Amos 7
Share
This resource is exclusive for PLUS Members
Upgrade now and receive:
- Ad-Free Experience: Enjoy uninterrupted access.
- Exclusive Commentaries: Dive deeper with in-depth insights.
- Advanced Study Tools: Powerful search and comparison features.
- Premium Guides & Articles: Unlock for a more comprehensive study.
Amos and Amaziah (7:10–17)
10–13 Amaziah was the main priest at the king’s shrine at Bethel. In Amaziah’s view, Amos was raising a conspiracy against the king and all the rich and powerful people in Israel—including Amaziah himself (verse 10). Therefore, after informing the king about the matter, Amaziah told Amos to stop prophesying and go back to Judah to earn his living. Amaziah assumed that Amos was merely one of the many false prophets of that time who earned their living by selling their prophecies—just as fortune tellers do today.27
14–15 Amos replied that he was not a “professional” prophet but had been directly appointed by the Lord to prophesy in Israel. He said,“ . . . the LORD took me from tending the flock”28 (verse 15).
16–17 The knowledge that God had “taken” him filled Amos with boldness. Hear what this humble shepherd says to the highest priest of the land: “Now then, hear the word of the LORD” (verse 16). We need more preachers and prophets today who have God’s authority to say to the rich and powerful of the world: “Now then, hear the word of the Lord.”
In verse 17, Amos speaks the word of the Lord to Amaziah. It surely was not what Amaziah wanted to hear! First, he himself and his family would suffer disaster. Then Amos concluded with the identical words (in Hebrew) that Amaziah had used in his message to the king (verse 11): “Israel will certainly go into exile. . .”