Sunday School Lesson
Sunday Morning Bible Class December 7, 2025
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Theme:
Minor Prophets
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Amos
Amos 7
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Introduction
Amos was not a prophet by profession. He was a shepherd and a fruit and a fig tree farmer farmer. (Amos 1:1; 7:14- 15) He lived in Tekoa a Hebrew settlement betweeen Nothern Israel and Southern Judah. He prophesied to the norther Kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam the second. (II Kings 14:23-29) His prophecy took place sometime beteen 786 -743 B.C. He was considered one of the worst kings ever. He allowed idol worship of the Canaanite gods. This led to God's anger and judgement. Amos was tasked wit inorming Israel of God's impending judgement that was to befall them. Because of their sin Israel would no longer exist but would fall to the nation of Assyria. (II Kings 17) They would now only exisit as a scatterscatterd people. Amos likely prophesied during the decades just before the fall of Samaria to the Assyrian EmpireThis empire dominated the Near East from the time of Jeroboam the second until the end of the seventh century B. C.
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Three Vissions
1) Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the begining of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king's mowings. 2) And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, That I said: "O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!" 3) So the lord relented concerning this. "It shall not be, said the Lord. 4) Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. 5) Then I said, "O Lord God, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!" 6) So the Lord relented concerning this. "This also shall not be," said the Lord. 7) Thus He showed me: Behold, The Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with aplumb line in His hand. 8) And the Lord God said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. 9) The high plces of Israel shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam."
Commentary
Amos is given three vissions of judgement by God against the Northern kingdom. The first is a swarm of locust that would devour the land. This devestion of Israels crop woul likely cause a famine in the land. Amos, seeing the devatation of the locust in the visson prayed to God to forgive them so they would not be wiped out. His plea was that they were small. God relented. The second vission was a conflict by fire. The fire would consume the great deep and devour the territory. Such devastion would utterly destoy Israel. Amos again pleads for mecy from God. Again he says for they are small. God again relents. The third vission is of a plumb line. A lumb line is a measuring tool. It is used to determine if a surface is vertical. in this case God would use to measure the character of Israel. He would no longer overlook their sins. The temples built for idolotrous worship would be destroyed. God would raise up an army to pass judgement on His people Israel.
Amos 7:1-9
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Amaziah And Jeroboam
10) Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspied against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11) "For thus Amos has said: 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, And Israel shall surely be led away captive from their own land.' " 12) Then Amaziah said to Amos: "Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judab. There eat bread, And there prophesy. 13) But never again prophesy at Bethl, For it is the king's sanctuary, And it is the royal residence."
Commentary
Word of the prophesy, given by Amos, of the destruction of Israel, reached Amaziah the priest of Bethel. Amaziah sends a message to King Jeroboam, telling him Amos had conpired against him and the house of Israel. Amaziah is a corrupt priest, not perfoming his duty to God by teaching adherence to the law of Moses. Rather than serving as themessenger of the Lord of Host" and encouraging the people to "seek the law" Amaziah became an informant to King Jeroboam who did evil in the sight of the Lord. Amaziah reports to the king that Amos prophesied about his death and the destruction and captivity of Israel.(i.e. the judgements of God) then Amaziah turns his attention on Amos. He tells him not to continue to prophesy here against Israel but rather go to Judah and prophesy there.
Amos 7:10-13
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Amos And Amaziah
14) Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: "I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. 15) Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, And the Lord said to me, 'Go prophesy to My people Israel.' 16) Now therefore hear the word of the Lord: You say, 'do not prophesy against Israel, And do not spout against the house of Isaac. 17) "Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Your wife shall be a harlot in the city; Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by survey line; You shall surely die in a defiled land; And Israel shall surely be led away captive from it's own land.' "
Commentary
Amos responds first by saying he was not a prophet nor was his father a prophet. Instead he was a shepherd and a farmer by trade. He furtherexplains that it was God who ame to him while he was tending to his duties as a shepherd. He tells Amaziah that God sent him to prophesy against Israel. Therefore, he says, hear the word of the Lord. Amos is letting Amaziah know that the words he was speaking were coming directly from God and he was His messenger. Israel needed to pay attention to what Amos was telling them. Because of their sin the Lord was about to bring a great judgement on them. Because the continued to worship the gods of the Cnaanite God woul destroy their land. Because they refused to listen to the prophets He had sent they would be led away captive to a forgein land. The children of Israel was about to suffer a great and terrible judgement at the hands of the Assyrian Empire. They would devour ther land, kill many of the people, and lead the rest into captivity; totaly destroying the Norther Kingdom. This kingdom would never recover or be rebuilt. m
Amos 7:14-17
II Timothy 2:15: "Be dillgent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
