While the pronoun “I” is one of the most frequently used words in the Bible (around 8,800 times) and may seem insignificant with such saturation, its usage in Amos is very instructive. The Lord, through the prophet, pleaded with His people to repent and turn back to Him. He wanted them to know how far they had strayed.
What God had done for them. “I destroyed the [giant] Amorite before them” (2:9). “I brought you up from the land of Egypt” (2:10). “I raised up some of your sons as prophets” (2:11). “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (3:2).
How God regarded His people’s empty service. “I hate, I despise your feast days” (5:21). “I do not savor your sacred assemblies” (5:21). “I will not accept them” (5:22). “I will [not] regard your fattened peace offerings” (5:22). “I abhor [your] pride” (6:8).
What God did to induce their repentance. “Behold, I am weighed down by you” (2:13). “I gave you cleanness of teeth…and lack of bread” (4:6). “I withheld rain from you…I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city” (4:7). “I blasted you with blight and mildew” (4:9). “I sent among you a plague…I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils” (4:10).
How God would deal with their willful sin. “Thus will I do to you…I will do this to you” (4:12). “I will never forget any of [your] works” (8:7). “The end has come upon My people…I will not pass by [you] anymore” (8:2). “I will not hear” (5:23). “I will not turn away [your] punishment” (2:4, 6). “I will punish you for all your iniquities” (3:2). “I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house” (3:15). “I will send you into captivity” (5:27). “I will raise up a nation against you” (6:14). “I will deliver [you] up” (6:8). “I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people” (7:8). “I will turn your feasts into mourning” (8:10). “I will bring sackcloth on every waist” (8:10). “I will send a famine on the land” (8:11). “I will bring [you] down” (9:2). “I will set My eyes on [you] for harm and not for good” (9:4).
God’s continued patience and future hope for His people’s repentance. “Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob” (9:8). “I will raise up…[that] which has fallen down” (9:11). “I will bring back the captives of My people” (9:14). “I will plant them” (9:15).
Think of what God has done for us, how He regards our empty service, what He has done to induce our repentance and how He deals with our willful sin. As He considers our future hope, He pleads,“Prepare to meet your God” (4:12)!