Amaziah, the Priest Who Persecuted Amos

This passage deals with the scene in which Amos, who had received God's call to deliver a message of judgment, is persecuted by Amaziah the priest at the sanctuary in Bethel. Amaziah threatens him to stop prophesying at Bethel, the king's sanctuary and the royal house of the kingdom, and orders that Amos be driven out to the land of Judah. He sows division by claiming that Amos is cursing the king and bringing the nation to ruin, and he obstructs God's servant in order to protect his own power and position.

Amaziah looks down on Amos because of his outward appearance: he is not a trained, professional prophet but an ordinary herdsman and a farmer of sycamore figs. But Amos firmly declares that his calling comes not from human education or power but from God's direct call. Even though God himself called Amos and gave him his mission, Amaziah challenges God's authority with worldly standards and pride. This shows that mocking and obstructing those who proclaim the truth is the same as opposing God.

When Amaziah tried to stop God's servant, God judged him so that his family would be miserably ruined. We must not, by our human judgment, become stumbling blocks to pastors or believers who proclaim the truth. Through this story we must come to understand what outcome awaits us if we hinder God's work and insist on our own way of thinking.