Thus did he shew unto me; and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.
Amos has already seen two judgments — locusts and fire — and both times his prayer held them back. Now the vision changes. This time he sees no disaster to plead away, but a measuring tool in the Lord's hand.
This vision is the last step in a sequence. One commentator sets out the three stages.
In Amos 7 three judgments on Israel rise step by step. First (verses 1-3) come the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, then (verses 4-6) fire, and last (verses 7-9) a plumbline, which pointed to the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been sharing in the evil. These troubles came about, it would seem, through Pul, Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, who finally swept the kingdom away.
A Bible dictionary explains both the tool and what it stands for.
A lump of lead, a stone, or some other weight attached to a string. This simple device tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It stands as a symbol of the exactness with which God brought judgement on Israel. Israel had been built up by God as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline it would be destroyed. In Zechariah 4:10, though it was a day of small things when the temple was rebuilt, the plumbline was in the hands of Zerubbabel, and the Lord of hosts was supporting him.
Notice the detail in the verse itself: the wall was built with a plumb line. The same tool that raised it now tests it — and that same tool later sat in the hand of the man rebuilding the temple.
Some translations read that the Lord stood on the wall rather than beside it. So what does the test find?
He saw the Lord standing on a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that everything is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement, "I shall pass by it no more."
Another writer draws out why Amos reached for this picture.
As the Holy Spirit directed Amos's thoughts, the picture of a plumb line came to his mind. He used this familiar tool to tell the people of Israel what God wanted them to know — that God would measure them by His standards, His Word, and no other.
The line can show a fault, but it cannot mend one. One writer learned this from a real wall.
Soon the wall appeared to me to be leaning, but I was not sure, so I got a plumb line. I found that the wall was more than a foot out of plumb. I called for the mason. He looked at the wall and said, "That wall is all right. It is quite straight." I did not say a word, but hung the plumb line on it. The plumb line showed how far from true the wall was. The mason's mouth was shut... But the plumb line could not make the wall straight; it could only show how bad it was. In the same way the law cannot make us righteous; it can only show how bad we are.
In the first two visions God held back when the prophet prayed. This one is different, and one commentator explains why.
God had waited patiently for a long time. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The intercession of the prophet — that is, of the Spirit of Christ which worked in the prophets — had held back the scourge. But now the Lord would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside. With the house of Jehu Israel would fall, and that is what happened. It may be that the earlier judgments point to the fall of Jeroboam's family and of Ahab's family. Israel was raised up again after each of those, but not after the house of Jehu fell.
- Patience — Prayer turned back the first two judgments. The plumbline comes only when God's patience reaches its end, and further delay would mean sharing in the evil.
- Line — A plumbline is a weight on a string, the picture of exactness. God built Israel up as a wall by that line, and by that line it would come down.
- Standard — God measures His people by His own Word and by no other rule.
- Verdict — Put the line against the wall, and the wall is crooked. The test shows the fault, but it cannot mend it — and neither can the law make us righteous.
- End — Once the measuring line is in His hand, nothing turns Him aside. The sentence fell through the Assyrian kings who swept the kingdom away.
And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. And the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel I will not again pass by them any more.
Amos has already seen two judgments — locusts and fire — and twice his prayer held them back; now God shows him a builder's tool instead, and asks him to name it. The question "Amos, what do you see?" turns the prophet from pleader into witness, and the answer God gives after it closes the door on further delay.
The plumbline is the last of three visions. It comes at the point where more waiting would no longer be patience.
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1-3) the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, next (verses 4-6) fire, and last (verses 7-9) a plumbline. The plumbline showed the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been sharing in the evil. History, it seems, carried out these troubles in Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who at last swept away the kingdom.
The image comes from ordinary building work.
A plumbline is a simple device: a lump of lead, a stone, or another weight tied to a string. It tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It is a symbol of the exactness with which God brought judgment on Israel. God had built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline He would take it down. Amos 7:7-8: compare 2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 28:17. In Zechariah 4:10 it was a day of small things when the temple was rebuilt. Even so, the plummet was in Zerubbabel's hand, and the Lord of hosts was supporting him.
A wall is never judged by another wall. Here the Lord Himself holds the line against Israel.
He saw the Lord standing upon a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that all is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement: "I will never again pass by them." The high places of Isaac will be left desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste, and God will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. The judgment will completely sweep away the false worship and the monarchy in Israel.
The same standard is what makes the image usable for any reader, not only for Israel.
As the Holy Spirit directed Amos's thoughts, the picture of a plumb line came to his mind, and he used this familiar tool to tell the Israelite people what God wanted them to know — that God would measure them by His standards, His Word, and no other.
