INVESTIGATION INTO THE MESSAGE OF AMOS AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THE

SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATIONOF NIGERIA

SUBMITTED TO:
PAST. KAREEM KAYODE PETER

BY:
EMMANUEL JOEL
MATRIC, NO. 07278

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE REQUIREMENT:

THE MINNOR PROPHETS
COURSE CODE: OTS311

ECWA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, IGBAJA KWARA STATE

SUBMISSION DATE:

3RD NOVEMBER 2016

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

AMOS THE PROPHET,

THE BOOK OF AMOS,

AMOS CALLING,

PERIOD OF HIS PROPHECY,

SITUATION THAT CALLS FOR JUDGMENT,

AUDIENCE AND THEIR SINS,

MESSAGE OF AMOS,

THE SINS OF THE ISRAELITES,

HOW THIS PASSAGE FITS INTO THE WHOLE BIBLE,

BRINGING AMOS MESSAGE TO NIGERIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXT,

WHAT IS THE SITUATION OF NIGERIA?

CONCLUSION
 INTRODUCTION

I have read about the prophet who seek justice and truth, whom is called and has well

defined his call, who knows the message he was given and to who the message was to be

delivered. The question is that, do we have this kind of prophet, pastor, evangelist today? This

term paper is to look at the situation of Amos when he delivered his message and also look at the

situation in this country (Nigeria). It is quiet true that the situation seems similar, but thank God

for Amos who was able to address the situation of his time or period, let us look forward to Jesus

and see how he settles the situation of Nigeria, in this research work, we will be talking about,

Amos the prophet, the book of Amos, Amos calling, period of his prophecy, situation that calls

for judgment, audience and their sins, message of Amos, The sins of the Israelites, How this

passage fits into the whole Bible, Bringing Amos message to Nigerian socio-political context,

What is the situation of Nigeria, it is the researchers sincerely prayer that at the end of this term

paper, everyone who lay his hands on this research work will pity Nigerian as a nation and pray

to God to send people like Amos, in order to challenge this nations situation.
 THE PROPHET AMOS

Amos is one of the Old Testament prophets; he is categorized among the Minor Prophets

and the book of Amos show to us how vibrant Amos delivered his message during his own

contemporary. The meaning of the name Amos means (burden or burden bearer), Amos should

be mistaken for Amoz the father of prophet Isaiah just as the meaning implies above. Amos our

concern for this term paper is a native of Tekoa in Judah, about six miles south of Bethlehem,

originally a shepherd and dresser of sycamore trees,

The name his father was mentioned nowhere in the scriptures, the bible is so silent about Amos

fathers name. Some scholars said Amos fathers name was nowhere mentioned in the bible or

anywhere, and this is probably because Amos was born in and grew in a poor and obscure

family.

BOOK OF AMOS,

The book of the prophecies of Amos seems to be divided into four principal portions

closely connected together.

(1) From 1:1 to 2:3 he denounces the sins of the nations bordering on Israel and Judah.

(2) From 2:4 to 6:14 he describes the state of those two kingdoms, especially, the former.

(3) From 7:1 to 9:10 he relates his visit to Bethel, and sketches the impending punishment of

Israel.

(4) At last he promises blessings. The chief peculiarity of the style consists in the number of

allusions to natural objects and agricultural occupations, as might be expected from the early life

of the author.
 AMOS CALLING

Though Amos was untutored, having lived as a shepherd in the isolated and desert region

of Tekoa, yet begin by birth a morally noble, healthy and vigorous yeoman, like john the Baptist

who spent most of his life or years in same wilderness, he developed into a religious reformer,

and, eventually, became supreme concerned for the rights of God, and for justice. According to

the researchers discovery prophet Amos ministered around 785-750 B.C.1 we can say the

period of his ministration is the period of his calling. No record of delay as at the time he was

called.

