Amos 1:1,2 – Yahweh Roars

1:1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

2 He said:

“Yahweh roars from Zion
    and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
    and the top of Carmel withers.”

The man and prophet, Amos, and his times

• a shepherd turned prophet – an outsider to the guild of the prophets (https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/s/sons-of-the-prophets.html https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Sons-Prophets), called from his normal duties to speak to his people, kind of like a Bill Bright or a Priscilla Shirer who were involved in business but felt the call of God to change directions and devote themselves to ministry before the Lord.
• On the cusp of divine judgment – since Israel’s division into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, the special protection the people had enjoyed is ebbing away. This is due to Israel and Judah moving away from following Yahweh. He is strengthening nations around them, and they no longer see Israel and Judah as too powerful to resist or attack.  And a strong nation to the north (Assyria) is gaining momentum as a rival to the once all-powerful Egypt.  Israel/Judah is hemmed in by God’s agents of discipline.

It is into this situation that God speaks through Amos to all the nations of the region, but particularly Israel, the northern tribes who seceded from Judah and formed their own nation. Verse 2 of chapter one serves as a summary of what is to come, so let’s examine it a little to catch God’s message.

Yahweh roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem

If you’re an Israelite this is not good news from two perspectives:

1. God roaring and thundering does not suggest a positive message.
2. Lions roar as they are hungry and seeking their prey. Amos says in chapter 3, verse 4,

Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing?

Thunder brings with it rain but also the deadly frightening power of the storm. If God is speaking this loud, something is wrong and we must expect judgment.

God is communicating this judgment from a rival kingdom, Judah.  Jerusalem is still His seat of government.  It would be like telling us that God has spoken His judgment against us from the English Parliament, as if we were still held accountable to England’s sovereignty.

The pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.

The NIV says the pastures “dry up”.  The word used here usually means “to mourn” and then, by derivation, to languish as from mourning.  You can imagine someone who is mourning moving about with their heads bowed, their bodies drawn in. When the pastures mourn because of the coming judgment, they wither and dry up, no longer providing nurture and hope for the shepherds.  And so, the shepherds are in mourning, too, and feeling the dread of something terrible coming.

These pastures are in the lower elevations.  But even the higher elevations are feeling the pinch.  Mount Carmel is withering.  This proud and mighty stronghold jutting out of the earth is made feeble and helpless and dead.

What is God trying to tell Israel?  And by implication, what is He trying to tell us?

1. God will not neglect to judge the wrongdoings of his people. When His people resort to other gods, when they fail to honor the relationship they have with their God, their redeemer and king, the One who has been the source of all good things in their lives; when they treat Him like a good luck charm, like a quaint tradition to observe instead of the mighty Thunderer and Roarer who wants instead to speak gently and compassionately to them, then He will not fail to pursue His people by whatever means necessary.
2. God will always seek to direct us back to the fold of true authority in our lives. Who has been the true speaker of life into our lives, from whom perhaps we have pulled away because we do not like the conviction that comes?  Who have been our true mothers and fathers in the faith? Are we drawn to such independence from Him that we have neglected those He sends our way to call us back to dependence on Him?

Today, let’s not think we can accomplish what we are given to do without the mighty One who called us to this task.  Let’s not bring the Voice of God’s disapproval into our lives by treating Him as a merely religious essential, rather than a life-essential.  Let’s recognize that He is the vine, and we are the branches; He is the power source, we are vehicle for His power; we are the jars of clay, He is the treasure inside.

Please pray to the mighty God who roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem.  Confess the sins of our people and ask for a revival of true worship. Perhaps God will relent from His judgment.