The Analysed Bible, Volumes 1, 2, 3, by Rev. G. Campbell Morgan: The Book of Amos - Analysed and Explained in Detail (Full Text and PDF).

A detailed analysis of the book of Amos: National Accountability.

To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that this book, being published in 1907, and freely available elsewhere on the internet is in the public domain.

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The Book of Amos - Analysed and Explained in Summary - Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of "The Analysed Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.

To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that this book, taken from Volumes 1, 2, & 3 of the "Analysed Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan published in 1907, and freely available elsewhere on the internet is in the public domain.

AMOS - NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

PART A: DECLAMATIONS - Amos 1:1-2:16

Title Page - 1:1-1:2

A1. Damascus - Amos 1:3-1:5

A2. Gaza - Amos 1:6-1:8

A3. Tyre - Amos 1:9-1:10

A4. Edom - Amos 1:11-1:12

A5. Children of Ammon - Amos 1:13-1:15

A6. Moab - Amos 2:1-2:3

A7. Judah - Amos 2:4-2:5

A8. Israel - Amos 2:6-2:16

Part B: PROCLAMATIONS - Amos 3:1-6:14

B1. Jehovah's Verdict and Sentence - Amos 3:1-3:15

  1. Priveleged People to be Punished - 3:1-3:2
  2. The Prophet's Vindication of himself - 3:3-3:8
  3. Reason of Punishment - 3:9-3:15

B2. Jehovah's Summons - Amos 4:1-4:13

  1. Indictment of the Women - 4:1-4:3
  2. Final Summons to the People - 4:4-4:13

B3. Lamentation and its Causes - Amos 5:1-6:14

  1. The Lamentation - 5:1-5:2
  2. The Sequence of Explanations - 5:3-5:17
  3. The Double Woe - 5:18-6:14

Part C: REVELATIONS - Amos 7:1-9:10

C1. The Locusts - Amos 7:1-7:3

  1. Judgement Threatened and Restrained

C2. The Fire - Amos 7:4-7:6

  1. Judgement Threatened and Restrained

C3. The Plumbline - Amos 7:7-7:9

  1. Judgement Determined

Historical Interpolation - Amos 7:10-7:17

C4. The Basket of Summer Fruit - Amos 8:1-8:14

  1. Judgement at Hand

C5. Jehovah - Amos 9:1-9:10

  1. Judgement Executed

Part D: RESTORATIONS - Amos 9:11-9:15

D1. Restoration. Preliminary - Amos 9:11-9:13

  1. "I will"
  2. "That they may"

D2. Restoration. Progressive - Amos 9:14

  1. "I will"
  2. "They shall"

D3. Restoration. Permanent - Amos 9:15

  1. "I will"
  2. "They shall"

Introduction

Amos was practically contemporary with Hosea. In the reign of Jeroboam he came out of Tekoa to Bethel. In all probability his messages were delivered during the short period when Jeroboam was king of Israel and Uzziah king of Judah. The latter years of the reign of Jeroboam were characterized by great material prosperity on the one hand, and on the other by the prevalence of injustice, oppression, and vice. The poor were ground down under the heel of the rich. This material prosperity was construed by the people as evidence of Divine protection, while yet they were forgetful of the requirements of the law.

The burden of his message is that of national accountability, which he delivered in a series of declamations against the nations as such; in set addresses to the chosen people; in a series of visions which deal with the coming Judgment; and in a brief final word, prophetic of ultimate restoration.

The book falls naturally, therefore, into these divisions: Declamation (1-2); Proclamation (3-6) ; Revelation (7:1-9:10); Restoration (9:11-11:15).

A. Declamation - Amos 1:1-2:16

The second verse of the first chapter gives us the key to the book. Jehovah declared Himself in judgment. Beginning at the point furthest from Israel, the prophet delivered his messages to the nations as such. Each in turn is seen to pass before Jehovah and receive sentence.

