Amos · The Whole Book in Four Movements

The Cast · who is who in Amos

Keep the players straight

A shepherd from the south, a rich and comfortable north, and a God who measures with a plumb line. Here is who stands where before the movements begin.

The LORD

the Lion who roars

He sends warning before judgment, and in the end raises up the fallen booth of David.

The LORD

Amos

shepherd of Tekoa

A herdsman and fig-farmer, no prophet by trade, whom God pulled north to prophesy.

The Prophet

Israel / Samaria

the comfortable north

Prosperous and at ease, careless of the poor, sure that the good times will hold.

The Nation

The Oppressed Poor

the needy

Sold for silver and a pair of sandals, trampled at the gate, the ones God rises to defend.

The Oppressed

The Complacent Rich

at ease in Zion

On ivory beds and full couches, feeling no ruin coming and no grief for the land.

At Ease

Amaziah

priest of Bethel

The temple official who tells Amos to take his prophecies home and stop preaching here.

The Opposition

The Plumb Line

God's measure

The straight standard God holds against a leaning nation, the wall that no longer measures true.

God's Measure

Who is teaching: the colored dot beside each lettered point below shows which IHOPKC teacher it came from. Mike Bickle Allen Hood Corey Russell Gary Wiens David Sliker Stuart Greaves

Amos · The Whole Book in Four MovementsMovement I · 1 of 4

Movement I · Chapters 1–2

The Lion Has Roared

Amos 1:2; 3:8

The LORD roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.Amos 1:2 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 1 exact ref for Amos 1:2 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Forerunner Curriculum Course Notes) · open in studio

Kid mode on · simpler words

A.Amos is a shepherd from Tekoa, no prophet by trade. God pulls a herdsman and fig-farmer up out of the south and sends him north to a rich, comfortable Israel to say the lion is about to roar.Amos is a plain shepherd from a small town who never trained as a preacher. God takes a man who keeps sheep and grows figs and sends him north to a rich, comfortable Israel to warn them the lion is about to roar.

Mike Bickle

B.He starts with the neighbors. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, each judged “for three transgressions and for four.” The crowd cheers as the sermon circles closer to home.He begins with the neighbor nations one by one. One after another gets judged for piling up sin. The crowd cheers each time and does not notice the sermon is circling closer to them.

Corey Russell

C.Then the circle closes on Judah, and finally on Israel herself. The sermon they enjoyed against everyone else turns and exposes their own sins, the poor sold for silver and a pair of sandals.Then the circle closes on Judah, and last of all on Israel. The sermon they loved when it hit other people turns and exposes their own sins, like selling poor people for silver and a pair of sandals.

Mike Bickle

The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?Amos 3:8 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 1 exact ref for Amos 3:8 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (150 chapters 65) · open in studio

D.“The lion has roared; who will not fear?” A prophet speaks for one reason: God spoke, and the sound cannot be unheard.“The lion has roared; who will not be afraid?” A prophet speaks for one reason: God spoke, and once you hear that roar you cannot un-hear it.

Mike Bickle

Sources Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Forerunner Curriculum; 150 chapters 65) and Corey Russell (Old Testament survey). Amos 1:2 and 3:8 each returned 1 exact match in the index.Index tags for Amos 1 through 3: justice, judgment · ESV

Amos · The Whole Book in Four MovementsMovement II · 2 of 4

Movement II · Chapters 3–6

Let Justice Roll Down

Amos 3:7; 5:24; 5:18

For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.Amos 3:7 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 10 exact refs for Amos 3:7 · Mike Bickle (Being a Faithful Witness) · Corey Russell (Old Testament Session 3) · open in studio

Kid mode on · simpler words

E.God does nothing without telling His servants the prophets. Before judgment falls He sends warning, because He wants to be sought and found, and He gives His people every chance to turn.God does nothing big without first telling His prophets. Before the trouble comes, He sends a warning, because He wants people to look for Him and come back, and He gives them every chance to turn.

