Have you ever watched a movie or read a book that ends with a twist, sometimes at the last moment? Whether it's a sudden switch in the setting or a character revelation, the surprise can change how you understand the entire story. That sudden and unexpected turn upsets what you thought you knew about where the plot was going.

A twist is probably a pretty gentle way of describing what happened with Amos' prophecy to the nation of Israel. As readers of the book of Amos, we've known since Amos 1:1 that Israel lay at the receiving end of this prophecy. But Amos' original listeners wouldn't have, as they would have only heard the speeches starting in 1:2, which addressed their surrounding nations. It would thus have been a complete surprise to hear the revelation of judgment turn to them.

Keeping with his established pattern (″For three sins of . . . , even for four, I will not relent″, Amos 2:6), Amos sets his sights on Israel for the longest and most detailed accusation and discipline speech of the opening chapters. In fact, this turn towards Israel sets the stage for the rest of the book, which adds more specifics to the sins Israel committed and further elaborates the discipline God is sending on them.

Amos alternates between several key elements in his speech. First, he focuses on the sins of Israel (vv. 6-8). Then, he moves to God's acts of grace and provision for the people (vv. 9-11), before going back to their sins (v. 12), and ends with a description of the coming discipline (vv. 13-16).

As with the judgment of Judah, Israel's sins are not crimes of war against other nations. Instead, Israel is accused of committing atrocities against her own people. The force and the emphasis of this opening condemnation of Israel is that the powerful are dominating the weak, and that the rich are exploiting and abusing the poor (vv. 6-7). Justice is being perverted. Over and over in the law, God's heart for the poor and the vulnerable is expressed (see Exodus 22:22, 26; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 15:4, 11).

Amos reminds them that God had delivered them from oppression in Egypt (Amos 2:10), which makes their oppression of their own people all the more shocking. And the fact that they have silenced the prophets and made the Nazirites break their oaths (v. 12) suggests a deliberate and wilful ignoring of God's call back to faithfulness. Because of these things, God is sending judgment on them.

Amos is very explicit in the details concerning the judgment coming on Israel (vv. 13-16). These details combine to express the totality of the judgment. None in Israel will be able to escape the judgment.