Talking about his call William said Amos was called by God s Spirit to be a prophet,

although not trained in any of the regular prophetic schools.2 (Amos 1:1; 7:14, 15) George also

affirmed this in his writings though Amos was untutored, having lived as a shepherd in the

isolated and desert region of Tekoa, yet being by birth a morally noble healthy and vigorous

yeoman 3
He travelled from Judah into the northern kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, and there

exercised his ministry, apparently not for any long time. (His date cannot be later than B.C. 808

for he lived in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel; but his ministry

probably took place at an earlier date, perhaps about the middle of Jeroboams reign Nothing is

known of the time or manner of his death.

Talking about prophet Amos call, Amos had no special professional or formal

preparation to preach; he was educated rather in the school of vigilance. By inheritance, Amos

was neither a prophet nor a prophets son. George added that he belong to no established guild,

1 A handout used in ECWA Bible Training School on minor prophets (ETTI ADUNU; Niger state

Nigerian, 1994)
2William Smith Smith's Bible Dictionary amos
3 George Manfor, Gutzke, plain talk about Christian word (Zondervan publishing house, grand rapids,

Michigan, 1967), 170

such as the sons of the prophets4 when we talk about the call of Amos, we see the reality of

the word of God in the sense, where the word of God say God chooses the shameful things to

qualify them and even disappoint the wise of the world. Amos was a shepherd, and authenticity

of his calling was with a direct message and immediate effect, which God said to him go

prophecy unto my people Israel (Amos 7:14-15). Amos was really called by God, and he really

understood where he was sent by God to prophecy.

PERIOD OF HIS PROPHECY

Amos prophecy was given in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and jeroboam ii king of

Israel. We should get it right that, there were two nations (kingdoms) operating and each nation

is having its particular king as at the time of Amos prophecy or ministration. These kingdoms are

(Judah and Israel). Iron side noticed something important about the town which came Amos

from (tekoa) a desert town, surrounded by land solitudes, it was a suitable place for people or

men of pastoral occupation; and there Amos pursued his humble calling till separated by the to

the prophetic office.5 The title to Amos prophecies defines his period as in the days of Uzziah

king of Judah and in the days of jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the

earth quake (1:1) however the date of the earth quake is somewhat uncertain, but it must have

been one unusual severity, as it is alluded to by Zechariah, who preached more than two hundred

years later. (Zech. 14:5). The time of his ministry was around 785-750 B.C.

SITUATION THAT CALL FOR GODS JUDGMENT

Amos saw a complete breakdown of morality and convenient faith, not only in Israel but

also in the nations around with whom it was most closely related or associated; Syria, the

4 George shem, the prophets of the lord (Grand Rapids; Michigan, 1978), 67.
5 H. A. IronSide, notes on the minor prophets (new York; loizeaux brothers, 1949), 84.
philistines, Tyre, Edom, Ammon (Amos 1:3-2:5), Of course all, but Judah had never been a part

of the covenant faith. But Amos condemned them in Gods name.

The situation of that period calls for Gods judgment to the nation, I know, the question now is;

what was the situation?

i- They refuse to treat others alike

ii- They had disregarded the elementary principles of human dignity

iii- They were acting with great cruelty

iv- They took the whole community into slavery

v- They were breaking treatise

vi- Exacting merciless revenge on neighboring states

All this was just a prelude to Gods judgment of Israel. Israel might not have done any of these

things, but she had broken the covenant relationship with her God in every fundamental ways.

The sins that existed in Israel were briefly listed by Samuels in one of his book;

Social evil, Oppression, Immorality, Profanity6 knowing more about other sins of the nation,

knowing about the audience will serve a good purpose.

AUDIENCE AND THEIR SINS

Amos main audience was Israel, which politically and economically was at a zenith of

power, as one of my lecturer will say it was experiencing a period of economic boom.7 The

threat of war was eased, and business was booming. A spirit of self sufficiency and smug

complacency thrived on material propecorrity, hypocrisy, and moral corruption and social

injustice were everywhere. Samuel also added that the nation was truly on the brink of

6 Samuel J. Schultz, the old testament speaks; second edition, (Harper and row publishers; new York,

Evanston, and London, 1970), 381

7 Kareem K.P, lecture on minor prophets; the book of Amos (Room 20 upstairs, ecwa theological

seminary igbaja, kwara state 2016)

disaster8 in fact, on Gods time table, destruction was due in about three decades (722 B.C) such

was the soul and destiny of the audience of Amos the prophet. These were the sins of Amos

audience that calls for Gods judgment of them (the audience) which this judgment can only be

avoided if they bring back justice to the land as well as the nation Israel, if not this punishment

was unavoidable.

