of “Amos and Amaziah” fame
June 12, 2008 (Thursday)
As Leroy Washburn and I were walking in the mall yesterday, for some reason the prophet Amos emerged as one of our topics of conversation. Amos was a contemporary of Isaiah in Judah, and they were both prophets, but they don’t seem to have been alike in their personalities and way of working.
Isaiah was of royal blood, had great dignity, and was a literary genius. A casual reading of the 53rd chapter of the Bible book bearing his name tells the reader he is on holy ground. Amos, on the other hand, tended sheep and took care of trees. He might be called a farmer and rancher today. Some refer to him as “the cowboy preacher.” He declared himself to be neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but merely a bearer of God’s message, and what a message, indeed. It was a message of the judgment of God, which he delivered directly, without any effort to soften its harshness. As a matter of fact, some of his colorful metaphors might be considered downright insulting.
Amos’ harsh messages to Israel were notable because he himself was from Judah, not Israel. The king’s chaplain, as it were, Amaziah, sent this message to Amos: “Seer, be on your way! Get out of here and go back to Judah where you came from! Hang out there. Do your preaching there. But no more preaching at Bethel! Don’t show your face here again. This is the king’s chapel. This is a royal shrine.”
Amos kept preaching anyway, and the judgment he warned would come, eventually fell upon them. The nation was destroyed. The harsh preaching of Amos was intended to awaken them to repentance, but they went on in their foolish pride, presumptuously mixing sin and religion. They chose to ignore prophets like Amos, and so their nation died. Hard sermons are sometimes God’s last loving call.