I think it was C. S. Lewis who said that God speaks to us in our pleasure, but he screams at us in our pain. Pain is God’s megaphone. This might be one way to understand Amos 1:2. It says, “The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” It sounds like the roaring voice of God comes in the form of pastures that mourn or don’t have any sheep. That Mount Carmel is withering might be understood as a time of great calamity. Reading the rest of Amos’ prophecy leads me to think that it might be just the opposite. Amos held no official title in Israel. He was just a Shepherd of Tekoa, and not a very significant one because the text points out that he was “just one of the many” among the shepherds of Tekoa. He was a common person, like you reading this and me writing this. Yet, he saw something that others could or would not see. The prophecy tells us that the words that come from Amos are words that he “saw,” not just heard. The words are described as those he saw during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The thing to notice about this timing is that it was the most prosperous time in both Nation’s histories.
It doesn’t take a college degree to recognize the similarities between Amos’ day and ours. We face very similar problems. Jesus himself addressed the dangers of prosperity on several occasions. He warns us much more about the dangers of pleasures than the dangers of pain. True, I’ve seen many who have turned from God because of pain in their lives, but I agree with John Piper, who says that more are lured away from God by their pleasures. Pleasures seldom awaken people to their need for God; pain often does. The first danger of prosperity is complacency. I’ve seen many churches with huge endowments and debt-free buildings forget about why they exist and don’t care about being all that God intends them to be as a church. Another problem is arrogance. Prosperity often leads us to wrongly believe there is some kind of quality in us that makes us better than others. The third danger of Prosperity is self-sufficiency. Full barns often lead us to think we don’t need anyone, including God. All three of these dangers are addressed by Amos.
But Amos was alert to the fact that God wanted to break through all the luxury, financial security, and prosperity in the land. Thus, Amos tells us that “God Roars.” A Study Bible says, “The Hebrew word for roars seems to compare thunder to God growling like a lion, the majestic king of beasts.”[1] Of all the things in that agricultural economy, that could not be ignored was a roaring lion. That’s the picture that Amos uses to describe God’s message to the healthy and wealthy nations. God must get loud to get our attention. God raises his voice because his children are distracted by their cell phones, fancy clothes, new cars, and comfortable homes. When God raises His voice, it does not bode well for his children. My mother used to say, “Wait till your father gets home.” But what was worse was when my father did get home, and he would raise his voice at us kids. We knew that he meant business. He would always scare us when he did that. We knew the next step would be the belt. “Jehovah will roar against them as a lion, terrible to shepherds and their flocks. His voice must be heard, and the message demands attention. God roars before he tears and warns before he strikes.”[2]
[1] Radmacher, Earl D., Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House. 1997. The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
[2] Wolfendale, James. 1892. Minor Prophets. The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary. New York; London; Toronto: Funk & Wagnalls Company.