MESSAGE OF AMOS

Amos was not a popular prophet, to put it mildly. This does not surprise us, for to most

people he was a calamity howler. His preaching was mainly stern denunciation, only because

this was the message God gave him to deliver. When Amos linked the lord with a roaring lion,

he wanted to impress upon his hearers the awfulness of sin and its judgment (Amos 1:2 the lord

will roar from zion; the lion hath roared, who will not fear)

Amos preaching was so sharp and vigorous that he was accused of sedition by Amaziah

idolatrous high priest of bethel (Amos 7:10-17). John also commented the same where Amos

was in bethel, Amaziah, the priest of the sanctuary, tried to send him back to Judah, telling him

that his own people should pray for his service.9 Amaziah obviously thought Amos was some

kind of professional prophet who was looking for a full time job attached to a permanent place of

worship. It is also clear to us that there were prophets who were full time prophets in both Israel

and Judah. And some of them seem to have had officials who would say anything the king

wanted to hear (1 kings 22:1-28).

Amos preaching was sharp and vigorous and was different from the court prophets, though he

was known to be a shepherd, but Amos had been a simple shepherd and he was not delivering his

challenging messages to tickle the ears of his political masters, but because God had shown him

8 Ibid, 382
9 John drane, Introducing the Old Testament (lion publishing company, England, 1987), 121.
the rotten state of Israelite, and he was impelled to do something about it (Amos 7:10-17; 3:3-8)

Amos saw a complete breakdown of morality and covenant faith of the nation.

Because Amos sharp and vigorous preaching, he was accused of sedition by Amaziah idolatrous

high priest as said earlier (Amos 7:10-17). Like most prophets, Amos underscored these key

truths:-

i- The peoples sin

ii- The coming of judgment

iii- The righteousness and holiness of God

iv- The mercy of God in offering deliverance

Amos ministry

Amos ministry was mainly to the northern kingdom of Israel (1:1; 7:14-15), even though he

also preached to Judah and the surrounding foreign nations. The reason or the purpose of God

sending Amos to prophecy to the northern kingdom was stated clear by Jensen who quotes from

Robertson writings. it is the manner of prophets to appear where they are most needed; and the

northern kingdom about that time had come victorious out of war (2 kings 14:25), and had

reached its culmination of wealth and power, with the attendant of luxury and excess, while

southern kingdom had been enjoying a period of outward tranquility and domestic content.10

The message God wanted to deliver to Israel was strong and severe, that is why God choose for

himself a messenger, a man who withstood the rigors of a disciplined life and who knew what

hardness was, so that he can be able to stand the challenges of life during his ministry.

10 Irving L. Jensen, minor prophets of Israel (Chicago; moody Bible institude, 1975), 85.
Jensen stated exactly in the waste howling wilderness around Tekoa, life was full of poverty

and danger, it was on empty and silent world, very wild. Amos grew to know the hardness of the

time and the situation confronting all who are around there.11

THE SINS OF THE ISRAELITES

1. The rich people were unfair in their treatment of the common people (10, 12). The rich

people took the poor people to court trials in order to take their money away. The rich gave

bribes to the judges so that the judges would make decisions that favored the rich and hurt the

poor. By doing this they were able to steal from the poor with the approval of the government

and the power of the courts.

2. The government leaders abused the poor and demanded heavy taxes from them (11a).

Politicians and judges are supposed to protect and defend the poor. They make sure that the poor

are treated fairly in court trials. They write laws that will help the needy, not hurt them. They tax

wealthy people more and tax poor people less. But Israels leaders were evil. They were cruel to

the poor. They used their power and authority to harm them.