Mike Bickle

F.The charge against Israel is comfort built on cruelty. They sell the needy for a pair of sandals, trample the poor at the gate, and stretch out on ivory beds at ease in Zion.The charge against Israel is comfort built on cruelty. They sell poor people for a pair of sandals, push the weak aside in court, and lie around on fancy beds without a care.

Gary Wiens

G.And their worship makes it worse. God says He hates their feasts and will not hear their songs while justice is missing. Religion stacked on injustice offends Him, and it never covers the wrong underneath.And their church services make it worse. God says He hates their festivals and will not listen to their songs while they treat people unfairly. Worship piled on top of injustice does not hide the wrong, it makes God angry.

Allen Hood

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.Amos 5:24 · ESV

✓ 5578 · Amos 5 is indexed to Mike Bickle / IHOPKC, tagged justice and judgment. Verse 24 returned no exact-confidence commentary, so it stands here as the chapter's theme verse · open in studio

H.The cure is one thundering line: let justice roll down like waters. More than a trickle of charity, a whole river. God ties the health of their worship to the fair treatment of the weak.The fix is one huge line: let justice roll down like a river. This is bigger than a little charity, it is a flood of fairness. God links good worship to treating weak people right.

Mike Bickle

This is the burning center of Amos. God will take honest justice for the poor over the finest music and the biggest feasts, every time. A worship service that leaves the weak crushed is a sound He turns away from.This is the burning center of Amos. God wants real fairness for the poor more than the best music or the biggest festival. Worship that leaves weak people crushed is a sound God turns away from.

Sources Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Being a Faithful Witness), Corey Russell, Gary Wiens, and Allen Hood on Amos 3 through 6. Amos 3:7 returned 10 exact matches; Amos 5:24 is shown as the chapter theme verse with no exact-confidence match.Index tags for Amos 3 through 6: justice, judgment · ESV

Amos · The Whole Book in Four MovementsMovement III · 3 of 4

Movement III · Chapters 7–8

The Plumb Line and the Famine

Amos 7:8; 8:11

And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.”Amos 7:8 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 3 exact refs for Amos 7:8 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Prophetic Ministry in the End Times; 150 chapters 56) · open in studio

Kid mode on · simpler words

I.Amos sees a series of visions. Locusts, then fire, and twice he begs God to relent, and God does. Then comes the plumb line, and this time there is no turning it aside.Amos sees a series of pictures from God. First locusts, then fire, and twice Amos begs God to hold back, and God does. Then comes the plumb line, and this time it will not be turned aside.

Gary Wiens

J.A plumb line is a weight on a string that shows whether a wall stands straight. God holds His own straight standard against a leaning nation and stops making excuses for the lean.A plumb line is a weight on a string that shows if a wall is straight. God holds His own straight measure next to a leaning nation and will not pretend the lean is fine anymore.

Mike Bickle

K.Amaziah the priest of Bethel tells him to take his prophecies home. Amos answers that he never signed up for this. He was a herdsman and a dresser of figs, and the LORD took him from the flock and said, Go, prophesy.Amaziah the priest tells Amos to go preach somewhere else. Amos says he never chose this job. He was a shepherd and a fig-farmer, and God took him from his sheep and said, Go and speak to My people.

Gary Wiens

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land, a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.Amos 8:11 · ESV (condensed)

✓ 5578 exact match · 4 exact refs for Amos 8:11 · Corey Russell (two teaching sessions) · Mike Bickle (LastThingsScriptures) · open in studio

L.The heaviest judgment is quieter than drought or sword. It is a famine of hearing the words of the LORD, a silence from heaven, people staggering from sea to sea to find a word and finding none.The worst judgment is quieter than drought or war. It is a hunger to hear from God with no answer coming, people wandering everywhere looking for a word from heaven and finding none.

Corey Russell

These middle visions cut two ways. God measures His people by a standard that will not bend, and the deepest loss they face is His voice gone silent, heavier than any lost crop or fallen wall. To be left without a word from God is the famine underneath every other famine.These middle pictures cut two ways. God measures His people by a standard that will not bend, and the deepest loss is God going quiet, worse than any lost crop or wall. To be left with no word from God is the worst hunger of all.

