The ministry of Amos the prophet was during the end of the reign of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, about 787 B.C. The object of Amos’s ministry was the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos was not a prophet originally, nor was he the son of a prophet; rather, he was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores. Jehovah called him so that He might send him to prophesy to Israel His people (Amos 7:14-15).
Judah transgressed by rejecting the law of Jehovah and not keeping His statutes, and the lies which their fathers walked after caused them to err (2:4). Therefore, Jehovah sought out their transgressions and punished them, sending fire upon Judah and devouring the palaces of Jerusalem (v. 5). Amos also prophesied concerning the “fallen tabernacle of David” (9:11). Even when the reign of Uzziah the king of Judah was strong, Amos perceived that the tabernacle of the family of David would fall. Not long after, this word was fulfilled and Judah was taken captive for seventy years.
Amos said that the children of Israel were not one with God (3:3-8). They practiced violence (vv. 9-12), worshipped idols (vv. 13-15; 4:4-5), oppressed the poor and crushed the needy (vv. 1-3), thrust righteousness down to the ground (5:7), and in their hypocrisy they offered sacrifices to Jehovah as their service (vv. 10-27). Therefore, Amos prophesied that Jehovah would punish them such that their mighty men would flee away naked in that day (2:16) and that during the time of the battle they would fall and be defeated (5:2-3). Amos also exhorted them to return to God and to prepare to meet their God (4:6-13).
The time of Amos’s ministry was the golden era of the reign of Jeroboam the son of Joash, the king of Israel. Jeroboam was the strongest king of Israel. He also reigned for the longest period of time. He reigned for forty-one years and restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of Arabah (2 Kings 14:25). During that time Jehovah God had mercy upon Israel; He “saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash” (v. 27). However, this golden era in the kingdom of Israel was full of hidden dangers. The sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat had not been removed, the standard of morality was poor, and sins and transgressions increased. These things stirred up the wrath of God. Yet before judging them, God still sent His prophet to the kingdom of Israel to sound out a warning. Sadly, even though Jeroboam the son of Joash was successful in politics and military affairs, he failed in spiritual matters. He worshipped idols, and he did not accept Amos’s warning to bring the people back to God. Though not much happened during his reign, fifty years later the judgment of God came, and the kingdom of Israel was destroyed.
The time of Hosea’s ministry was from approximately 785 B.C., during the reign of Uzziah the king of Judah, to approximately 725 B.C., during the reign of Hezekiah the king of Judah. Hosea spoke mainly to the northern kingdom of Israel.
Hosea was a prophet during the time when the kingdom of Israel began to decline. The situation in the kingdom was very chaotic. The kings and the people worshipped idols, forsook knowledge, were adulterous and filthy, committed sins, did all kinds of evil, robbed, were abusive, practiced violence and murder, lied, walked in craftiness, mixed with the heathens, and people in high positions betrayed their country for riches (2 Kings 15—17).Thus, God reached a stage where He could not tolerate their sins any longer.
God told Hosea to take a wife of harlotries. He wanted to show Israel that the prophet’s taking a wife of harlotries symbolized the relationship between God and His apostate people. God was the husband, and Israel was the unchaste wife. God had chosen her not because of any good things about her but entirely out of His mercy and compassion. Even after the adulterous woman was married to Hosea, she continued to commit adultery (Hosea 2:2-7), symbolizing that even though Israel was God’s elect, they still worshipped idols, served heathen gods, and continued to commit spiritual fornication. God was forced to declare “Lo-ruhamah” and “Lo-ammi,” meaning “she has not obtained compassion” and “not My people” (1:6, 9).
After Hosea took Gomer as his wife, she bore a son called Jezreel, then a daughter called Lo-ruhamah, and after that another son called Lo-ammi. These three names are important prophecies. The name Jezreel indicated that in yet a little while Jehovah would avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu (v. 4). This judgment was fulfilled when king Zechariah, the great grandchild of Jehu, was killed (2 Kings 15:8-12). Gomer, the wife of Hosea, conceived a second time and bore a daughter whom Jehovah called Lo-ruhamah, meaning “she has not obtained compassion.” Then Gomer conceived a third time and bore a son whom God called Lo-ammi, meaning “not My people” (Hosea 1:6, 8-9). The prophecies included in these two names were fulfilled in the fall of the kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Hoshea (2 Kings 17:1-6).