| Church School Lesson: Standing Up to the Powerful |
"Standing Up to the Powerful"
June 28, 2026
Background: Amos 1:1; 2:11-12: 3;7-8; 7:10-15;
Print: Amos 1:1; 2:11-12; 3:7-8; 7:10-15;
Key Verse: Amos 7:15; Devotional: Psalm 23
Amos 1:1 (ESV)
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel 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 earthquake.
Amos 2:11-12 (ESV)
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
Amos 3:7-8 (ESV)
7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
Amos 7:10-15 (ESV)
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
15 But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.
Amos Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 7 (Commentary)
1:1 Here we are introduced to Amos as one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa. God called him to a prophetic ministry (7:14-15). Amos (1:1) tells what he saw regarding Israel in the days of . . . Jeroboam . . . two years before the earthquake. While most of the prophets date their ministries relative to the reigns of kings, as Amos does, he provides further historical context. Apparently, this particular earthquake was so significant that people knew exactly what he was referring to.
2:6-16 And because Israel wanted to act like those who don’t know God, they would be treated like those who don’t know God. Amos’s prophecy against Israel is longer than any that came before. If anyone should have known better than to do the kind of things listed here, it was those who had received God’s holy Word. However, Israel was selling people into slavery (2:6), just as the surrounding nations had done (1:6, 9). The poor and needy were being trampled, and sexual immorality infected homes (2:7). They had forgotten what God did for them when they were slaves in Egypt (2:10). There was no gratitude toward the One who had redeemed them. Therefore, God says, I am about to crush you (2:13). The strong, the swift, and the courageous will not be strong, swift, or courageous enough when the wrath of God comes to town (2:14-16).
3:3-8 Amos asks a series of rhetorical questions in verses 3 through 6. Each assumes that the outcome of a particular scenario is assured. Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? (3:4). No. Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? (3:5). Of course not. If a ram’s horn is blown in a city [a warning of approaching disaster], aren’t people afraid? (3:6). Absolutely. Therefore, if a disaster occurs in a city, hasn’t the Lord done it? (3:6). Well, yes, he has. The point here is that when disaster comes upon Israel, they can rest assured that it is the Lord’s judgment on their sin. For he has revealed his will to his prophets (3:7)—namely, kingdom-minded prophets like Amos. Fear is the only appropriate response when the lion has roared
7:10-17 Crooked Israel was unwilling to be straightened. Instead of heeding the warnings of God’s prophet, Amaziah the priest even told Israel’s King Jeroboam that Amos had conspired against him (7:10)! So—no doubt under the king’s orders—Amaziah commanded Amos to quit preaching and take his prophecies to Judah instead (7:12-13, 16). But Amos knew whose agenda he was called to follow. He had been content to look after his figs and flocks, until God told him, Go, prophesy to my people Israel (7:15). So like the apostles who knew they had to “obey God rather than people” (Acts 5:29), Amos rejected Amaziah’s words and gave him God’s words: You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile (7:17).