Amaziah the Priest Persecutes Amos

Faced with visions of locusts stripping the land of every blade of grass and of a great fire devouring the earth, Amos pleads with God to hold back his judgment for the sake of a poor and helpless people. But in the third vision, when a plumb line is set in the midst of Israel, God declares that this time he will not forgive. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, threatens Amos for calling the nation to repentance, ordering him to go back to Judah and prophesy no more.

Amos, once a shepherd, answers boldly that he was never trained as a prophet; it was God himself who called him and set him in his place. Amaziah measured Amos by worldly power and rank and scorned him, yet the one he was truly mocking was the God who had called him. To weigh with human eyes someone whom God has raised up, and to stand in that person’s way, is not mere obstruction; it is to set oneself against God.

Judgment fell on Amaziah’s house in all its misery: his wife became a prostitute and his children fell by the sword, and the word Amos had spoken came to pass exactly as he had said. However humble someone may appear, if God has called them they must not be judged rashly but helped. Like Amos, who proclaimed the word with honesty, God’s people must cherish life and give themselves quietly and faithfully to his service.