Amos

Amos was a simple shepherd from Judah whom God called to bring a message to Israel.
One thing I noticed while painting these prophets is that they came from many different walks of life and spoke to many kinds of people. Some came from wealthier backgrounds and spoke to one class of society, while others, such as Amos, came from humble circumstances and spoke to poorer people about the same kinds of warnings.
From Zion, the voice of the Lord came like the sound of a trumpet and the roar of a lion. Both are shown in the upper right corner of the painting.
God declared that He would set fire to Rabbah and that its citadels would be consumed amid the cries of battle. I have drawn scenes of war and prisoners being led away into exile.
As in Joel, Amos also speaks of locusts coming to devour the gardens, vineyards, fig trees, olive trees, and everything else. You can see the swarm, the soldiers, and the people beneath the burning citadel.
The Lord showed Amos a plumb line beside a vertical wall and told him that He was about to place a plumb line among Israel. The wall and plumb line appear on the right side of the painting.
When God comes with the plumb line, He is looking for people who are living uprightly and abiding in His grace and law. His patience with persistent sin was coming to an end.
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, reported Amos to Jeroboam, king of Israel. He told the king that Amos had prophesied that Jeroboam would die by the sword and that Israel would be carried into exile.
Amaziah then ordered Amos to leave and return to Judah, telling him to do his prophesying there. Amos answered that he had not been a prophet by profession. He had been a herdsman and a grower of figs, but the Lord had taken him from his work and commanded him to prophesy to Israel.
Amos then saw a basket of summer fruit, shown in the lower right corner of the painting. The fruit had been gathered and was ready to be eaten, just as the people had become ripe for judgment. God’s patience was running out.
Fresh fruit does not keep until winter. It must be used at once. The sinners believed they still had time to postpone repentance, but Amos warned them that judgment could not be escaped.
He described a man fleeing from a lion only to meet a bear, or entering his house and leaning against a wall only to be bitten by a snake. The snake appears along the wall in the upper right portion of the picture.
The people could not avoid God’s judgment. Those who continued in sin would die, even if they believed the coming calamity would not reach them.
Yet Amos does not end without hope.
God promises that He will restore Israel. The people will rebuild their cities, plant vineyards, make gardens, and eat the fruit of their own land.
The same prophecy that warns Israel to prepare to meet God also ends with the promise that God can restore what judgment has torn down.