Sources Gary Wiens and Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Prophetic Ministry; 150 chapters 56) on the plumb line, Corey Russell on the famine of hearing. Amos 7:8 returned 3 exact matches, 8:11 returned 4. The 8:11 block is condensed to the verse's core clause; the full verse also mentions bread and water, the ordinary hungers this famine runs deeper than.Index tags for Amos 7 and 8: justice, judgment · ESV

Amos · The Whole Book in Four MovementsMovement IV · 4 of 4

Movement IV · Chapter 9

I Will Raise the Booth of David

Amos 9:11, 14

In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.Amos 9:11 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 9 exact refs for Amos 9:11 · Mike Bickle (The Vow that Changed History) · Stuart Greaves (150 chapters 07) · open in studio

Kid mode on · simpler words

M.The book does not end in ruin. God promises to raise up the fallen booth of David, repair its breaches, and rebuild it as in the days of old. James quotes this at the Jerusalem council to explain the Gentiles coming in.The book does not end in ruin. God promises to raise up the fallen tent of David, fix its broken places, and rebuild it like it was long ago. James quotes this verse in Acts to explain non-Jews joining the family.

Mike Bickle

N.The booth of David is the worship and prayer of David's throne. It fell down, and God swears to set it back up. What collapsed is raised again on its very own foundation, the same one it always had.The tent of David is the worship and prayer that David started. It fell down, and God promises to put it back up. What fell is raised again on its very own foundation, and God builds it right back.

Stuart Greaves

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.Amos 9:14 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 2 exact refs for Amos 9:14 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Day-of-the-Lord Preachers SBJ06; House of Prayer) · open in studio

O.And the last picture is a garden. They rebuild the ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, make gardens and eat the fruit. The prophet of judgment ends with his people planted and never again uprooted.And the last picture is a garden. They rebuild the wrecked cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, make gardens and eat the fruit. The prophet who preached judgment ends with his people planted and never pulled up again.

Mike Bickle

Amos is the shepherd God sent to a comfortable nation to say that worship without justice is only noise. The lion who roars in judgment is the same LORD who raises the fallen booth of David and plants His people in a garden that no one can pull up.Amos is the shepherd God sent to a comfortable nation to say that worship without justice is only noise. The lion who roars in judgment is the same LORD who raises the fallen tent of David and plants His people in a garden that no one can pull up.

Sources Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (The Vow that Changed History; Day-of-the-Lord Preachers SBJ06) and Stuart Greaves (150 chapters 07). Amos 9:11 returned 9 exact matches, the most in the book, and 9:14 returned 2.Index tags for Amos 9: justice, judgment · ESV

Amos today · modern pictures

What each beat looks like now

Amos in the language of now, aimed at the same nerve the book hits, comfort that forgets the poor. Each card carries the verse it grows from.

Amos 1:3

The last straw

Today it looks likeA pattern of repeat offenses that finally hits the wall, the fourth strike after three warnings, the day the account comes due.

Amos 3:2

More given, more asked

Today it looks likeThe team with the most trust held to the highest standard. Closeness to God raises the bar, it does not lower it.

Amos 5:24

Justice like a river

Today it looks likeReal, steady fairness for the people at the bottom, the kind that changes systems and outlasts any one-day photo op.

Amos 5:21-23

A great show, no mercy

Today it looks likeA church with a stunning band and a packed calendar while the people who clean the building are underpaid and unseen.

Amos 7:8

The honest audit

Today it looks likeA straight standard held against a leaning wall, the audit that measures a company against the true line rather than its own press release.

Amos 8:11

Feeds full, souls empty

Today it looks likeEndless posts and no true word, scrolling all day and starving for meaning, a famine of the one voice that could actually feed.

Amos 9:11, 14

Rebuilt from the foundation

Today it looks likeA ruined neighborhood replanted and rebuilt, homes raised on the old footprint, gardens grown where the rubble was.

These Amos parallels are the study’s own work; the verses and teaching above them come straight from the IHOPKC commentary index.