Oracles were revealed messages of God through His prophets. Therefore they were the divine commands from God to the people of Israel and her neighbours through prophet Amos.

The opening chapter of Amos gives a terrifying picture of who the Lord was, how. He works and what He was capable of doing. "The Lord roars from Mount Zion; His voice thunders from Jerusalem. The pastures dry up, and the grass on Mount Carmel turns brown" (Amos 1: 2).

As already stated, Amos began his prophetic ministry by first condemning other nations. These nations included Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Moab and Ammon before turning to Judah and finally Israel.

In condemnation, Amos exposed the evils that the inhabitants of the different nations committed as he justified the reason for judgment and the mode of punishment.

God's Judgement on Syria (1:3-5)

Amos declared that the people of Damascus had sinned again and again and certainly the lord was going to punish them.

Amos accused the people of Damascus of treating the people of Gilead with savage cruelty during a military encounter.

For their sins, Amos said that the Lord would punish them by sending fire upon the palace built by King Hazael.

The Lord would burn down the fortresses of king Benhadad.

Besides, the Lord would smash the city gates of Damascus; remove all the inhabitants of the valley of Aven and ruler of Betheden.

Amos also declared that the people of Syria would be taken as prisoners to the land of Kir.

God's Judgement on Philistia (1:6-8)

According to Amos the people of Gaza had sinned endlessly and they too were to be punished.

They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the land of Edom.

Amos declared that the Lord would send fire to burn down their walls and their fortresses.

Besides, the Lord promised to remove all the rulers from their cities and those to be left behind would be killed.

God's Judgement on Tyre (1:9-10)

The people of Tyre were going to be punished for having carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom.

Besides, the people violated and failed to keep a treaty of friendship which they had made with another nation.

As he had done to nations, the Lord would punish Tyre by sending fire upon the city walls and burn down its fortresses.

God's Judgement on Edom (1:11-12)

The Edomites had also sinned endlessly like the other nations. They had hunted down their relatives, the Israelites and showed them no mercy.

Besides, the Edomites had no limits to their anger, and they never let it die yet it was against the people they shared blood relationship

For their sins, the Lord would certainly punish them. He would send fire upon the city wall and burn down the fortresses.

God's Judgement on Ammon (1:13-15)

The people of Ammon were accused of sinning in many ways and certainly they deserved to be punished.

The Ammonites ripped open pregnant women in Gilead during their wars for more territory

Consequently, the Lord would send fire upon the city walls and burn down its fortresses. Amos declared that there would be shouts on the day of battle and the fighting would rage like storm. This seemed to signify massive death of people.

The king and his officers would all be taken into exile. This probably meant that they would be defeated in their battles and made captives.

God's Judgement on Moab (2:1-3)

Like other nations, Moab had sinned again and again and deserved punishment.

The Moabites had dishonoured the bones of the King of Edom by burning them to ashes.

For their sins, the Lord would send fire on the land of Moab and burn down her fortresses.

There would be death in Moab. The noise of the battle, the shouting of soldiers and the sound of trumpets would be too much for the people to bear.

Amos declared that the lord would kill the ruler of Moab and all the leaders of the land.

God's Judgement on Judah (2:4-5)

The people of Judah continued to sin endlessly

They despised the teachings of the Lord and failed to keep His command as well. Besides, they allowed to be led astray by the same false gods that their ancestors had served.

For their sins, Amos declared that the Lord would send fire upon Judah and bum down the fortresses of Jerusalem.

God's Judgement on Israel (Crimes, Evil and Sins of Israel- 2:6ff)

The Israelites took God for granted by thinking that being the covenant people was enough for the Lord to spare them despite their sinfulness.

Amos declared that the people were only interested in accumulating material wealth and had therefore forgotten their God.

Amos accused the people of Israel for selling people into slavery especially those who could not pay their debts.

Amos identified corruption and bribery in the court of law which had twisted justice. Public leaders were luxurious and extravagant. They put on expensive clothes and ignored the people who had nothing to eat.

The people were over drinking and using the finest perfumes which had made them fail to cater for the needs of the poor.

The people were involved in sexual immorality to an extent that a father and a son would share a woman.

The women of Samaria were accused of growing fat like well-fed cows of Bashan that they ill-treated the weak and oppressed the poor yet kept putting pressure on their husbands to supply them with alcohol.

The rich people had filled their houses riches with property confiscated from the poor who could not pay their debts.

There was cheating by the rich merchants who were using false weighing scales to exploit and cheat the poor.

The poor were being over taxed and yet the rich were exempted from paying taxes,

The rich were over charging high interest on loans thus it was only making people poorer. The people of Israel were persecuting the good and praising the evil and bad people.

The majority of people in Israel hated anybody challenging injustice and speaking the truth in court of law.

Amos condemned the rich people in Israel for occupying urban areas as they pushed the poor to rural areas.

Amos condemned Israelites for their religious hypocrisy. They were continuously sinning against the Lord and still they would go to worship Him without repenting.

There was the worshipping of other gods alongside Yahweh (syncretism) in the land of Israel.      .

Amos condemned the people for thinking that offering sacrifices was enough to bring them nearer to God.

The Israelites were involved in offering sacrifices to Baal and at the same time to Yahweh.

There was grabbing of sacrificial animals by the rich people from the poor and thus the Lord could not accept their offering.

There was discrimination in places of worship. The priest favoured the rich at the expense of the poor.

The Israelites were involved in idolatry. They made images and worshipped them instead of Yahweh.

There was materialism in places of worship. The priests in particular were more interested in the sacrificial meal from the worshippers.

The Sabbath day had become an inconvenience to the people particularly the rich merchants. They felt that the day was stopping them from gaining profits.

The people preferred to listen to false prophets and thus never gave chance to the prophets of God to speak.

The priests were failing to do their work because of getting involved in taking-alcohol. The peoples' religious ceremonies had lost meaning and thus they had carried them out for formalities.

Revision Questions

1.    a) Discuss the social, economic and political evils that Amos saw among the people of Israel

b) If Amos came to Uganda now what particular crimes would he condemn?

2.    a) Justify Amos' message of doom and destruction to the people of Israel.

3.    Account for Amos' condemnation for the people of Israel.

4.    Why should Amos condemn the people of Israel?