The people spent all their money on themselves. They had expensive houses and many

beautiful vineyards (11b). They were selfish. They could have used their wealth to help the poor

and needy. Instead, they used their money to live lavish, luxurious lives. They continued

worshiping God without turning away from their sins (21-23). They were very religious, but their

religious beliefs did not change their behavior. They continued to be selfish and cruel to the poor.

God told them he hates religion that is insincere. God rejects worship from people who do not

love others or help the poor.12

Ibid, 87.
11

Gerhards Voss, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Wm B.
12

Erdmanns, 1948), 265.

 HOW THIS PASSAGE FITS INTO THE WHOLE BIBLE

Amos was just one of the many prophets and preachers God sends to speak his words of

truth to people. They warn people to turn away from sin and to obey and love God. They remind

the people of Gods laws. They tell people that if they do not stop sinning, they will suffer great

losses. For more information about the prophets and prophecy, Many believers today fail God as

the people of Israel did. We all need to think seriously about social justice, the responsibility of

government, the right use of money and wealth, and sincere worship.

A. Injustice and dishonesty (10, 12)

B. An oppressive government that abused the poor (11a)

C. Lavish, luxurious living (11b)

D. Insincere religious worship (21-23)

2. Gods commands

A. Choose good instead of evil! (14-15)

B. Promote justice! (24).

BRINGING AMOS MESSAGE TO NIGERIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXT

In concluding this great topic, it will be good to look at what Nigeria is in the light of

Amos contemporary, Nigeria is a nation which if the researcher will have his way, he will say

the situation of Amos audience was even better than the present situation in Nigeria today as a

nation. Charles said in history, Israel has been a nation that receives the consequences of her

sin, which is even better when compared to the present situations of countries around us13

Nigeria as a nation today need people of courage, boldness, and fearless to confront the situation

of our country. Why are we faced with trouble every day? Why are we with our eyes open

13 Charles F. Pfeifer An outline of Old Testament history (moody press; Chicago, 1977), 14
witnessing the situation of our country which we are not even spare. A question is ask due to the

suffering faced by some people, they said where is the God of Elijah? The God of Isaac, Jacob,

the God of Israel who dealt with this type of situations in the past. Somebody once said the God

of our ancient fathers is not at work in this generation, even if he is at work, then he is so old to

address the situations around us the way he used to do in the ancient time. This is not the fact,

our God is the same today and forever. But men have failed him; men are not ready for God to

use them. Many are called but few are choosen, but I will rather say many claim to have been

called by God whereas only few are genuinely called. Most of the prophets, bishops, reverend

fathers, evangelists, and pastors of this end time generation are into a ministry of their belly. Let

me have what to put in my account and forget about them. Overlooking situations around have

taking the place of a sincere message of God, just as pastor Dr.Jame adeyanju wrote in his book,

he highlighted some vital characteristics of the Old testament prophets he said;

The prophets of the old testament times were men of God with:- uncompromised attitude,

they live a holy and a consecrated life, they live a prayerful life, they a life that calls for

emulation.14 The so-called men of God in the position to rebuke the situation of our nation are

involved in corruption; Rev Tede said a pastor cannot preach to armed robbers or against the

corruption by our national leaders when his greediness is obvious to an average church

attendee.15 How can we preach corruption when we are corrupted? This is how bad our

ministers have become, we dont people like Amos in this generation, it is difficult to find them.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION OF NIGERIA

I know that question may be ask if Nigeria is also rich like the nation prophet Amos

address, the answer is yes, even some of the citizens of Nigeria will answer boldly and say yes,

14James Adeyanju, the major prophets (amazing grace press, Ilorin; Nigeria)
15Tede Anthony D.min, Pastoral road safety: overcoming pastoral challenges for church
transformation (middle plus media, area 10 Garki, Abuja-Nigeria, 2014), 195.
though there are people who may say no, because corruption has blinded their eyes to see how

rich and wealthy Nigeria can be. J.A. Oladunjoye is apparently right in saying that there is

connection between corruption, exploitation, and poverty in the country. He opines that

corruption is a major cause of poverty, and exploitation is one of the ways adopted by the rich

and the powerful to cheat the weak.16 The same thing found in the nation Israel, the same thing

is also found in Nigeria as a nation, people who are well to do care less about the poor, the poor

are maltreated, while the rich are continuously accumulating wealth to their treasury, how can

