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A
PROPHET SPEAKS...
1
am no prophet," protested Amos,
"nor a prophet's son; but I am a
herdsman, and a dresser of syca–
more trees, aod the Lord took me
from following the flock, and the
Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to
my people Israel'" (Amos 7: 14-15).
Amos was hardly a theologian.
He was not even a member of the
priestly or prophetic castes of his
day. He was neither scholar nor
Levite, yet God used him mightily
to bring a powerfuJ message of
warning to his own people.
TheScene
During the long and peaceful reign
of Jeroboam
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(circa 786-746 B.C.)
the House of Israel had been lulled
into a false sense of security. Na–
tional borders had been extended to
their maximum, and the country
was basking in comparative opu–
lence and
prosper~ty.
Religious ac–
tivity and ceremony was at a peak,
and the people had come to believe
that God was benignly smiling
down upon them.
Joto this scene of national self–
satisfaction stepped the prophet
Amos. His indicting message was
something less than popular, and he
was met with immediate opposition
from the religious and political ele-
20
by
Brian Knowles
Amos, herdsman ofTekoa, was
sent from God with a powerful
message of correction for the
ancient House of IsraeL In
spite ofrelentless opposition,
he
fearlessly indicted the nation
for its hollow, meaningless
piety, social inj ustice and gen–
eral immorality. Amos' mes–
sage must not be lost on our
modern generation!
ments of his nation. He was even
accused of conspiracy and disloyalty
to the royal house: "Then Amaziah
the priest of Bethel sent to Jero–
boam king of Israel, saying, 'Amos
has conspired against you
in
the
midst of the house of Israel; the
land is notable to bear [tolerate] all
his words'" (Amos 7: 10).
"The land is not able to bear all
his words"! He conspired! Treason!
Disloyalty! Amaziah attempted to
inflame the king's emotions against
this unqualified upstart who pre–
sumed to represent God and to
prophesy against the nation.
But Amos had a job to do
through no choice of his own. He
would not be intimidated by the
priest's threats and false charges. He
spoke out even more pointedly:
"Now therefore hear the word of the
Lord. You say, 'Do not prophesy
against Israel, and do not preach
agaiost the house of Isaac.' There–
fore thus says the Lord: 'Your wife
shall be a harlot in the city, and
your sons and your daughters shall
fall by the sword, and your land
shall be parceled out by line; you
yourself shall die in an unclean
land, and Israel shall surely go into
exile away from its land'" (verses
16-17).
God backed up the words of his
prophet. He brought about a devas–
tating round of famines, droughts,
disease epidemics and insect-in–
duced crop failures (Amos 4:6-10).
"Yet you did not return to me," said
the Lord. God warned; He pun–
ished; He threatened and He
pleaded through all ofHis prophets,
including Amos (Hosea, Isaiah and
Micah were contemporaries). But
tbe stubborn IsraeLites still refused
to repent.
Within three decades of Amos'
prophecy, Israel experienced the
ult imate prophesied punishment-
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1978