38 Amos’ Condemnation of the King [Amos 7:10–17]
The Bible passage: [Amos 7:10–17]
The Story:
Amaziah was the main priest at the worship place, Bethel, that was set up in the northern Kingdom of Israel. He sent word to King Jeroboam, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The country can’t stand what he is saying, because he has said that you will die by the sword and that all Israel will go into exile.”
Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you prophet! You better run and hide in the land of Judah. Give your prophecies and earn your living there. Don’t ever prophesy here again. This is the king’s temple.”
Amos answered Amaziah, “I wasn’t a prophet or the son of a prophet. I was just a simple herdsman and farmer. But the Lord took me away from that and told me to come and prophesy to His people Israel.
“So, listen up. This is what God has said, ‘Your wives will be prostitutes in the city. Your sons and daughters will die by the sword. Your land will be divided up. You will die on foreign soil, in exile away from your homeland.’”
The Lessons:
- Amos prophesied about the end of the Kingdom of Israel. The one statement that shows how far Israel had fallen is this one: “This is the king’s temple.” This was stated by the priest and he didn’t refer to the temple as God’s temple.
- An interesting point… In [Amos 2:12], Amos was listing things that the Kingdom of Israel had done wrong. One of the things on the list was telling the prophets to stop prophesying. Then Amaziah did exactly that in this passage.
Next: 39 Israel is Taken into Exile in Assyria [2 Kings 17:5-23]
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