Once you know what the tool does, you also know what it cannot do. One writer found this out with a wall and a mason.
Soon the wall appeared to me to be leaning, but I was not sure, so I got a plumb line. I found that the wall was more than a foot out of plumb. I called for the mason. He looked at the wall and said, "That wall is all right. It is quite straight." I did not say a word, but hung the plumb line on it. The plumb line showed how far from true the wall was. The mason's mouth was shut; he could not say a word. The plumb line laid bare his pride and self-confidence... But the plumb line could not make the wall straight; it could only show how bad it was. So the law cannot make us righteous, but only show how bad we are.
Twice the prophet had stood in the way of judgment. With the plumbline, that ministry ends.
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prophet's intercession had held back the scourge. That intercession was the work of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18). But now the Lord would rise to judgment, with the measuring line in His hand. Nothing would turn Him aside.
The sentence took effect on a king named Zechariah, the last link in his royal line.
Zechariah, the last link in this chain, is in fact already rejected. He reigns only six months, and God turns away from him and his successors, according to His word: "I will never again pass by them" (Amos 7:8; Amos 8:2).
- Patience — prayer stopped the locusts and the fire. The plumbline comes only when waiting longer would mean sharing in the evil.
- Measure — the tool is exact. God built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline He takes it down.
- Standard — God measures His people by His Word and no other, and His Word found nothing in the wall straight.
- Exposure — a plumbline shows the lean, it never corrects it; the law can convict us, but it cannot make us righteous.
- Verdict — "I will never again pass by them" was no empty threat. It fell on the sanctuaries, the high places, and the house of Jeroboam, and ended with the kingdom swept away.
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolated, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will arise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
God has just shown Amos a plumbline held against a wall. This verse is the verdict that follows: Israel's places of worship and her ruling family will both come down. It asks when God's patience with a people runs out, and what He strikes first when it does.
This verse ends the third of three warnings in the chapter. Each warning comes by a different instrument, and the last is a measuring tool:
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1-3) by the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, next (verses 4-6) by fire, and last (verses 7-9) by a plumbline, which showed the strict measure used to mark their sins. When patience had worn itself out, waiting longer would have meant taking the side of evil. These troubles seem to have come true in history under Pul, Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, who finally swept the kingdom away.
The tool itself carries the point. The line that built the wall is the line that condemns it:
A simple device: a lump of lead, a stone, or another weight tied to a string. It tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It pictures the exactness with which God brought judgment on Israel. God had built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline it would be pulled down.
The verse names two targets: the shrines and the royal house. Both fall by the same test:
He saw the Lord standing on a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that everything is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement: "I shall pass by it no more." The false worship and the monarchy in Israel will be completely swept away by the judgment.
The shrines fall first, and that fits the whole book. One writer traces every other sin in Israel back to her corrupt worship:
"Hear this word" begins Amos 3, Amos 4 and Amos 5. All of them are warnings to His guilty people, whose false worship was the mother sin behind all their other sins. Amos 6 is a woe on the security they felt in themselves and on their luxury, like nations that do not know God. The Lord Jehovah had turned back destroying judgments at the prophet's prayer. Now He would take the measuring-line in hand and lay waste the people and the king (Amos 7).
Twice in this chapter Amos pleads, and God holds the blow back. At the plumbline, nothing turns Him aside:
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prayer of the prophet — that is, of the Spirit of Christ working in the prophets — had held back the punishment. But now Jehovah would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside. With the house of Jehu, Israel would fall. That is in fact what happened. Israel had been raised up again after earlier falls, but not after the house of Jehu had fallen.
The sentence on the royal house landed on the last king of the line, and it landed where God had already said it would:
Zechariah, Jeroboam's son, was the fourth generation granted to the house of Jehu by the Lord (2 Kings 10:30). But Zechariah, the last link of this chain, is in fact already rejected. He reigns only six months. God then turns away from him and his successors, just as He had said: "I will not again pass by them any more" (Amos 7:8; Amos 8:2). Hosea says the same: "They have set up kings, but not by me" (Hosea 8:4).
The verse threatens the sanctuaries, and Bethel's own priest had a name for his shrine: the king's sanctuary. That one phrase gave the game away:
It is remarkable how his language betrays him. Religion in Israel was a political arrangement, despite their effort to copy God's ritual. So here Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as naturally as of the king's court. In the same way, people name their religious groups after their country, after an invented system, or after a favourite doctrine. No one thinks of a divine source and authority, except as decoration for the structure — not as something the heart must submit to and obey.
- Measured. God built Israel as a wall with a plumbline, and He measures her by the same line. This judgment is not temper. It is exact measurement against His Word.
- Root. The shrines fall before the throne, because false worship was the mother sin behind every other sin in the book.
