“THREAT OF JUDGMENT IN AMOS AND ITS LESSONS FOR NIGERIA”

Abstract

Prophet Amos was a great man of God whose message rattled but rarely influenced his contemporary to positive change. He had the difficult task of proclaiming YHWH’s message of judgment to the perceived enemies of Israel for failing God. His work provides material for the study of threat as a motivation for socio-religious change. Unlike the people of Nineveh who responded to threat with repentance, threat in Amos did not bring about repentance even though the prophet pleaded for such. Amos evaluated his audience from other nations on the basis of general revelation, but he evaluated Israel and Judah on the basis of the stipulations of YHWH’s covenant. While some scholars hold that the “sins’ identified by Amos are exclusively social, some think that they are primarily spiritual with only social implications. This study shows that all the sins found among the audience of Amos are found in abundance among contemporary Nigerians. Strangely, oppression is not limited to the rich: in Nigeria, even the poor do oppress fellow poor men/poor women. Both the audience of Amos and the contemporary Nigerian society are religious to a fault but their religion is not positively reflected on their moral. Threat, even of divine discipline, at times do not lead people to change their ways of life. Since the use of threat as a motivation for change in religion is unpredictable, leaders of religion are advised to use it with caution.