Culture & Context: Joel & Amos

Welcome to Culture and Context, a blog that will flesh out the context of the PATH journal and other content that we study here at True North.

In Deuteronomy 18:18 God said to Moses: “ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” This statement applies not only to the future Messiah, Jesus; it refers to how God spoke through prophets by “putting words in his (their) mouths.” A true prophet of God repeats and records everything God has told him to.

The word prophecy (along with prophet, to prophesy, prophetic) all come from a group of Greek terms. In biblical Greek these terms mean “speaking, proclaiming or announcing something under the influence of spiritual inspiration.” Secular Greek is slightly different from biblical and in the secular, the terms mean to “speak forth, proclaim, announce.” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary)

The books of Joel and Amos are two of twelve books known as the minor prophets; not minor as in unimportant, but minor because of book length- in fact, the books of Isaiah is as long as all of the minor prophet books put together. Jewish tradition groups them into a single book called the “Book of the Twelve.”

They follow the major prophets in the Hebrew scriptures: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the poetry of

Lamentations and lastly the book of Daniel, which is also apocalyptic (dealing with revelation and the

future). Joel and Amos are part of the first six of the twelve, with a focus on the sin of Israel. The final six books focus on the judgment of God and the future restoration of Israel.

The books of Joel and Amos and the other ten minor prophets tell us very little about the prophets

themselves. It was their words that were important. What we know of them has been gleaned from other verses and from history. Paul L. Redditt in Introduction to the Prophets notes that the time span of the minor prophets was about the same as for the major prophets- the 8 th century BC to the Persian period (550 – 330 BC), and that the stories in the minor prophets fill in and around the stories in the major.

First let’s look at who Joel and Amos were and then dive into the books.

Joel was common name in the Old Testament; there are thirteen different Joels in the Hebrew Scriptures. Joel separates himself from the others by noting he is Pethuel’s son. Joel records himself as speaking with priests, but he is not himself a priest (Joel 1:13). It is speculated that he lived in Jerusalem, since he spoke with priests.

Amos identifies himself as a herdsman and he delivered a series of prophetic sermons at Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8 th century BC. In addition to being a herdsman, he was a fig tree farmer from Tekoa, a village south of Jerusalem. Everything we know about him comes from these verses:

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. And he said: “The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” - Amos 1:1-2

"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. For thus Amos has said, “ ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” 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." - Amos 7:10-14

Dresser means farmer. Farming was a “side job,” according to E. Lucas. Amos did not consider himself to be a “professional prophet” like those serving in Bethel. He mentions that he was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet (7:14), meaning that he was a true prophet of God and not one who “prophesied” as part of a family business (sometimes known as “professional prophets”).

And now to the book of Joel. In its three chapters Joel calls on the people of Israel to repent or face God’s judgment. Joel promised an outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-32), which is quoted in Acts 2:16-21. Joel also prophesied about God’s judgment upon the surrounding nations. The third and final chapter of Joel finishes with the glorious future of Judah when “mountains shall drip sweet wine and the hills flow with milk (Joel 3:18).

Joel’s outline according to E. Lucas in the InterVarsity Press Intro to the Bible is:

• 1:1–2:17 Locust plague, the Day of the LORD and calls to repent

• 2:18–3:21 Promises of salvation

  • 2:18–27 Plague-damage restored

  • 2:28–32 Outpouring of the Spirit

  • 3:1–14 Judgment of the nations

  • 3:15–21 Judah restored

The book of Amos is longer than Joel and it mentions an earthquake during the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah (The Southern Kingdom) and Jeroboam king of Israel (The Northern Kingdom). That earthquake is mentioned by Zechariah centuries later:

"And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him." - Zechariah 14:5

Fun fact: Uzziah was blamed for the earthquake. Uzziah had begun as a good king but he became prideful. He demanded to burn incense on the altar of the Temple, a job only for priests. He approached the altar with a censer of incense, only to be immediately stricken with leprosy. The historian Josephus wrote:

“...a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the Temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately. And before the city, at a place called Eroge, half the mountain broke off from the rest on the west, and rolled itself four furlongs, and stood still at the east mountain, till the roads, as well as the king's gardens, were spoiled by the obstruction."

The theme of Amos is that God had withheld judgment from Israel for failing to follow the covenant, but the time had come for judgment. A sovereign God judges evil and upholds good.

The structure of Amos according to Lucas is:

• 1:1–2:16 Oracles against the nations—including Israel and Judah

• 3:1–5:17 Judgment oracles (“Hear this word,” 3:1, 4:1, 5:1)

• 5:18–6:14 Woe oracles (5:18-27 and 6:1-14)

• 7:1–9:10 Vision reports

• 9:11–15. Promise of restoration

Bonus: Obadiah!

The shortest book in the Old Testament, it was written soon after Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon. Obadiah describes anger of God at the city of Edom, whose citizens captured fleeing Israelites and turned them over to Babylon. Almost nothing is known about Obadiah the man.

The people of Edom were descendants of Esau (he was Judah’s twin brother) and thus related to the Israelites. Obadiah prophesied that Edom would be humbled by God for mistreating His people. A sovereign Lord upholds justice in the face of betrayal.

Why should we be interested in the messages of the Minor Prophets? These books remind us that God is sovereign and He holds people responsible for the behavior of His people, especially those who call themselves Christians. Like the audience of the minor prophets, we are called to repentance when we sin against our Father and in return we will experience restoration.

Works Cited

• https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6587964/jewish/6-Facts-About-Uzziahs-

  Earthquake.htm#footnote10a6587964

• Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers.

• Hindson, E., & Towns, E. L. (2013). Illustrated Bible Survey: An Introduction. B&H Academic.

• The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2025). Crossway Bibles.

• Hoyt, J. M. (2018). Amos, Jonah, & Micah. Lexham Press.

• Johnston, P., ed. (2014). IVP Introduction to the Bible: Story, Themes and Interpretation. Inter-Varsity Press.

• Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. Book 9, chapter 10, part 4.

• Lucas, E. (2014). Prophets. In P. Johnston (Ed.), IVP Introduction to the Bible: Story, Themes and Interpretation (pp. 115–139). Inter-Varsity Press.

• Pusey, E. B. (1885). Notes on the Old Testament: The Minor Prophets: Hosea to Jonah (Vol. 1). Funk and Wagnalls.

• Redditt, P. L. (2008). Introduction to the Prophets. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.