- Limit. Prayer held back locusts and fire. At the plumbline, patience had run out, and waiting longer would have meant taking the side of evil.
- Fulfilled. The sword reached Jeroboam's house in his son Zechariah. His six-month reign closed the line of Jehu, and Israel was never raised up again.
- Exposed. A religion run by the state has no room for God's authority. Bethel's priest spoke of "the king's sanctuary" as easily as of the king's court.
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the land is not able to bear all his words.
Amos has just seen a plumbline set against Israel, and has announced judgment on the house of Jeroboam. The reply comes not from the king but from the priest at Bethel. Amaziah sends word to the palace that the prophet is a conspirator, and that the country cannot survive what he is saying.
The accusation follows three warnings already given in this chapter.
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1-3) by the locusts, next (verses 4-6) by fire, and last (verses 7-9) by a plumbline. The plumbline showed the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been sharing in the evil.
Amos had said the sword would come against the house of Jeroboam. Amaziah reports something different to the palace.
Amaziah, priest of the calf idol at Bethel, warns the king that Amos is prophesying against Israel. He adds that Amos had foretold the violent death of the king, and this was a lie. By this slander Amaziah was trying to rid himself of the prophet and have him sent away to Judah. He wanted this because the prophet was competing with him at Bethel.
Amaziah speaks one way to the king and another way to Amos.
The priest Amaziah tries to stir up the fears and jealousy of the king against Amos (verses 10, 11). At the same time he pretends to advise Amos for his own good. His aim was to get rid of the divine testimony, which he dreaded.
Amaziah tells the king the land cannot bear what Amos says. One writer traces that to the kind of religion Bethel had become.
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's chapel. A religion arranged by the policy of man, without the fear of God, cannot endure the testimony of truth. Bethel was the house of the kingdom. The priest reports it all to the king. Let the prophet go away to Judah. There God still acknowledged Judah, and the truth could be preached; but Bethel was not the place for such unwelcome truths. The king was the ruler in all religious matters: man was master. But the LORD does not give up His own rights.
The same kind of charge appears again later in Scripture.
Amaziah, the apostate priest at Bethel, who had charge of the idol worship, accused the prophet falsely before King Jeroboam. It was a religious political accusation. The enemy accused Jeremiah in the same way (Jeremiah 37:14-15); he did the same with our Lord and His apostles.
Another writer sees the same treatment given to Elijah.
Elijah had to bear the charge of troubling Israel: "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" The more faithful someone is to God and His truth, the more open he is to this charge. If everything sleeps on in dead stillness, the god of this world will be well pleased and his territory undisturbed. But let one faithful person appear, and people are sure to treat him as a troubler and an intruder on peace and good order.
The king never answers the charge. One writer puts that down to what Jeroboam knew about the man who made it.
Men looked on Amos as a troubler of the peace of the kingdom. Amaziah the priest of Bethel told him to flee away to the land of Judah, "and eat bread there, and prophesy there," as if God's prophet were nothing more than a hired man like himself. He also accused the prophet before the king of having conspired against his life. Jeroboam seems to have paid little or no attention to this charge. He was perhaps too sensible a man to believe it, knowing the jealous, self-seeking spirit of the chief priest of the nation.
- Plumbline — Three judgments run through the chapter, ending with a plumbline set against Israel. God's patience had run out, and waiting longer would have meant sharing in the evil.
- Panic — Amaziah dreaded the prophet's testimony and wanted it gone. His report to the king and his friendly advice to Amos both serve that one aim.
- Perversion — A warning against the house of Jeroboam becomes a plot against the king's life. Writers call it a lie and a slander, told by a man defending his own position.
- Pattern — A religion arranged by human policy cannot bear the testimony of truth. The same religious-political charge later falls on Jeremiah, on the Lord, and on His apostles.
- Price — Faithfulness earns a man the name "troubler." The king here ignores the charge, and God does not give up His own rights.
For thus Amos saith Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall certainly go into captivity out of his land.
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, reports Amos to the king, quoting him: the king will die by the sword, the nation will go into exile. Commentators show what he added to the report, what he left out, and why the palace treated a preacher's words as a crime.
Amaziah does not answer Amos. He goes over his head to the throne, and sharpens the message on the way.
Amaziah, priest of the calf-idol at Bethel, warns the king that Amos is prophesying against Israel. He adds a lie: that Amos had foretold the violent death of the king. By this slander Amaziah was trying to get rid of the prophet and have him sent away to Judah, because Amos was competing with him at Bethel.
Amos had prophesied against Israel. Amaziah turns that into a personal death threat against the king himself — the charge most likely to get a hearing at court.
