there was no validity to Amos's message; he only been through tough times (see Acts 18:9–11;
Amos 7—8 a prophet but as a herdsman and a tender of sycamore trees. He didn't make himself a prophet, nor was he a "son of the prophets," that is, a student in one of the prophetic schools (1 Kings 2:35; 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15). God had called him, and he obeyed the call.
Jeremiah, he did not pray for the people (Jer. 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). Struggling with the authorities (vv. 10–17). Israel's main sanctuary was at Bethel; it was the king's chapel. God had told Amos that the sanctuary would be destroyed and that King Jeroboam II would be slain. This wasn't an easy message to proclaim, for Amos was attacking both the government and the religion of the nation. Yet he faithfully went to Bethel and preached the Word. Four different messages were involved in this event.
Amos then proclaimed the Word of the Lord to Amaziah and informed him of the judgment that God would send on him and his family. Amaziah would lose all his property, go into exile, and die far from his native land. The Assyrian soldiers would slay his sons. His wife would be left destitute and would become a prostitute. The nation of Israel would go into exile and be no more. It would be quite a change from serving as the king's chief religious leader at Bethel!
The first message was Amaziah's report to the king (vv. 10–11). Since the king had appointed Amaziah, he had an obligation to tell the king what the farmer preacher was saying to the people. The king didn't bother to go hear Amos himself, although it would have done him good to listen and obey. Jeroboam was very comfortable and complacent and wasn't about to have some visiting farmer tell him what to do.
Amaziah had position, wealth, authority, and reputation, but Amos had the word of the Lord. Amaziah served the king of Israel and depended on him for support, but Amos served the King of Kings and had no fear of what men could do to him. Many times in the history of the church, God has called humble instruments like Amos to declare His Word; and we had better be prepared to listen and obey. It's not the approval of the "religious establishment" that counts, but the calling and blessing of the Lord.
The second message was Amaziah's message to Amos (vv. 12–13). Of course, Jeroboam II didn't want to hear that his chapel and shrines would be destroyed, that he would die, and that the Assyrians would exile his people. Such a pessimistic message had to be silenced. Thus the king told his priest to tell Amos to go home where he belonged.
The Prophet Declares (8:1–14) After his painful encounter with Amaziah, Amos received further messages from the Lord; for it's just like the Master to encourage His servants after they've been through tough times (see Acts 18:9–11; 27:21–26; 2 Tim. 4:16). The end is coming (vv. 1–3). God often used common objects to teach important spiritual truths, objects like pottery (Jer. 18–19), seed (Luke 8:11), yeast (Matt. 16:6, 11), and in this text, a basket of summer (ripe) fruit. Just as this fruit was ripe for eating, the nation of Israel was ripe for judgment. The Hebrew word translated "summer" or "ripe" in verse 1 (qayis) is similar to the word translated "end" in verse 2 (qes). It was the end of the harvest for the farmers, and it would be the end for Israel when the harvest judgment came (see Jer. 1:11–12 for a similar lesson). "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jer. 8:20).
Amaziah's words to Amos reveal the wicked attitudes in the priest's heart. He called Amos a "seer," which in this case means a "visionary." He claimed that there was no validity to Amos's message; he only dreamed it up. Then the priest suggested that Amos was also a coward, who would run away if the king began to deal with him. He hinted that Amos was interested only in earning bread. Finally, Amaziah told Amos to get out and stay out because the king's chapel was for the elite, and he was a prophet. It was a bitter speech that might have cut the prophet deeply.
Historical interlude: Amos at Bethel— 7:10–17 4. The basket of summer fruit—8:1–14
It's not unusual to find conflicts between priests and prophets in the Old Testament. (Of course, Amaziah was a false priest and not a true servant of God.) Actually, both prophets and priests were needed in the land, because the priests "conserved" the ancient religious traditions, while the prophets applied the Word to the present situation and called people back to God. There were false prophets, who taught lies and sometimes worked with the priests to maintain the status quo, and the true prophets, who had to oppose both priests and false prophets. In Israel, there were false priests who had no valid connection with the Levitical priesthood (see Isa. 1:12–15; Jer. 7:1–11; Ezek. 34:1ff.; Hos. 4:4–9).
There comes a time when God's longsuffering runs out (Isa. 55:6–7) and judgment is decreed. The songs at the temple2 would become funeral dirges with weeping and wailing, and corpses would be thrown everywhere and not given proper burial. It would be a bitter harvest for Israel as the nation reaped what it sowed. People would be so overwhelmed that they would be unable to discuss the tragedy. Silence would reign in the land.
Now we listen to the prophet's message to the priest (Amos 7:14–16). First, Amos revealed the kind of man he was by not being intimidated or running away. Like Nehemiah, he could say, "Should such a man as I flee?" (Neh. 6:11). To run away would be to agree with all the accusations and insinuations the false priest had made. Then Amos told Amaziah what he was: a prophet called by God. In his native Judah, he did not work as
Why the end is coming (vv. 4–6). The reason was simple: Israel had broken God's law and failed to live by His covenant. The first tablet of the law has to do with our relationship to God and the second tablet with our relationship to others, and Israel had rebelled against both. They did not love God, and they did not love their neighbors (Matt. 22:36–40).