does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants. The prophets warning precedes judgment. The Lion has roared, who will not fear the Lord, God has spoken, who can but prophesy? Amos brings a harsh message, but he does so because God sent him. Disaster is on the horizon for Israel, and it will be the Lord’s doing. Why would the Lord do such a thing?
Well, Amos imaginatively invites the foreign nations to gather on the mountains of Samaria, the capital city, and to behold the great chaos within the nation and the oppressed in her midst. They do not know how to do what is right, declares the LORD Amos 310 their moral compass is broken. Israel will be judged because of her idolatrous worship and her lifestyle. I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house, along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish and the great houses shall come to an end Amos 3:14, to 15. God detests hypocritical worship and extravagant lifestyles acquired through oppression and fraud. The second message, the twin themes of corrupt ethics and corrupt worship, continues in the second message against Israel, those who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, are the upper class women who are called the cows of Bashan in 41 to three, Israel loves to worship, but her worship is an act of utter hypocrisy and disobedience come to Bethel and transgress, to Gilgal and multiply transgression, the Lord has sworn by His Holiness, to judge their sin. Amos lists a series of divine chastisements designed to call Israel back to the Lord, including famine, drought, crop failure, plagues in military defeat, four, six to 11, each calamity ends with the refrain, yet you did not return to me. Israel refused to see in each disaster an invitation to repentance when there is refusal to turn from one’s wicked ways, the only possible outcome is the wrath of God.
Thus, the famous words of Amos 4:12 Prepare to meet your God O Israel. And who is Israel’s God? Well, he is the one who forms the mountains and creates the wind and declares to man, what is his thought? Who makes the morning darkness and treads on the heights of the earth the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name. He is the All Knowing, all powerful, all present Creator. The third message takes up chapters five and six, and begins with lamentation over the house of Israel for the impending disaster because of the conditions within the nation. Hypocritical worship, in light of their appalling behavior toward the poor, is once again the focal point of the prophetic word, the underlying invitation to repent in the second message rings out loudly in the third, seek the Lord and live. Five Six, seek good and not evil, that you may live and so that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you. 5:14 hate evil. Love good, establish justice in the gate. And it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 5:15 the present state of affairs, however, in Israel, is not good. They abhor Him who speaks the truth. 5:10 and they trample on the poor. 5:11 a I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins? You who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe and turn aside the needy in the gate. 5:12 the injustices of the legal system and the oppressive practices of the nation of the nation’s leaders must be confronted, and who has the power to do this? Well, it is the sovereign Lord of Creation, the one who put the stars in the heavens, the one who turns darkness into morning and daylight into night, and who can call for the waters of the sea and pour them out upon the earth. Yahweh is his name. Genuine religion at its core, holds a high view of the living God. But what was God’s assessment of Israel’s religion?
Well, in 5:21, to 24 The Lord says, I hate, I despise your feast. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs to the melody of your harps. I will not listen But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and who feel secure on the mountains of Samaria 61 woe to those who live luxuriously and have no concern for the ruin of the nation. Israel’s behavior and attitude was utter foolishness. Israel was oblivious to her impending doom. The prophecy concludes with five visions that reveal the scope and the terror of Israel’s impending judgment. After each of the first two visions, a plague of locusts and a severe drought, Amos intercedes for Israel and God withholds judgment, things escalate.
However, in the third vision of a plumb line set in the midst of the people of Israel, followed by the terrifying words, I will never pass by them again. Israel’s utterly corrupt religious and political life leaves no other option. Israel has passed the point of no return. The word of the Lord is direct, the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. A brief narrative interlude follows the third vision, which describes a confrontation between Amos and Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. Amaziah, the priest sent word to Jeroboam, the king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you. The land is not able to hear his words. The priest and the king had no tolerance for words of divine judgment. So Amos so Amaziah tells Amos, leave the land of Israel, go back to Judah. Prophesy there, but never again.
Prophesy at Bethel, the land that had no place for their God, had no place for God’s man or for God’s message. Amos responded to Amaziah with an unflinching boldness characteristic of a genuine Prophet. The Lord said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel, you see, a greater authority than a king or a priest had commissioned the herdsmen from Tekoa. And Messiah said, leave. But God said prophesy, Amos prophesied directly against the priest. Amaziah would be exiled. His wife would become a prostitute in the city. His sons and daughters would die by the sword, and his inheritance would be divided. Amaziah would die in a pagan land. This brings us to the fourth vision, a basket of summer fruit. Chapter Eight, the significance of the vision is explained in the words that follow. The end has come upon my people, Israel.
