Amos 1: The Lion's Roar—Questioning the Source of That Voice

2 And he said: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers."

1. God Encountered in the Jungle: A Deity Fashioned in Human Image?

Reading Scripture is like traversing a pathless jungle. Dense undergrowth and tangled branches obscure the narrow way, forcing us to grope carefully through the Word, searching for the path forward. The God we first encounter in Amos 1 is one who deeply intervenes in human affairs, dispensing rewards and punishments. As He catalogs the sins of Damascus, Gaza, and Tyre, pronouncing judgment upon each, He seems like a powerful earthly king asserting His authority.

Here we face our first question: Could this be a projection of human affairs onto God? Might we be imposing our own understanding of cause and effect, reward and punishment, onto the divine—dressing up our hopes and sense of justice in God's name? If so, these majestic declarations of irresistible judgment would be nothing more than amplified echoes of the human voice.

2. The Direction of the Voice: Human Echo or Heavenly Roar?

Yet Amos makes clear that his proclamation is not human analysis or religious interpretation. He repeatedly declares: "Thus says the LORD" (כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, koh amar Yahweh). This is the prophetic formula—a life-or-death testimony that these are not his words but the words of the One who sent him. Here the direction of the voice becomes decisive. When human pious hopes masquerade as God's will, that is a human echo rising from below to above. Amos's proclamation, by contrast, is a heavenly roar descending from above to below, overwhelming everything in its path.

This direction of power is proven in the lives of those who receive it. If this were merely projected human desire, the shepherd Amos would have prayed for his flocks to prosper. The scholar Paul would have climbed to the highest position through legal righteousness. But God's roar drove them out from their secure livelihoods (the flocks) and worldly accomplishments (learning, status), compelling them to abandon everything and set out on a rugged path. God's voice invites us not to self-expansion but to self-emptying (kenosis). It is a power that cannot originate from within humanity—it comes from the wholly Other.

3. The Universality of the Roar: A Standard of Justice for All History

Another fundamental difference between God's roar and human projection lies in its universal content. As Amos pronounces judgment on the nations surrounding Israel, he does not accuse them of violating Israel's religious laws. Their sins were "threshing Gilead with sledges having iron teeth" (v. 3), "selling whole communities of captives to Edom" (v. 6), and "disregarding the covenant of brotherhood" (v. 9)—violations of universal human conscience and justice.

This is a revolutionary declaration that the LORD God is not merely Israel's tribal deity. He is sovereign over all history, and His justice is a universal standard applied equally to all nations. Therefore, Amos's God is not a projection of Israel's national aspirations but rather the Lord who places even Israel itself under the judgment seat of that universal justice.

4. The Destination of the Roar: Beyond Judgment to an Invitation into Union

So where is this terrible lion's roar ultimately headed? Is this destructive voice—withering shepherds' pastures and drying up Mount Carmel—simply meant to end everything? No. This roar is God's passionate invitation, calling scattered creation back into His embrace. It is a creative voice that dismantles false peace and structures of injustice to prepare a place where true union becomes possible.

Its final destination is what Jesus prayed for in John 17: "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us." This is not about becoming God (theosis) but about graciously participating in the eternal loving communion of the Triune God, while maintaining the distinction between Creator and creature. Amos's roar is God's decisive "No" to every sin that obstructs this holy union, and simultaneously God's powerful "Yes"—His invitation calling us into that union. Among the countless human echoes, are we hearing that lion's roar that empties us and leads us into true communion?