ROARING WITH MERCY

When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy? —Amos 3:6–8

Called to the work of delivering messages of warning and judgment to the people of Israel and Judah, Amos had good reason to reflect on the task he had been given and the messages he delivered. What is the purpose of prophecy? And why does God seem so often to foretell such bad news? On the surface, the language of Amos’ prophetic message is among the harshest in the Bible. In sometimes lurid language, it portrays God acting to punish the people, bringing disaster and destruction, slavery, and death to them because of their sins. No matter how sinful the people might have been, this language can and should make us uncomfortable. But Amos 3 and 4 made it clear that these pronouncements, judgments, and warnings were coming near the end of a long process through which God had sought to call the people back to Himself and His ways. These looming judgments from God were not the point of His actions toward the people nor of Amos’ message. “Amos’ primary mission is not to predict, but to exhort and persuade.”* As daunting as Amos’ message would have sounded to the people (we can almost hear the lions roaring in his thundering proclamations), his ministry and messages were, in themselves, one more evidence of God’s mercy and forbearance. If God had truly given up on these people, He would not have sent yet another prophet to call them back to repentance again. So how could Amos not continue to work and continue to prophesy?

* Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets (New York: Harper Perennial, 2001), 45.