Amos 1

"The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa - what he saw concerning Israel 2 years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. He said:

'The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem;
the the pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of Carmel withers.'

This is what the Lord says;
'For 3 sins of Damascus, even 4,
I wll not turn back my wrath.
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
I will send fire upon the house of Hazael,
that will consume the fortresses
of Ben-Hadad.
I will break down the gate of Damascus;
I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,'
says the Lord."

Take a moment and think

Amos uses a series of oracles in the next 2 chapters

that pronounce judgements on Israel's neighbors for specific reasons.

When he writes "the Lord roars"

he is referring to the force with which God is sending his message

to those who have committed a multitude of sins,

which he goes into detail identifying.

What sins do you think the

Lord would ROAR about concerning you?