Amos

Amos was not from the professional prophet class. He was a shepherd from Tekoa in Judah and a dresser of sycamore trees. Yet God took him from following the flock and sent him north to Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, a time of unprecedented prosperity and territorial expansion.

Beneath the wealth, however, corruption festered. The rich oppressed the poor, justice was sold to the highest bidder, and religious festivals continued while morality collapsed. Amos thundered God's condemnation: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!" He denounced those who "sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes."

Amos's message offended the religious establishment. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, tried to send Amos back to Judah, telling him to prophesy there and eat his bread there. Amos responded that he was no prophet's son—just a herdsman called by God. He couldn't stop speaking what God had shown him.

His visions were terrifying: locusts devouring the land, fire consuming the deep, a plumb line revealing Israel's crookedness, a basket of summer fruit symbolizing Israel's ripeness for judgment. Yet Amos ended with hope: God would raise up David's fallen booth and restore His people to their land, never again to be uprooted.