Nigeria hear about change, who is Amos of our day? Obogunri observed this when he write The

rich were affluent enough to have several houses with ostentatiously expensive furniture while

on the other hand the poor were really poor and were helplessly exploited. The surprising thing

was that popular and official religion was still at its best while the participants were decayed

morally.17 The OT prophets still speak to our age with tremendous challenge. The point was

made at the beginning of this work that prosperity was at its height in Israel and Judea at the time

of Amos (Amos 4:1; 5:1; 6:4, 6), the same way john sees and commented that prosperity

brought complacency, pride, and insensitivity to the voice of the Lord.18 The wealth was

however not evenly distributed, as the rich got richer, the poor got poorer until they lost all they

had (Amos 2:6-7; 5:10-12; 8:4-5). Yet the people were very religious: The religious centers

were apparently thronged, sacrifices were punctiliously offered, the musical side of worship was

keenly performed. Malachy I.Okwueze was right in his analysis of Amos prophecy19

16J.A. Oladunjoye, Galloping Poverty in Nigeria: An Appraisal of Governments Interventionist Policies,

Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 12 (2010), 6: 264.
17 S.O. Abogunrin, ed., Biblical Studies and Corruption in Africa (Ibadan: Nigerian Association for

Biblical Studies, 2007), 654.

18 John J. Davids and John C. Whitcomb, A History of Israel from Conquest to Exile (Grand Rapids:

Baker Book, 1970; rept. 1986), 427.

19 Malachy I. Okwueze, The Old Testament as History, Religion and Literature (Nsukka:

AP Express, 2001), 151-152.

 There is no doubt that affluence, exploitation and the profit motif were the most notable

features of the society which Amos observed and in which he lived and worked, which is also

relevant in our country Nigeria today.

Prosperity, exploitation and moral decay summarize Amos criticisms of his audience. In

these his criticisms are relevant to Nigeria today. In 2005, the Nigerian Association of Biblical

Studies (NABIS) held a conference in Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma to discuss the theme,

Biblical Studies and Corruption in Africa, to which biblical scholars in and outside Nigeria

gathered to examine the problem and proffer solution. Some of the papers relevant to the

ongoing discussion which were presented in the conference and published in a book after the

conference are briefly reviewed below.

Confirming the existence of poverty in Nigeria, there are some noteable scholars who can

see the present situation and talk about it, one of them is Chimobi Uche who commented about

Nigeria, he said In Nigeria, widespread and severe poverty is a reality. It is a reality that depicts

a lack of food, clothes, education and other basic amenities. Severely poor people lack the most

basic necessities of life to a degree that it can be wondered how they manage to survive. 20 The

second person in this observation is Segun Oshewolo he points out, Poverty holds sway in the

midst of plenty, Majority of the citizens have been reduced by poverty to hunger, ignorance,

malnutrition, disease, and unemployment, poor access to credit facilities, low life expectancy,

and hopelessness.21 Strangely, Nigeria is richly endowed with great wealth, resources and

potentials which are not prudently shared among the populace.

20 Chimobi Uche, Poverty in Nigeria: Some Dimensions and Contributing Factors, Global Majority E-
Journal 1 (June 2010), 47.
 Exploitation is not strange to Nigeria since the society can be classified into the

oppressor and the oppressed, the exploited and the exploiters. Oladunjoye, notes three inducers

of corruption to be secrecy, inappropriate influence of the elites, and distorted political finance,

Justifiably, Oladunjoye and Abogunrin, separately agree on three points in regards to corruption:

It is a liability from the Fall, though universal to humanity corruption differs in levels

from one place to another, and it has reached a disturbing stage in Nigeria. The problem with this

theological position that pollution of corruption is from Adamic sin is that it may limit the fight

of corruption to the spiritual, although another interpretation of the position is that it indicates

that every person and society has a tendency to be corrupt if not checked.

