| abstract | - The book of Amos records that years after Amos received the visions contained therein, an earthquake struck the area (1:1). Josephus, the Jewish historian, believed that the earthquake happened at the same time as Uzziah's seizure of the role of High Priest and his subsequent bout with leprosy. Amos was a contemporary of Isaiah, Micah and Hosea. Under Jeroboam II the kingdom of Israel reached the zenith of its prosperity. The gulf between rich and poor widened at this time. Amos was called from his rural home to remind the rich and powerful of God's requirement for justice (e.g. 2:6-16). He claimed that religion that is not accompanied by right action is anathema to God (5:21ff.), and prophesied that the kingdom of Israel would be destroyed (e.g. 5:1-2; 8:2). Amos' message was, perhaps understandably, unwelcome in Israel. Not only was he a foreigner from the southern kingdom, but his prophecies of doom were completely at odds with the prevailing political climate of hope and prosperity. Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam II had extended its territory into modern day Syria, taking advantage of the nation's weakness after a recent defeat by the Assyrians. Assyria, the major threat to Israel's power, had withdrawn itself temporarily due to internal strife, allowing Israel to flourish politically and economically. The nation's resultant affluence, however, was the main focus of Amos's mission as a prophet, and soon after Jeroboam came to power in 781 BC, Amos was called to speak to the people of the Northern Kingdom. He was continually in conflict with the governing authorities, as demonstrated in the narrative by way of a conversation between Amos and Amaziah, a priest of Bethel. The priest, loyal to Jeroboam, accuses Amos of stirring up trouble and conspiring against the king, and commands him to stop prophesying. Amos responds with an oracle: “Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land."(Amos 7:17)
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