Amos warns that Israel will be brought low and greatly reduced (v1-3). In about 40 years they would experience the invasion from Assyria and as a nation, never be the same again.

The Lord warns of judgment, not just to scare or to make their life miserable, He warns so that they will turn and seek the Lord (v4-7). Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba were places of idol worship. The people needed to turn from superstition to the living God who is the prodigal’s Father waiting for them to return. Is the Lord waiting for you to return?

When people turn away from the Lord, one of the main reasons this happens is that they have forgotten who the Lord is and how awesome is His person. The Lord has put Pleiades and Orion (v8), the great constellations of the stars in their place. He is the God who controls day and night and the God who has previously flooded the earth. People who reject and resist God underestimate who He is and how He will respond (v9).

The people have become those who hate the truth (v10) and they prefer to live in a lie, deluded about the danger of their situation.