This tactic did not begin or end with Amaziah. Others used it on later messengers from God.
Amaziah, the apostate priest at Bethel, who had charge of the idol worship, accused the prophet falsely before King Jeroboam. It was a religious political accusation. Thus the enemy accused Jeremiah also (Jeremiah 37:14-15); he did the same with our Lord and His apostles.
Amaziah claims the country cannot absorb what Amos is saying. The trouble was not the number of words. It was the system they exposed: worship arranged by royal policy.
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's chapel. A religion arranged by human policy, without the fear of God, cannot stand the testimony of truth. Bethel was the house of the kingdom. The priest reports it all to the king. Let the prophet go away to Judah. There God acknowledged Judah, and the truth could be spoken there. But Bethel was not the place for such unwelcome truths.
The same reflex shows up wherever someone else decides what a believer may preach.
Today too, in many countries, believers suffer persecution. They are told what to preach and teach, and what subjects to avoid. In some places people are even trying to have the Bible classified as hate literature, because it states God's holy standards without compromise. Sinful man is ready enough for a religion he can invent and control himself, but he refuses to submit to God's standards.
Two moves run side by side here. Amaziah alarms the king, and he plays the friend to the prophet. Both serve one purpose.
The priest Amaziah works to stir up the king's fear and jealousy against Amos (verses 10, 11). At the same time he pretends to advise Amos for his own good. His aim was to get rid of the divine testimony, which he dreaded.
The king himself seems unmoved. The plot fails at the very point Amaziah aimed it.
Amos was seen as a troubler of the kingdom's peace... Amaziah also accused the prophet before the king of plotting against the king's life. Jeroboam seems to have paid little or no attention to this charge. He may have been too sensible a man to believe it, since he knew the jealous, self-seeking spirit of the nation's chief priest.
Whatever he twisted about the king, the second half of his report was true. Rossier ties it to the moment when God would no longer relent.
A terrible judgment must fall on these official men. They serve the world and its false gods, and they give those gods the name of the Lord. As for Israel, the people must certainly be carried away captive. From then on there would be no more repentance in God's heart toward them. The time had come; it was too late.
Amaziah repeated the verdict to get the messenger sent away. He never noticed that the verdict included him.
- Reported. Amaziah does not argue with Amos. He sends an edited version to the king, where words count as a crime instead of a message to answer.
- Twisted. Amos prophesied against Israel. Rossier calls the added claim — that Amos foretold the king's violent death — a slander meant to remove a rival at Bethel.
- Rebranded. Turning a message from God into a political threat is an old tactic. Gaebelein traces it from Jeremiah to Christ and His apostles.
- Resented. Amaziah said the land could not bear Amos's words. Darby names the real problem: a religion arranged by human policy cannot stand the testimony of truth.
- Realised. The half Amaziah quoted straight came true. Israel went into captivity, and the judgment fell on the priest who wanted the warning silenced.
And Amaziah said unto Amos, [Thou] seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, has reported Amos to the king, and now he tells him to go preach in Judah instead. It sounds like advice, but two questions sit underneath: who may speak for God, and what happens when religion serves the state?
The tone is helpful; the aim is not. This is the second move in a campaign that began with his report to the king.
The priest Amaziah tries to stir up the fears and jealousy of the king against Amos, while he also pretends to counsel Amos for his good. His aim is to get rid of the divine testimony, which he dreaded.
The phrase about earning his bread is a slur on the prophet's motives. It assumes every religious man works for what he can get.
People looked on Amos as a troubler of the peace of the kingdom. Amaziah the priest of Bethel told him to flee away to the land of Judah, "and eat bread there, and prophesy there," as if God's prophet were nothing more than a man working for pay, like himself.
Amaziah judges Amos by his own trade, and the charge does not stick.
The insinuation was that Amos prophesied for the sake of a living. Amos refutes the false charge, and then announces the doom of the false priest and the doom of his family.
The order to leave was not only about the message. Amos standing at Bethel put the priest's own standing at risk.
Amaziah, priest of the calf at Bethel, warns the king that Amos is prophesying against Israel. He adds a lie: that Amos had foretold the violent death of the king. By this slander Amaziah was trying to be rid of the prophet and to get him sent away to Judah. Amos was competition for him at Bethel, "the king's sanctuary, and ... a temple of the kingdom." God's true witness embarrasses Amaziah, who clings to his usurped priesthood and to his official position.
Amaziah's own words give him away. Bethel has become a royal department, and a royal department decides which sermons are welcome.
It is remarkable how his language betrays him. Religion in Israel was a matter of political arrangements, in spite of their effort to copy the ritual God gave. So here even Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as easily as of the king's court. In the same way, men name their religious groups after their country, after a system they invented, or after a favourite teaching. They never think of a divine source and authority, except as decoration for the structure. It is not there for the heart to submit and obey.