The sin of Syria had been that of cruelty. Jehovah's patience had been manifested. At last sentence was uttered ; the flame would devour; all defence would be useless, and the people would be driven into captivity. The sin of Philistia had been that of the slave trade. Here, as before, and as in each subsequent case, the form of the declaration reveals the patience of God. Philistia would be visited with the devouring flame, her inhabitants be cut off, and even the remnant perish. Phoenicia's special guilt had been that, in spite of the covenant made, she had acted as a slave agent. Edom was doomed for determined and revengeful unforgiveness. The children of Ammon were specially denounced for cruelty based upon cupidity. Moab's chief wickedness had been her shocking and vindictive hatred.

Having thus uttered the word of God concerning the surrounding nations, thereby revealing the fact of His government over all, the prophet turned to Judah, and declared that she also was to share the doom of the other nations, because she had despised the law of Jehovah, and had not kept His statutes. Finally, he spoke to Israel. All the foregoing had been in preparation for this. He described the sins of Israel in detail and with almost startling directness. He charged the people with injustice, avarice, oppression, immorality, profanity, blasphemy, and sacrilege. Moreover, he declared that their sin had been greatly aggravated by the privileges which they had enjoyed. They had seen the Amorites destroyed before them for the very sins which they themselves had subsequently committed. They had been brought up out of Egypt, and so knew the power of Jehovah. They had raised up sons for prophets, and young men for Nazarites. These sons they had corrupted, having given wine to the Nazarites, and silenced the prophets. The sentence against them was that of oppression and judgment, from which there should be no possibility of escape.

B. Proclamations - Amos 3:1-6:14

Having thus uttered the declamations of Jehovah's judgment upon all the nations, the prophet proceeded to deliver his special message to Israel. This was done in a series of three discourses. In each the introductory word is "Hear this word." The first discourse consists of a statement of Jehovah's verdict and sentence. It opens with a simple declaration that the privileged people were to be punished; their privileges were named, and their punishment announced. In view of the probability that the people would object to this message, the prophet, in an interpolation, defended himself. By a series of seven questions he illustrated a principle which may thus be stated - an effect proves a cause. The illustrations may thus be summarized: communion proves agreement; the lion roaring proves the prey; the cry of the young lion proves the prey possessed; the fall of a bird proves the bait; the springing of the snare proves the bird to be taken; the trumpet proves alarm; calamity in the city proves Jehovah. From this principle the prophet deduced an application: Jehovah hath roared, therefore fear; Jehovah hath spoken, therefore prophesy. Turning back to the main argument, Amos proclaimed the punishment of the privileged, and declared its reason. The reason was stated to the heathen, who were invited to witness the justice of the doom.

The second discourse consists of Jehovah's summons to the people. It commences with a severe and terrible indictment of the women. He addressed them as "Ye kine of Bashan," which description reveals the fact of the degradation of womanhood to mere animalism. The prophet described their doings, declaring that they oppressed the poor and crushed the needy, and said unto their lords, "Bring and let us drink." Their doom would be that they would be taken away with hooks, that is, in shame and helplessness, and in the presence of judgment would take refuge in wild flight. He then uttered the final summons to the people. In this call there was a piece of stinging satire. They were to come to Bethel to transgress; to Gilgal to multiply transgression. Their sacrifices they were to offer every morning instead of once a year; their tithe every third day instead of every third year; their sacrifice was leavened; they made freewill offerings and published them. He then described God's patience and their perversity. He had spoken to them by famine, by drought, by blasting and mildew, by pestilence and sword, by earthquake. After each description the prophet declared, "Yet have ye not returned to Me." All this culminated in a great call, "Prepare to meet thy God."

