Amos was a prophet in the Old Testament of the Bible, and he was originally a shepherd from Tekoa (a settlement not far from Judah) . We know that Amos was not a professional prophet or a son of a prophet .
TYPE OF PROPHET AND SPIRIT
From the Bible, we know that Amos was not a professional prophet, nor had his father been one . Of this, there was no preparing for being a prophet (or at least it wasn’t written down). By all accounts, he was a shepherd, nothing more or less .
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However, his connection with God was one of direct revelation, as Amos describes in the Book of Amos his visions that he received from God two years before the earthquake . Even Amos understood that he wasn’t a professional prophet, as he describes his talk to God in Amos 7:14 “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one” . He must have been pure of heart and a man of endearing faith, as God called upon him to prophecy anyways .
TIME
It is written in the Book of Amos that he was alive and saw the visions when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II was king of Israel . According to the reigns of these kings, this would have occurred between the years of 783-740 B.C. (with the visions occurring two years before the earthquake, which is unknown what earthquake it was, but it must have been a significant event for it to mentioned for a seismically active area) , .
THE OBJECTIVE
The mission that God gave Amos was to prophecy to the people of Israel in the Northern Kingdom , . It is the objective of most prophets in the Bible to be sent to the region that needs the most attention, and the Northern Kingdom was reaching a point of great wealth and power (which could lead to some sinful behaviors, which require reminders of what is at stake) , .
CONCLUSION
Amos was a prophet in the Old Testament that had been called into the service of the Lord when he was nothing but a mere shepherd. This speaks heavily of his unwavering faith and commitment to God, even though he wasn’t a professional prophet (having not been schooled as a traditional prophet). His message was important, as the Northern Kingdom was entering an era in which temptation was great, making the stakes much higher.
