Judgment pronounced on the Nations by a poor farmer/shepherd, named Amos.

I finished reading through the Major Prophets, and am now reading through the Minor Prophets. I am referring to James Boice's commentary as I go through these Minor Prophets as well.
Here's some of Dr. Boice's thoughts on the book of Amos:

"The lessons of this book are at least three. First, God is a righteous God who requires righteousness in His people. We are all good at imposing God's standards on others, but we need to remember that God's standards apply first of all to us. Are we righteous? Do we live as God wants us to live, particularly towards others?

Second, God is not satisfied by formalism in religion and actually hates religion when it is used to justify the status quo and oppress the unfortunate. In Amos, God says, "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them" (Amos 5:21-22). There was much of this in Amos' day, and the people no doubt thought themselves to be quite spiritual because of their formal adherence to such practices. After all, God commanded these practices, and they were obeying cheerfully. But God says it was all a sham! If religion is to be acceptable to God, it must be a religion of the heart that begins with genuine repentance for sin and issues in a life that is transformed in ways that please Him.

Finally, we need to accept Amos' challenge to do good. It is not enough just to speak our religion. We must act it out, as I have indicated. here is how Amos says it: "Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph" (5:14-15). May God give each of us grace to do just that and may He have mercy on us for Jesus' sake." -James Montgomery Boice, "The Minor Prophets Vol. 1"

I met Pastor Boice about 20 years ago when I and my wife spent the weekend in Philadelphia, and just by chance chose to attend his church, -10th Presbyterian Church- , for Sunday service. I still remember portions of the sermon. He was a fine servant/pastor/scholar of the Lord.