The third discourse was a description of Jehovah's judgment. This opened with a lamentation for the virgin of Israel, "She shall no more rise, she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up." Following this the prophet uttered a sequence of explanations, each commencing with the words, "Thus saith the Lord." Finally he pronounced the double woe. Two classes of the sinning people were addressed. First those who desired "the day of the Lord," that is most evidently, according to the description, the hypocrites. They were religionists who kept feasts, observed solemn assemblies, brought burnt meal and peace offerings, sang songs and made melody with viols; but who, nevertheless, were living the life of sin. With tremendous force the prophet described God's attitude toward such: "I hate, I despise. ... I will take no delight. ... I will not accept ... neither will I regard. ... I will not hear." Jehovah's call was for righteousness and judgment. The "day of the Lord" for the hypocrites would be one of darkness and destruction. The second class were the indifferent, those "that are at ease in Zion." The prophet described them as living in luxury and abandoned to animalism, declaring that against them Jehovah would proceed in swift and terrible judgment.

C. Revelation - Amos 7:1-9:10

In this division the prophet gave a fivefold vision of judgment, introduced in the first four cases by the words, "The Lord God shewed me." The last vision was that of Jehovah Himself. The vision of the locusts declared judgment to be threatened and restrained in answer to intercession. The prophet saw the locusts eating up the grass, and made intercession on behalf of the people. In answer to this Jehovah repented, and judgment was arrested. The vision of the fire had the same significance. The prophet saw the devouring fire, and interceded. His intercession was answered by Jehovah's repentance, and the judgment was restrained. The vision of the plumb-line is different. Jehovah was seen standing by a wall testing it with a plumb-line. Having done so, He appealed to the prophet. No charge was made; but it is evident that as Amos beheld, he realized all the irregularities the plumb-line revealed. There was no intercession. Doom was determined.

So long as prophecy was mingled with messages of mercy it was tolerated by the people. Directly that element was missing, hostility broke forth, and we have an interpolation upon the revelation, giving the story of the opposition of Amaziah and the answer of Amos. This Amaziah was an impostor, and yet held the position of priest of Bethel. He reported to Jeroboam what Amos was saying, advising his exile. He, moreover, attempted to appeal to the fear of Amos, and advised him to flee to Judah. The answer of Amos was full of dignity born of the consciousness of the Divine authority of his commission. He declared that he was no prophet, but that Jehovah had taken him and spoken to him, thus he had become a prophet in very deed. Then, answering Amaziah, he declared that God's judgment would overtake him.

The next vision, that of the basket of summer fruit, indicated the imminence of the judgment. Jehovah declared that the end was come, that He would not pass by them any more. This announcement was followed on the part of the prophet by an impassioned address to the moneymakers, in which he first declared the effect of their lust for gain. They swallowed the needy, and caused the poor to fail. He described the intensity of that lust; the new moon and sabbath were irksome. Then there is a figurative description of judgment which declared Jehovah's perpetual consciousness of these things, and His consequent retribution. The final issue of judgment the prophet declared to be a famine of the words of the Lord, as a result of which there would come eager and fruitless search, followed by the fainting of the youth for lack.

The final vision was that of judgment executed. In this there was no symbol, no sign. We hear the manifesto of Jehovah Himself. It is one of the most awe-inspiring visions of the whole Bible. The message proceeded in two phases. First an announcement of judgment, irrevocable and irresistible; secondly, a declaration of the procedure as reasonable and discriminative. Jehovah is seen standing by the altar, declaring the stroke of destruction to be inevitable, and all attempts at escape futile, because He has proceeded to action. While the judgment is to be reasonable and discriminative, the claims in which Israel had trusted were nothing. They became as children of Ethiopians. Philistines and Syrians had also been led by God. The eyes of Jehovah were on the sinful kingdom. The sifting process must go forward, but no grain of wheat should perish.

D. Restoration - Amos 9:11-9:15

The phrase "In that day" indicates the closing message of restoration and all that is to precede it. It is now declared that the reason of the Divine judgment is not revenge, but that it is the only way in which it is possible to usher in the restored order upon which the heart of God is set. The process of restoration is described as threefold. First, preliminary, "I will raise up ... that they may possess." Then as to progress, "I will bring again the captivity ... they shall build the waste cities ... plant vineyards ... make gardens." Finally, the permanent, "I will plant them ... they shall no more be plucked up."