Amos, or the writer/editor of the work[1], writes concerning the exiled people of Israel (the northern kingdom), asserting that YHWH will bring them back into their own land again, where they will rebuild the ruined cities, plant vineyards and gardens, and enjoy their agricultural produce (9.14). Furthermore, YHWH will "restore David's fallen tent . . . and rebuild it as it used to be" and will "plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted" (9.11, 15). In other words, Amos hopes for a return of exiles from Assyria and a new king (messiah) from the lineage of David who will rule all Israel, not just the north, in a time of peace and material prosperity. He believes YHWH will replant Israel in the land, never again to be uprooted. Amos contains a political, this-worldly messianism with visions of agricultural prosperity.
· Amos 1.1, "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 Jehoasha was king of Israel.
· “YHWH roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.”
· Pronounces YHWH's Judgement on Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, Israel.
· Repeated statement: "For three sins of [insert nation], even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]." (1-2)
· "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." (2.6-7)
· "Surely the Sovereign YHWH does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." (3.7)
· "On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground." (3.14)
· List of all the disasters YHWH sent to punish the nation (famine, lack, drought, blight, mildew, "I sent plagues among you ... I killed your young men with the sword"), yet they continued to do evil." (4)
· YHWH = "He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth—the YHWH Elohim of the armies is his name." (4.13)
· The Day of YHWH (The Day of the Lord): "5.18. Woe to you who long for the day of YHWH! Why do you long for the day of YHWH? That day will be darkness, not light. ... 20. Will not the day of YHWH be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? 21. “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. 22. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! ... I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” (5.18-27)
· “‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’” (7.11)
· Amos' biography: Amaziah, priest of Beth-El asks Amos[2] to leave Israel. "7.14. 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. 15. But YHWH took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ (7.14-15)
· Amos 9.8-15: 8. “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign YHWH are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the soil (adamah)—yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” declares YHWH. 9. “For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. 10. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ 11. “In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, 12. so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares YHWH, who will do these things. 13. “The days are coming,” declares YHWH, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. 14. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says YHWH your Elohim.
[1] Sometimes Amos is referred to in the third person in the work, as by a narrator.
[2] n.b. a switch to referring to Amos in the 3rd person.