I will never pass by them again. The same pronouncement following the vision of the plumb line, five brief oracles follow the fourth vision, oracles of judgment. The scene is one of chaos and devastation. The songs of the temple have turned into wailing because there are bodies everywhere. Judgment has arrived for those who have trampled the poor and engaged in unjust marketplace practices, Yahweh has not forgotten their deeds. Feasts turn to mourning and songs turn into lament. This is the setting and the context which leads to the prophecy of Amos 811, to 14, which speaks of a coming of famine, of hearing the words of the Lord. This famine is the withdrawal of divine revelation. The prophet speaks no more rejection of the divine word forces the withdrawal of that word, the invitation has been rejected to repent, so the time for repentance has passed when the priest has no tolerance for the Word of God, the situation is dire. Amaziah will get his wish. The prophetic voice will fall silent. God will withdraw from his people, and panic and despair will ensue. They shall wander from sea to sea, from north to east, thus shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. In that day, the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst. Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, as your God lives odan, as the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again.
The execution of judgment is captured in the final vision in chapter nine. I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, strike the capitals until the thresholds shake and shatter them on the heads of all the people and those who are left of them, I will kill with the sword. Not one of them shall flee away. Not one of them shall escape. Well as those who’ve gone before me have said, what do we do with this prophecy? I mean, I’m pretty depressed by the time I get to this point in the prophecy. What are we to do with this ancient prophecy? Are the words of Amos spoken over 2500 years ago, still relevant to us? I would suggest the following points of application and reflection of the words of Amos to Israel in the eighth century BC, number one, if the ancient Israelites in special covenant relationship with God occupied a place of greater accountability than the surrounding nations. How much more we, who are beneficiaries of the full revelation of God in Christ, the knowledge and the resources at our disposal are vast. Do we recognize and do we acknowledge our tremendous privilege? Do we read and study and meditate and respond accordingly to the Word of God? The book of Hebrews opens with a reminder that long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, and Hebrews warns us in two, two to three.
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, Hebrews three, seven to 15. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness. Take care brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
And again in Hebrews 10:30, to 31 for we know him who said, VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let us not forget Paul’s warning to the church at Corinth in First Corinthians 10, one to 13, that the judgments in the Exodus upon ancient Israelites because of their rebellion happened to them as an example and were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. And. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Number two, in the New Testament, we read of the same boldness of proclamation and the same themes that we see in Amos. I think of the boldness of the preaching of Peter and John and Stephen and Paul recorded in the Book of Acts in the face of great opposition. I think of the message of James, who’s sometimes called the Amos of the New Testament, who calls us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Like Amos, James calls for a religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, to visit the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
And like Amos James reminds the rich who have gained their wealth through oppression of their imminent doom, we need amoses today. We need more of them. We need bold, courageous, convictional preachers of the Word of God who will tell us not what we want to hear, but will tell us what we must hear, what we need to hear. Number three, the prophecy of a judgment, of a famine, of the hearing of the words of the Lord is a summons for us to consider just how much is at stake when the prophetic voice falls silent, when the prophetic voice falls silent, we lose our perspective on holiness, on the majesty and the power and the mercy and the grace and the wrath of God. When the prophetic voice falls silent, we lose our way. We lose our moral compass. We invite untold misery into our lives. We become like those in Amos day who do not know how to do what is right. When the prophetic voice falls silent, we are left with panic and chaos and confusion, the loss of strength and vitality. When the prophetic voice falls silent, we have chosen death rather than life. Remember the words of our Lord in the wilderness testing to Satan, he said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Finally, it is worth noting that Amos ends rather unexpectedly. On a note of hope. He speaks of another day that will come. And so here’s how the prophecy concludes in Amos, 9:11, to 15. In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord who does this. Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed, and the mountain shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them in their land, and they will never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given to them, says the Lord your God.
Do you know that James quotes from this passage in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 regarding the future restoration of Israel and the inclusion of Gentiles into the people of God. God has a remnant, and the prophets foretold that God would take from among the Gentiles, a people for His name in Acts 15:16, here’s what the Word of God says, and this is James. After these things, I will return. I will rebuild. I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which is fallen. I will rebuild its ruins. I will restore it so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who were called by my name, says the Lord who makes these things known from long ago, the promise of Amos. Five, six still holds, seek the Lord and live Hebrews 12:28, 29 provides a fitting conclusion and a fitting invitation to us in light of the prophecy of Amos, the author of Hebrews says this, Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let’s pray.
Oh, Father, Your Word causes us to tremble because it reveals the wickedness of our heart. Lord, help us, by Your grace and Your mercy to hear Your word to repent of sin as a way of life, to seek you, to do good, to do what is right, to do what is just. Help us, Lord, to be people that are pleasing to you. We praise you, and thank you for your mercy, Your Grace, we praise you and thank you for your holiness and your judgment and your wrath, also, we ask all these things in Christ’s name. Amen.
