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Jeroboam (2 Ki. 14), and note the ful fillment of this prophecy o f Amos con cerning the rising o f the sword against the house of Jeroboam (2 Ki. IS :10). II. T he A ccusation of A mos (10-13). The accusation came from Amaziah, priest of Bethel (v. 10). He revealed his total lack of understanding o f the Lord’s ways when he became angered by the prophecy uttered by Amos. In fear o f his own position, he complained to the king, advising him o f what Amos said. He thought to arouse the enmity of the king and thus have Amos silenced. His accu sation was made the. more convincing when he told the king that Amos was prophesying the downfall o f the king him self as well as the captivity of the nation (v. 11). Turning from the king, Amaziah ad dressed Amos directly (vs. 12, 13). He advised him to go to Judah, where he could get a position as a prophet and “eat bread.” Amaziah intimated that Amos, by his own choice, had assumed the position o f a prophet, in order to make a good living. The priest then tried to threaten Amos, forbidding him to speak further at Bethel, because it was “ the king’s sanctuary” (R. V .). He had fallen so far from the right way that he could place the king’s sanctuary above the Lord’s dwelling place, and the king’s honor above God’s glory. To Amaziah’s mind, what the king and the people, as well as thè priest, were doing was more correct than any other pre scribed course of action, because it had the sanction of the earthly monarch. Amaziah overlooked the fact that the people be longed to God, and that the priest should be representing them before God. He was also blind to the truth that the king him self reigned only by the grace o f God. , III. T he P rophecy by A mos (14-17). Amos vigorously denied the charge of ulterior motives (vs. 14, 15). He declared that he was a mere herdman and a gather er o f sycamore fruit, and that, while he was attending strictly to that business, with no thought of being a prophet, the Lord’s hand had been laid upon him. The Lord had commanded him to prophesy, taking him from following the flock, and sending him to Israel. In this action there is seen a veiled accusation o f Amaziah and his people—a reproof for being in such a spiritual condition that the Lord had to go to the farm to secure a man bold enough to prophesy truly. Amos declared that the prophecy of coming punishment included not only Israel as a nation, but also Amaziah and his house in particular (vs. 16, 17). A terrific punishment awaited Amaziah be cause o f his stubborn resistance to the Lord’s commands and because of the time serving character o f his priesthood. It is reported that Amaziah was the leading ecclesiastic o f his day, the priest acknowl edged before the king. Therefore, it took a high degree of moral courage for Amos, an unknown herdman, to speak against such a high personage. But Amos, how ever unlearned he might have been in the ways o f officialdom, felt that he stood before the living God. Like some who lived at a later date, the prophet knew that he “must obey God rather than men” (cf Acts 5:29, R. V .). Amos reiterated the prophecy concern ing the doom of Israel, saying, “ Israel shall surely go into captivity” (v. 17). As all students o f history are aware, this proph ecy was literally fulfilled when the As
syrian hosts swept down upon Israel and carried that nation into a captivity from which she has never recovered. It was not because Assyria was stronger than Israel that that nation became Israel’s cap- tors, but because the Lord had raised Assyria up for this very purpose, in ful fillment of His Word. Points and Problems 1. Amos is rightly called a “prophet of social justice,” as suggested in the title of this week’s lesson. He had been called to thunder against the social injustices of Israel which had become a stench in the nostrils of God. The rich had sold the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair o f shoes (Amos 2:6 ). They trampled upon the poor, and took from him burdens of wheat, in order that they might build houses o f hewn stone (5:11). They lay upon beds of ivory, and indolently stretch ed themselves upon their couches; ate the lambs out of the flock, and drank wine from bowls (6:4-6). Because o f bribery and corruption, it was impossible for the poor man to obtain j ustice in the courts. So bad had conditions become that men dared not utter a protest, and prudent men kept silence (5:12, 13). And Amos was called from his herds to denounce the oppressors. 2. But Amos was not sent merely to rebuke social injustices. He also thun dered against false religion. Social sins, after all, are only a symptom of a deeper and more serious, ailment. Religious sin is the spring out of which flows the muddy stream o f social sin. Until man has estab lished right relations with God, his rela tions with his fellow man cannot'be right. The first and great commandment, accord ing to our Lord, is to love God with our whole being. ^The second is to love our neighbor. This is the divine order. There-" fore we find Amos denouncing the religion of Israel, as well as their social wrongrs (cf. 5:21-23). 3. To understand the background of false religion in the northern kingdom, we should read 1 Kings 12:25-33 and 13: 33, 34. The first Jeroboam, an astute politician, had argued that if his people went up to the central sanctuary in Jeru salem, ,the two kingdoms might be re united. Therefore he set up a worship of his own at Bethel and Dan, and conse crated an unlawful order of priests who presided over the idolatrous rites of the new religion. The Amaziah o f Amos 7:10 was one o f these false priests. Golden Text Illustration An Italian was arrested in Boston as soon as he arrived in the city. The alert police suspected him of being a murderer very much wanted in Pennsylvania. The telegraphed description of the fugitive fit ted the Italian perfectly. He even had a scar on just the right part o f his chest. It was considered a sure find. But by mail came the Bertillon measure ments, and behold 1 The scar was found to be an inch out o f the way. So carefully are these .measurements made that immedi ately it was known that the Italian could not be the right man, and he was released, let us hope with something more substan tial than apologies. He came within an inch o f the electric chair. In the old days, the exact tally of man and descriptions might well have killed the poor fellow. Doubtless many an in nocent man has been condemned on evi dence no stronger. It is well that human justice is becoming more painstaking and
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___ FILL OUT ■ - ■ MAIL TODAY Correspondence School Bible Institute o f Ï-. A ., 5 5 0 So. H ope St., Los Angeles, Cal. Please send descriptive bulletin o f Bible courses by mail to: Name....................................... Address...................... exact, but we are still a long, long way from the unfailing justice o f Omniscience. —A Cyclopedia o f Twentieth Century Il lustrations, by A mos R. W ells . , A Hero Preacher A mos 7 :7-15 Memory Verse: “Hate the evil, and love the good” (Amos 5:15). Approach: Our story today is about still another man who lived near Bethlehem. He lived there about three hundred years
after David, ahd he too was a shepherd. Like David, he was a shepherd at first, but God called him to be something else, not a king this time, but a prophet. Lesson Story: As Amos was watching his sheep, he felt a call from God to go up into the kingdom
of Israel and warn the people o f the pun ishment which God was about to send because o f their wickedness. For years God had been trying to get the Israelites to turn from their wicked ways. He had sent a famine; then He sent a drought, next disease to their crops, then a plague, but still the people con tinued to live wickedly and to forget their God. It must have been a hard thing for Amos to do this work for God. He was just a herdman from the country. Would these rich city people listen to him? He probably knew that they would laugh in stead. What would the king think o f him? Anyway, God had told him to go, and he went. Things happened much as he might have expected. Most o f the people did not listen. One man, who should have known better, tried his best to make trouble for Amos. It was Amaziah, the priest. If he had been a true man o f God, he would have joined with Amos in telling his message o f warning to the wicked
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