Amaziah names Judah as the place for such preaching. But a religion built by human policy has no room for words it did not order.
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's chapel. A religion arranged by the policy of man, without the fear of God, cannot endure the testimony of truth. Bethel was the house of the kingdom. The priest reports it all to the king. Let the prophet go away to Judah. There Judah was acknowledged, and the truth could be proclaimed. But Bethel was no place for such unwelcome truths. The king was the ruler in all religious matters: man was master. But Jehovah does not give up His own rights.
Amos answers by saying what he was before God called him. He was a herdsman, with no training and no family standing behind him.
Amos looked for no human backing. He openly confessed who and what he was when God summoned and commissioned him to prophesy. He had never trained in the school of the prophets, and until then he had enjoyed no other natural advantages. He could boast of no learning gained among men. Birth and property had done nothing for him. His claim to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
The scene carries forward. A place may still be called the house of God and still be a place where God's word is unwelcome; the name settles nothing.
We cannot be subject to your golden calves, nor worship them, though you may call it Bethel, and though it may be set up where the pilgrim of God once was with his staff in his hand and God as the portion of his inheritance — a wanderer for the sake of the inheritance and the promise; yes, even though it be the king's chapel and the king's court.
- Counsel — Amaziah sounds like he is protecting Amos. He is protecting himself from a testimony he feared.
- Coin — "Eat bread there" judges Amos by the priest's own motive: preaching for a living. Amos refutes the charge, and it falls back on the accuser.
- Competition — Amos at Bethel threatened Amaziah's priesthood and his official position. The report to the king was a way to remove a rival.
- Crown — A sanctuary called the king's is religion run by human policy. Such a system cannot bear the testimony of truth. Yet God does not give up His rights.
- Call — Amos had no school, no family standing, no property behind him. His right to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
But prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, has already reported Amos to the king. Now he bans the prophet from Bethel, and his reason matters as much as the ban: he says the shrine belongs to the king.
The term Amaziah uses for the shrine is not a casual one. Commentators note it is the ordinary Hebrew word for a holy place:
Sanctuary, Amos 7:13, as miqdash is often translated elsewhere.
The name Bethel means "house of God," and that is what had been lost:
From the house of God, Bethel had changed into "the king's chapel," and "the king's court" (Amos 7:13), where the word of God was no longer tolerated.
Older translations read "the king's chapel" and "the king's court" where the ESV has "the king's sanctuary" and "a temple of the kingdom."
Amaziah meant to silence Amos, not to expose himself. One writer notes how the two phrases sit side by side in his sentence:
It is remarkable how his language betrays him. Religion in Israel was a set of political arrangements, despite their effort to imitate God's ritual. So here even Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as naturally as of the king's court. In the same way, people name their religious groups after their country, an invented system of government, or a favourite teaching. No one thinks of a divine source and authority, except as decoration for the structure — not as something the heart submits to and obeys.
When the state arranges worship, a message the state dislikes is out of order. That is the logic behind the ban:
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's chapel. A religion, arranged by the policy of man without the fear of God, cannot endure the testimony of truth. Bethel was the house of the kingdom. The priest reports it all to the king. Let the prophet go away to Judah. There God acknowledged Judah, and the truth could be proclaimed; but this was not the place for such unwelcome truths. The king was the ruler in all religious matters: man was master. But Jehovah does not give up His own rights.
Amaziah had more at stake than the king's shrine:
Amaziah, priest of the calf at Bethel, warns the king that Amos is prophesying against Israel, adding (which was a lie) that he had foretold the violent death of the king. By this slander, Amaziah was trying to get rid of the prophet and have him sent away to Judah. Amos was competing with him at Bethel, "the king's sanctuary, and … the house of the kingdom." (Bethel, "the house of God," had been completely forgotten.) God's true witness embarrasses Amaziah, who clings to the priesthood he seized and to his official position.
The order to leave for Judah carried an assumption about prophets:
...as if God's prophet were nothing more than a man working for money, like himself.
Amos did not argue about Bethel. He answered by saying who he was and who sent him:
Amos looked for no human support, but openly confessed who and what he was, when God summoned and commissioned him to prophesy... He had not grown up in the school of the prophets, and he had enjoyed no other natural advantages. He could boast of no learning acquired among men. Birth or property had done nothing for him. His claim to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
The pattern did not end with Israel's collapse:
Today too, in many countries, believers suffer persecution. They are told what to preach and teach, and what topics they must avoid... Sinful man is quite ready for a religion he can invent and control himself. But he refuses to submit to God's standards.
