Amos: God’s Prophet

The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Amos 1:1

Just two years before the earthquake, God raised a prophet. He was a layman, a sheep breeder who had been reared with a divine message from God. The prophet suddenly came on the scene. He was from Judah, but his prophecies mostly concern Israel. The prophet was raised with a divine message from God. The message was:

And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion, And utters His voice from Jerusalem; The pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the top of Carmel withers.” Amos 1:2

This verse is also present in Joel 3:16, The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem;

heaven and earth will shake. The heavens and the earth will shake when the Lord roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem, according to this verse. This shake can be an earthquake.

A full, deep, prolonged loud sound or cry is referred to as a roar. A lion’s roar is produced in bouts (brief intervals) that can last up to 90 seconds and consist of up to 50 calls with frequencies ranging from 40 to 200 Hz. The Lord’s roar conveys the same message. The Lord roars from Zion denotes a deep, prolonged loud sound or cry from Zion. This prolonged sound can last for several days or even months. It is a recurring action till the day of destruction, not a one-time event. It’s a deep, powerful cry or sound that lasts for a period of time.

Mount Carmel and Jerusalem are approximately 140 kilometres apart. The Lord roars from Jerusalem, and this deep, resonant sound is heard all the way to Mount Carmel. Even at 140 km from Jerusalem, the Lord’s roar is so loud that the top of Carmel withers. The top of Carmel withers – this signifies that the people of Carmel became weak or dry after hearing the Lord’s roar. The Lord’s roar resonated so powerfully between Jerusalem and Carmel. The inhabitants of the land heard the Lord’s roar, yet they did not repent of their ways.

Amos did not hear God’s words but observed or saw what was happening in Judah and Israel. Amos saw as if “The Lord was roaring now from Jerusalem”. The prophet declared what he saw. Amos begins his ministry at a time when the Lord is roaring. This roar is heard throughout the book of Amos. The Lord’s roar is a protective rather than a destructive sound. This roar warns of impending calamity but is always eager to save His people.

Much greater than the range of a lion’s roar, the Lord’s roar thunders across the whole land, reaching even the summit of Carmel nearly a hundred miles away.

What did the Lord roar?

This Lord’s roar was about the coming destruction caused by the earthquake. Amos was declaring that a great shaking that can shake even heaven and earth is coming. One of God’s destructions was an earthquake. But there were many more devastations on the way. Amos warns not only Israel and Judah, but all nations that will be affected by the earthquake. Amos warned Damascus, Gaza, Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites about God’s coming judgment on the land. He revealed the exact sins and demise of heathen and God’s nations. He mentioned the crimes of pagan nations but not the way out of this calamity. But for God’s people, he exposed their sins as well as a way out of this calamity.

Are we in a place where God is not revealing and correcting our sins? This is a dangerous place to be. The greatest destruction that God can allow in your life is a place where God does not reveal and correct your sins. If God corrects you, it is a show of Fatherly love.

God had to raise a sheep breeder with a burden to warn about the coming destruction.

Where are the prophets like Amos today, warning about the coming destruction and revealing the core cause and remedy for it?

Amos warned the people about the earthquake two years before it occurred. God gave two years for people to repent. Where are the prophets like Amos who warned the people about the coming destruction and gave buffer(repenting) time for people to repent of their evil ways?

These days is God speaking to you about the coming destruction. Raise your voice in a Godly manner and inform others. Don’t hide in your Tekoa’s. Before Covid, God has raised some laymen like Amos, but they were hiding in their Tekoa’s. If some laymen like Amos had warned about covid before it happened, some people might have repented and been saved. Amos forewarned both Godly and heathen nations.

Let you be Amos to some people around you, warning them of the coming destruction and revealing God’s ways. Save people by your rebuke rather than abandoning them to their destruction.