Pauline Mark Lere blames Nigerian leaders for folding their hands and watching the

decay of morality in the society. In her work on the challenge of Amos to the Nigerian society

she notes, Amos denounced the social injustice practiced among the people and condemned the

religious corruption of the period, Like Palestine, Nigeria is endowed with both human and

material resources, but despite the natural and human resources, the masses are greatly

improvised. This is due largely to social injustice.

Agboluaje points out four implications of Amos message for Nigeria.

i- The first is that like the nations which the prophet initially criticized, the Nigerian

society is also plagued with injustice and economic oppression culminating in

economic disparity with discontentment and destitution.

ii- The second is that the socio-economic situation in the contemporary Nigerian

society is characterized with widespread corruption.

iii- The third is that corruption in the contemporary Nigerian society extends to

worship.
 iv- Finally the contemporary Nigerian society wrongly holds that performing

religious rituals is sufficient to satisfy God. The problem of Nigeria is more

complex than this however.

Even as recently as December 2013, Fredrick Nwabufo agrees that the poor even exploit their

fellows, and encourage the rich to dispossess them: The oppressed is a potential oppressor. This

comparison suggests strongly that Nigeria is ripe for divine visitation and the way out of its self-

chosen destruction is to repent and do justice. Just as the audience of Amos were ripe for

judgment so it is with Nigeria today, which we only need the grace of God to change the

situation of our country.

CONCLUSION

It is true to understand that Amos of yesterday still speak today, Amos message is still

relevant due to the situation of our country Nigeria, when will this problem end? Who is going to

stand in the position of Amos? There is a great fear, great trembling and confusion by the less

privileged. Looking at the situation of our nation and that of Amos audience, the researcher is

tempted to say, Nigeria is a prototype of Amos audience. It is high time for the young ministers

who are preparing to join the existing ministers to have a feeling over the situation of Nigeria,

feeling alone cannot help matters, after having this feeling, there should be a desire to speak the

truth, the upcoming ministers should have an uncompromised attitude, fearless mind to speak

boldly to the politicians in their church. This is not only for the new ministers, even those who

have been in the ministry should be encouraged to speak without fear the only truth of God to the

people. Without this, Nigeria with its rituals, religious practices will face the unavoidable terror

and judgment of God who roars like a roaring lion.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

A handout used in ECWA Bible Training School on Minor Prophets ETTI ADUNU; Niger state

Nigerian, 1994

Abogunrin, S.O. ed., Biblical Studies and Corruption in Africa Ibadan: Nigerian Association for

Biblical Studies, 2007

Adeyanju, Jame, the major prophets (amazing grace press, Ilorin; Nigeria)

Anthony, Tede D.min, Pastoral road safety: overcoming pastoral challenges for church

transformation middle plus media, area 10 Garki, Abuja-Nigeria, 2014

Davids, John J. and John C. Whitcomb, A History of Israel from Conquest to Exile Grand

Rapids: Baker Book, 1970; rept. 1986

Drane, John Introducing the Old Testament lion publishing company, England, 1987

Erdmanns, 1948

Gutzke, George Manfor, plain talk about Christian word Zondervan publishing house, grand

rapids, Michigan, 1967

IronSide, H. A. notes on the Minor Prophets new York; loizeaux brothers, 1949

Jensen, Irving L. minor prophets of Israel Chicago; moody Bible institude, 1975

K.P, Kareem lecture on Minor Prophets; the book of Amos Room 20 upstairs, ecwa theological

seminary Igbaja, kwara State

Okwueze, Malachy I. The Old Testament as History, Religion and Literature Nsukka:

AP Express, 2001

Oladunjoye, J.A. Galloping Poverty in Nigeria: An Appraisal of Governments Interventionist

Policies, Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 12 (2010)

Pfeifer, Charles F. An outline of Old Testament history moody press; Chicago, 1977
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York, Evanston, and London, 1970

Shem, George the prophets of the lord Grand Rapids; Michigan, 1978

Uche, Chimobi Poverty in Nigeria: Some Dimensions and Contributing Factors, Global

Majority E-Journal 1 June 2010

Voss, Gerhards Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments Grand Rapids: Wm B.

William Smith Smith's Bible Dictionary Amos