- Ownership. Amaziah calls Bethel a sanctuary, but he calls it the king's. The state now owns the worship.
- Renaming. "House of God" became the king's chapel and the king's court. Once the name changed, God's word was no longer welcome there.
- Exposure. Amaziah's own words give him away. He speaks of sanctuary and court in one breath, and never thinks of God as the source of authority.
- Motive. Behind the ban stands a priest guarding a position he seized. He wants his rival gone, and he assumes God's prophet works for money, as he does.
- Limit. God does not give up His rights. Amos had no schooling, birth or property to lean on — only the grace that called him. No royal ban could silence that.
And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, had just ordered Amos out of the country: go home to Judah, earn your bread there, and stop preaching. Amos answers the insult here, and he does it by admitting he has no credentials at all.
One writer hears an insult in the order. Amaziah measured the prophet by his own standard:
Amos was seen as a troublemaker who disturbed the peace of the kingdom. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, warned him to flee away to the land of Judah, and to eat bread there and prophesy there. He spoke as if God's prophet were nothing more than a hired man like himself.
The place explains the hostility. Amos was preaching at the king's own shrine:
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's chapel. A religion arranged by the policy of man without the fear of God cannot endure the testimony of truth.
Amos gives up every advantage a man might lean on. A "prophet's son" belonged to the trained circle of prophets, and Amos had no place in it:
Amos sought no arm of flesh, but openly confessed who and what he was, when God summoned and commissioned him to prophesy. "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs." He had not been brought up in the school of the prophets. Up to then he had enjoyed no other natural advantages either. He could boast of no learning gained among men. Birth or property had done nothing for him. His claim to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
God keeps His own rights over the men He sends. Two things did not make Amos a prophet: other people's approval, and his own wish to speak:
The king was the ruler in all religious matters: man was master. But the LORD does not give up His own rights. Amos was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. He had not this office from man, nor from the desire of his own heart. The LORD, in His sovereign will, had appointed him, and his word was the word of the LORD.
The past tense matters. Amos says what he used to be, not what he refused to become. One writer sets his words beside words spoken later in the book of Zechariah:
Christ stood there in His own person before Zechariah. He spoke and said, "I am no prophet." He did not say, as Amos did, "I was no prophet," but I became one (Amos 7:14-15). He said, "I am no prophet." This means that He was acting here in an entirely different character.
Both jobs he names are real trades. The sycamore was a common fruit tree of the region:
The sycamore is a tree large enough for a man to rest in its branches, as Zacchaeus did (Luke 19:4). It was plentiful in Palestine.
That background did not vanish when God called him — it shaped the book he wrote:
The prophet's account of himself and of his peasant life has a charming simplicity. His images and pictures are drawn from nature and animal life, which he knew so well, and they are beautiful and very striking. The native eloquence of the shepherd of Tekoa marks the book throughout.
Amos stands in a line of men taken from ordinary work. One writer traces his call back to the Holy Spirit's own choice:
Amos was not dependent upon a school of prophets, but directly upon God, nor was he of the priestly family... The Holy Spirit had chosen Amos from among the shepherds of Tekoa (Amos 1:1), taking him from the sheep. He had chosen David, His anointed, in the same way before. The LORD had said to him, "Go," and he had gone. We have in Amos an example of the ministry that is attached directly to that of Christ.
The same pattern runs through the rest of Scripture:
God chooses men for the ministry from every class of society and every walk of life. He does this to reach all classes of people. He takes them with just what they have of learning and experience, and by His Spirit and His Word He does the rest... Gideon was called from his threshing of wheat to the work of God. David is taken from the sheepfolds, Elisha from behind the plough.
- The sneer. Amaziah told Amos to go earn his bread elsewhere, treating God's prophet as a hired man like himself.
- The denial. Amos had no training in a prophets' school, no prophetic family, no learning, no property — nothing men could point to.
- The call. He had the office neither from man nor from his own ambition; God appointed him, so his word was God's word.
- The trade. He stayed the herdsman and fruit-gatherer of Tekoa. Country images fill his book from start to finish.
- The pattern. God takes men from sheepfolds, threshing floors and ploughs. He uses what they already have, and supplies the rest by His Spirit and His Word.
And Jehovah took me as I followed the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
Amos stands at Bethel, the religious centre of the northern kingdom. The priest there, Amaziah, has just told him to go home to Judah and earn his bread. Amos does not defend his qualifications. He answers by telling who took him from his sheep and sent him.
Amaziah told Amos to go and earn his living elsewhere. His words showed what he took the prophet to be.
People saw Amos as a troublemaker who disturbed the peace of the kingdom. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, told him to flee away to the land of Judah and "eat bread there, and prophesy there" — as if God's prophet were nothing more than a hired man working for pay, like himself.
