“A Lion has roared; who should not be terrified?” (3:8) According to the prophet Amos, most should be terrified. Everyone really. In this bombastic appeal to Israel, Amos hails God’s people with dreadful appeals and skillfully subverts their expectations of a prophet to shock them into recognition of their sin. He bids them to worship only to condemn them for their idolatry. He extols the dominion of the Lord–usually a source of comfort and protection for Israel–as instead an inescapable power for punishment. In this commentary and original translation, Rev. Dr. Reed Lessing provides an original translation that highlights Amos as a master of Hebraic poetry­–radical, subversive, and affrontive. He also highlights the Gospel in Amos, especially in the last oracle, with its promise of the resurrection of the tabernacle of David and the gathering of a remnant of Israel and the gentiles to a new creation (9:11-15).

Essays

• Preaching Like Amos
• On Hebrew Poetry
• Amos’ Place in the Minor Prophets
• The Church’s Response to Ethical Issues
• The Prophets and Israel’s Worship