Amos 7:10-17, Expulsion of Amos the Prophet

There is often persecution for prophesying what Yahweh tells you to prophesy. As Paul says, “But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?” (Galatians 5:11)

7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you right here in Israel. His words are intolerable. 11 This is what Amos has said,

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’”

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go seer, run back to the land of Judah, and earn bread there by prophesying, 13 but don’t ever again prophesy at Bethel. It is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I wasn’t a prophet, nor trained to be one, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So now hear the word of Yahweh.

“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

17 But this is what Yahweh says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself will die in a pagan land, and Israel will certainly go into exile away from its land.’”

Amos reports his arrest by officials of Israel and his expulsion from their country. The priest of the temple at Bethel characterizes Amos’ message as a conspiracy against king Jereboam when he prophesies that Jereboam will die by the sword and the nation will go into exile. In verse 9 Amos had said, “the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” He had predicted that Israel would go into exile.

He tells Amos to leave the country and never come back and prophesy against the temple of Bethel and the kingdom of Jereboam. He must make his living elsewhere. Amos’ response is that he was never trained as a professional prophet, that this is not his means of making a living, but that he was sent directly by Yahweh to speak to the nation and warn her. Amaziah’s command is an example of exactly what Amos had prophesied about Israel in 2:12, that they tell the prophets God sends not to prophesy. And it is apparent that Amos’ preaching is having a significant affect in the country.

Amos now tells Amaziah the priest that he will be personally affected by the coming invasion and Israel’s defeat and exile. He will be removed to a pagan land where he will die, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves, leading her to resort to prostitution. His children will die in the violence and the people of the land will be exiled.

It’s just gotten personal.

We may assume that Amos was forced to leave Israel. He was obeying the Lord and not the governing authorities, á la Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than human beings!“