Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Judgment on the idolatrous worship 4:15-19
  4:15 The Lord warned the Israelites not to pollute their brethren in the Southern Kingdom with their unfaithfulness. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really wo...
• Historical Background
  These were times of political stability, material prosperity, and geographical expansion for both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms (cf. 1:6; 6:2, 13; 2 Kings 14:23-29; 2 Chron. 26:1-15). Jeroboam II and Uzziah were two ...
• Outline
  I. Prologue 1:1-2A. Introduction 1:1B. Theme 1:2II. Prophetic messages that Amos delivered 1:3-6:14A. Oracles against nations 1:3-2:51. An oracle against Aram 1:3-52. An oracle against Philistia 1:6-83. An oracle against Phoe...
• II. Prophetic messages that Amos delivered 1:3--6:14
  The Book of Amos consists of words (oracles, 1:3-6:14) and visions (chs. 7-9), though these sections also contain short sub-sections of other types of material....
• A. Oracles against nations 1:3-2:16
  An oracle is a message of judgment. Amos proceeded to deliver eight of these, seven against Israel's neighbors including Judah (1:3-2:5) and one against Israel (2:6-6:14).12The order is significant. The nations mentioned firs...
• Religious hypocrisy 4:4-5
  4:4 Ironically the Lord told these sinful Israelites to go to Bethel but to transgress, not to worship. Such a call parodied the summons of Israel's priests to come to the sanctuary to worship (cf. Ps. 95:6; 96:8-9; 100:2-4)....
• 3. The third message on injustice 5:1-17
  The structure of this message is chiastic, which focuses attention and emphasis on the middle part.AA description of certain judgment vv. 1-3BA call for individual repentance vv. 4-6CAn accusation of legal injustice v. 7DA po...
• A call for individual repentance 5:4-6
  This pericope is also chiastic (Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba, Gilgal, Bethel).5:4-5 Yahweh invited the Israelites to seek Him so they might live. Even though national judgment and death were inevitable, individuals could still l...
• Another call for individual repentance 5:14-15
  5:14 Again the prophet urged the Israelites to seek good rather than evil so they could live (cf. vv. 4-6). Then the sovereign, almighty Yahweh would truly be with them, as they professed He was even as they practiced their i...
• 3. The plumb line 7:7-9
  7:7 Amos saw a third vision. The Lord was standing beside a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. A plumb line was a string with a weight on the end. People used it, and still use it, to determine if a vertical structu...
• The justice of His punishment 9:7-10
  9:7 Rhetorically Yahweh asked if Israel was not just like other nations. It was in the sense that it was only one nation among many in the world that lived under His sovereign authority. The Ethiopians (Cushites) were a remot...
• The blessings of the restored kingdom 9:13-15
  9:13 In contrast to the images of judgment that Amos had painted throughout this book, days were coming when these terrible conditions would be reversed. The land would become so productive that farmers planting seed for the ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• The Sins Of Society
  For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live: 5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to...
• Ripe For Gathering
  Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I ...