Amos And Hosea

In the Eighth Century, both the Northern and Southern kingdoms were experiencing hardships due to an unstable political situation, and the threat of Assyria’s ambition for conquest. There were great social inequality and injustice amongst; the rich took advantage of the poor, evidently having forgotten about their ancestors in bondage in Egypt. Their worship was said to be hollow and once again the people began to worship Baal. It was during this time that four prophets emerged to try and get their people to return to God—Amos and Hosea in the North, and Isaiah and Micah in the South. The prophets railed against these social and economic injustices that had not only become unbearable to the people, but also unacceptable to God. They also …show more content…
His basic messages stresses God’s moral rule over the entire world and the divine demands for the justice and concern for the outcast or oppressed. He was not a priest or a "professional" prophet, but a shepherd and farmer, and brings a layman's objectivity and straightforwardness to his message. Amos connects the injustice he sees around him to a society bent on wealth and prosperity, forgetful of the true worship of God. He uses a tremendous amount of drama and imagery to convey his message.

Hosea's message is of the resoluteness of God's love and compassion in the face of constant unfaithfulness on the part of his people. More than any other prophet, he conveys not just God's anger at the failures of his people, but also his sadness and weariness. Hosea uses his life as an allegory for his message—he married a woman who was unfaithful to him, but took her back.

Isaiah covers a wide range of topics: God's holiness, warning of coming judgment, a call to repentance, vision of a future blessing, messianic predictions, the servant songs, and extraordinary poetry. He is often considered the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because of the sheer range and vision of his prophecy. He matches Amos and Hosea for intense anger against oppression and injustice. His words contain a rare mix of ethical insight, realistic warning of disaster, and long-range hopefulness that mark him as having the most profound vision of the Old