Another writer names the charge:
The insinuation was that Amos prophesied for the sake of a living.
Amos answers by naming the One who put him in this work.
Amos was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. He had not this function from man, nor from the desire of his own heart. Jehovah, in His sovereign will, had appointed him, and his word was the word of Jehovah.
Amos names what he did not have rather than hiding it.
Amos sought no help from man. He openly confessed who and what he was, when God summoned and commissioned him to prophesy… He had not been trained in the school of the prophets, and up to then he had enjoyed no other natural advantages. He could boast of no learning acquired among men. Birth or property had done nothing for him. His claim to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
Amos had no title and no institution behind him. God's choice of him followed a pattern He had used before.
Amos did not depend on a school of prophets. He depended on God Himself. He did not come from the priestly family either… The Holy Spirit had chosen Amos from among the shepherds of Tekoa (Amos 1:1), from being among the sheep, just as He had earlier chosen David, His anointed. The Lord had said to him, "Go," and he had gone. In Amos we see a ministry joined directly to the ministry of Christ. It gives an early taste of what all Christian ministry would later be — or rather, ought to be.
Amos is not an exception. God lifts other men out of ordinary work and sends them with what they already have.
God chooses men for the ministry from all classes of society and from all walks of life to reach all classes of people. He takes them with just the learning and experience they have. By His Spirit and His Word He does the rest… God called Gideon from threshing wheat to His own work. David is taken from the sheepfolds, Elisha from behind the plough, and Ezra from the scrolls of the law of Moses. Saul of Tarsus is taken from his great learning and high place in Judaism to the feet of Jesus.
The call came with a destination. A man from Judah in the south had to preach in Israel in the north.
He was just a humble peasant. He was busy at his own work, and he was not a prophet or the son of a prophet. Then the Lord suddenly called him to leave his work and said to him, "Go, prophesy to My people Israel"… It was strange that a prophet should come out of Judah to prophesy to Israel. It probably drew wide attention, for such a thing had never happened before or after.
- Taken. Amos claims no office, no training and no family line — the Lord took him, and that alone is his answer to Amaziah.
- Grace, not credentials. He had no schooling among the prophets, no birth, no property; his right to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
- From the flock. God found him among sheep, as He once found David. Ministry that starts there shows what Christian service ought to be.
- Sent. The Lord said "Go," and he went — to Bethel in the north, across the border from his own country.
- Answered. The paid priest assumed Amos preached for bread. The Lord who took him is the whole answer to that charge.
And now hear thou the word of Jehovah Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and utter not [words] against the house of Isaac.
Amaziah the priest has just ordered Amos out of Bethel. Here the prophet quotes that order back to him, and the question is whether any man in religious office can silence God's messenger.
Amaziah's own words give him away. William Kelly listens to the phrase he had just used for Bethel, "the king's sanctuary":
It is remarkable how his language betrays him. Religion in Israel was a political arrangement, despite their effort to copy the ritual God gave. So here Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as naturally as of the king's court. In just the same way, men name their religious groups after their country, after an invented system, or after a favourite doctrine. No one gives a thought to a divine source and authority, except to decorate the structure with it — never for the heart to submit and obey.
Why could Bethel not bear this message? J. N. Darby points to the kind of religion it housed:
A prophecy like this was out of place in the king's sanctuary. A religion arranged by the policy of man, without the fear of God, cannot endure the testimony of truth. Bethel was the house of the kingdom. The priest reports it all to the king. Let the prophet go away to Judah. There God still acknowledged Judah, and he could proclaim the truth; but this was not the place for such unwelcome truths. The king was the ruler in all religious matters: man was master. But Jehovah does not give up His own rights.
Where did Amos get the right to speak? Kelly lists everything he did not have:
Amos looked for no human support, but openly confessed who and what he was when God summoned and commissioned him to prophesy. He had not grown up in the school of the prophets, and until then he had enjoyed no other natural advantages. He could boast of no learning gained among men. Birth or property had done nothing for him. His claim to speak was the fruit of divine grace.
So where did his message come from? J. N. Darby answers in one line:
Jehovah, in His sovereign will, had appointed him, and his word was the word of Jehovah.
The ban names the nation twice — Israel, and "the house of Isaac". One study of Bible names gives the meaning of Isaac, listing this verse among its references:
Isaac — He will laugh (in mockery)
Amaziah wanted the trouble to stop. The effect of his intervention, Kelly observes, was the exact opposite:
The command of the king and the intervention of the priest would in no way hold back the punishment of their iniquity. Instead they would speed it up and increase it.
