Amos, a Jew, but prophesying (B.C. 776-763) in the northern kingdom (1:1; 7:14, 15), exercised his ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II, an able but idolatrous king who brought his kingdom to the zenith of its power.

Nothing could seem more improbable than the fulfilment of Amos' warnings; yet within fifty years the kingdom_ was utterly destroyed. The vision of Amos is, however, wider than the northern kingdom, including the whole "house of Jacob."

Amos is in four parts:

I. Judgments on the cities surrounding Palestine, 1:1-2:3.

II. Judgments on Judah and Israel, 2:4-16.

III. Jehovah's controversy with "the whole family" of Jacob, 3:1-9:10.

IV. The future glory of the Davidic kingdom, 9:11-15.