Amos - Summary

Title:	This book is named for its author, the prophet Amos
Author:	Amos was not a member of the "Jewish Religious Heirarchy".  In fact he was a shephard, a herdsman.  He also cultivated sycamore trees.
Date:	We know that Amos identifies the Uzziah was king in Judah and Jeroboam 2 was king in Israel.  Uzziah reigned from 790 to 740 BC and Jereboam 2 from 793 to 753 BC.  Therefore Amos prophecied during this period.
Main Theme	The people of Israel and Judah were comfortable and practicing their religion.  They were however becoming ritualistic and traditional in their worship and consequently the worship was worthless.  Amos was calling the people to repentance in their callous worship.  He warned them of the consequences of approaching God with hearts that were not true to what God wanted them to be.  Amos told the people that inspite of their 'religious activity' their oppression of the poor, their religious ritualism and the obscenity of their activities were extremely displeasing to God and they would be punished if they did not repent and change their ways.
Location:	Amos lived in the village of Tekoa just a few miles from Jerusalem in Judah.
History	During the reigns of Uzziah and Jereboam 2, both Judah and Israel were experienceing prosperity and were secure politically.  The people went through all the right motions of the religious rituals that God had prescribed.  Since they enjoyed properity, they believed God was rewarding them for completing the check-list of religious activity.
Major Characters:	Amos