H. L. Rossier sees the judgment reaching past one priest to a whole class of men:
A terrible judgment must fall on these official men, in the service of the world and of its false gods, whom they call by the name of the Lord. As for Israel, the people must certainly be carried away captive. From now on there would be no more repentance in God's heart concerning them. The time had come; it was too late.
Kelly states the rule that Bethel illustrates:
A godly testimony that spares nothing cuts across the course of this world, and the government always finds it troublesome.
Eugene P. Vedder Jr. brings the same demand into the present day:
Today too, in many countries believers are persecuted. They are told what they are to preach and teach, and what topics they must avoid. In some places people are even trying to have the Bible classified as hate literature. They object to its uncompromising presentation of God's holy standards and its stern denunciation of sins. Sinful man is quite ready for a religion that he himself can devise and control. But he refuses to submit to God's standards.
- Word given. Amos had no training, no family standing, no property and no patron. His right to speak was a gift of grace, so no priest could cancel it.
- Word forbidden. Amaziah's own phrase, "the king's sanctuary", exposed a religion run as state policy. Such a system cannot bear a truth it did not order.
- Word unbroken. God does not give up His rights when man declares himself master of religious matters.
- Word resisted. Priest and king together could not hold the punishment back at all. Their interference sped it up and made it heavier.
- Word repeated. The demand to preach only what authority approves did not die at Bethel. Man still wants a religion he can design and control.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided with the line; and thou shalt die in a land that is unclean; and Israel shall certainly go into captivity, out of his land.
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, has just ordered Amos out of the country and told him to prophesy back home in Judah. This verse is the prophet's reply: a sentence on the man who tried to silence him, reaching his wife, his children, his land and his own death.
God's answer takes the doom of the whole nation and aims it at one household.
Israel's doom is repeated here. And Amaziah's arrogant opposition meets a humiliation that is special and personal to him.
Amos did not back down:
The priest tried to frighten the prophet and drive him away. But Amos was a man of courage. He boldly resisted the priest and announced the fate of the priest and his family.
The priest had a position to protect, and God's true messenger threatened it.
With this lie Amaziah wanted to get rid of the prophet and have him sent away to Judah. Amos was competing with him at Bethel, "the king's sanctuary, and … a temple of the kingdom." (Bethel, "the house of God," had been completely forgotten.) A true witness from God embarrasses Amaziah. He clings to a priesthood he seized and to his official position.
The advice he gave Amos shows what he thought a prophet was:
People saw Amos as a troublemaker who disturbed the peace of the kingdom. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, warned him to flee to the land of Judah and "eat bread there, and prophesy there" — as if God's prophet were nothing more than a hired man like himself.
Amaziah's own words gave him away:
Religion in Israel was a political arrangement, despite their effort to copy God's ritual. So here even Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as easily as he speaks of the king's court. In the same way, men name their religious groups after their country, an invented system, or a favourite doctrine. They never think of a divine source and authority, except as decoration for the structure. It is not there for the heart to submit and obey.
Such a religion has no room for a message it did not order. But it does not bind God:
A religion arranged by man's policy, without the fear of God, cannot bear the testimony of truth… The king ruled in all religious matters. Man was master. But the Lord does not give up His own rights. Amos was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet. He did not receive this work from man, nor from any wish of his own. The Lord, in His sovereign will, had appointed him, and his word was the word of the Lord. The priest opposed that word. He would suffer the consequences of his rashness, and Israel would surely go into captivity.
The verse ends by repeating Israel's captivity. Opposition did not postpone it:
The king's command and the priest's interference would not delay the punishment of their sin. They would only speed it up and increase it.
The sentence falls on the men in office as well as on the nation:
A terrible judgment must fall on these official men. They serve the world and its false gods, and they give those false gods the name of the Lord. As for Israel, they must certainly be carried away captive. From now on God's heart would not relent towards them again. The time had come; it was too late.
One writer draws the line straight from Bethel to the present:
Today too, in many countries, believers are persecuted. They are told what they may preach and teach, and what topics they must avoid… Sinful man is quite ready for a religion he can invent and control himself. But he refuses to submit to God's standards.
- Position. Amaziah clung to his priesthood and his official standing at Bethel. A true messenger from God threatened both.
- Slander. To protect it he accused Amos to the king. He told him to go and earn his bread prophesying elsewhere, as if God's prophet were a hired man.
- Ownership. Bethel had become the king's sanctuary, named as easily as the king's court. But the Lord does not give up His rights over what men take for themselves.
- Sentence. The doom Amaziah tried to silence fell on his own wife, children, land and life. His arrogant opposition met a humiliation aimed straight at him.
- Outcome. The king's command and the priest's interference did not delay Israel's captivity. They only sped up the punishment and made it greater.