In the Old Testament of the Hebrew Bible the prophet Amos was all about preaching doom and destruction. The passage of Amos 4: 6-13 is particularly grim in that it tells of what Yahweh has done to Israel because Israel has strayed from Yahweh's covenant. Amos 4: 6-13 was meant to accuse Israel of straying from Yahweh and to help bring them back by hinting at and warning of an even worse fate if they did not comply. The accusation that Israel has strayed is shown quite well with the five disasters or plagues that Amos speaks of. The warning comes toward the end of the passage in verse 12 when Yahweh foretells his wrath upon Israel and continues somewhat in to verse 13 when Yahweh demonstrates of what he is capable.
             Amos is trying to get his audience to return to Yahweh by telling Israel of the horrible curses already inflicted on them by Yahweh. Amos is acting as Yahweh's voice, and tells the people what Yahweh has done to Israel because they have strayed from Him. There are five disasters that Amos speaks of: drought, famine, blight, pestilence, and war. By telling Israel what has caused these plagues and that they could happen again, Amos is accusing Israel of disobeying Yahweh. Mays agrees when he says, "The narrative in vv. 6-11 then functions as an indictment against Israel and serves as a basis for the announcement of judgment in v. 12" (Mays, 78). Amos is essentially saying, "Hey, you guys really need to return to your covenant with the LORD or else you are going to continue to be punished." Mays also says, "One need not assume that these misfortunes were either contiguous or contemporary. The audience would remember such calamities in their own time or in the days of their fathers" (Mays, 79). This is important because if these disasters were great enough to be remembered by future generations, the cataclysms should have had more of an affect on the people of Israel, but Yahweh s...