This was pointed out to me years ago. Maybe you have noticed, maybe not. Amos is a shepherd from Tekoa who is called to speak a prophetic word for the LORD. He isn't a priest. He isn't a Temple prophet. He has no training in prophecy, but he has a call from God and a message from God.
Tekoa, several miles south of Jerusalem, lies within the land allotted to the Tribe of Judah. It would seem that Amos might be most qualified to speak to the condition of his own tribe, but that's not the way he begins. He begins by announcing God's judgment against Damascus north northeast of Jerusalem and not a Jewish territory. Then he turns to Gaza southwest of Jerusalem and not a Jewish region. One by one, he shares God's judgment against Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, all non-Jewish principalities and opponents of God's people.
As he was prophesying in Israel, the northern Jewish kingdom, his listeners might have clapped when Amos began to denounce his homeland, Judah, the southern Jewish kingdom (See Amos 2:4-5). "Here is a true prophet," they may have said, "For he is not afraid to prophesy against his own people!"
Imagine their consternation, then, when he took up his last subject, Israel (See Amos 2:6-16). The LORD found the whole region faulty, sinful, and corrupt, so God's judgment fell on Israel no less than on all the others. Amos' method is clever for gaining a hearing, and it makes for an interesting piece of writing, as well. The prophecy exhibits both style and substance.
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