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Minor Prophets, Part 1: Assyrian Crisis

  1. Lesson One
    Introduction to the Prophets
    21 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Prophets and Prophecy
    20 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  3. Lesson Three
    Amos
    24 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    Hosea
    19 Activities
    |
    5 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Jonah
    18 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

Participants 4

Minor Prophets, Part 1: Assyrian Crisis Amos In Front | Amos and MLK
Lesson 3, Activity 22

In Front | Amos and MLK

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s legendary “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech references a scene in Deuteronomy 34:1-4 where Moses climbs Mount Nebo and looks into the promised land. Later in that same speech, King makes a direct reference to the prophet Amos:

We need all of you. And you know what’s beautiful to me is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It’s a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones. And whenever injustice is around he tell it. Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and saith, “When God speaks who can but prophesy?” Again with Amos, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me,” and he’s anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor.

This was a time of systemic racism and exclusion in the United States, a legacy that endures in more subtle forms still today. Rev. King longed for a day of justice and inclusion, just like Amos did, and looked forward to a time when the disenfranchised would sit at the table with those who had once exploited them.

Source: James Andrews, Contemporary American Voices: Significant Speeches in American History, 1945-present, 1991, p. 117.