Amos was a prophet whose ministry took place around the year 760 B.C. (about 120-150 years after David’s death). The kingdom has been divided between Northern Israel and Southern Judah. Amos is a shepherd and fig farmer that lived in Southern Judah but right on the border of Northern Israel. The king of Northern Israel is Jeroboam II. He has generated wealth and has allowed idolatry and injustice.
The book of Amos is a collection of sermons, poems, and visions of Amos over the years that were compiled later for the sake of God’s people. During his time, the northern kingdom of Israel was thriving economically with lively trade and commerce; there was a growing upper class that was totally indifferent to the plight of the poor; God’s covenant people were engaging in cultic practices, increasing their wealth by preying on the poor with debt by subjecting them to slavery; they denied the poor and helpless any justice in the law courts and cheated them in the marketplace; and their lives were characterized by consumption, debauchery, and immorality. This was what Amos was called to address.
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