Amos 7:10-13 - Get out, you seer!

Apologies! This one and last Friday's Amos post should have been the other way around.

7:10,11

We now get the reaction of the state. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, accused Amos before the king, Jeroboam. Amos was accused of being against the state. This is similar in some ways to the accusations made against Jesus. It was Amos’ prophecies against Bethel and in Bethel that produced this strong reaction. We need to to know that when the heart of a regime is attacked, it will often not respond with repentance, but instead react with anger and even violence. The accusation “Jeroboam shall die by the sword”, is not exactly the same as 7:9, where Amos said “the house of Jeroboam with the sword”. However, there was a close identity between the king and the country, so this is probably not significant, especially when Amos has said Israel will go into exile.

7:12,13

So Amaziah tells Amos to leave the country, to go back to Judah where he belongs. People often do not want to hear the word of God. we would rather continue in our own ways, even if those ways are leading to death. We need to understand too that it is not just a matter that “our ways” will have bad consequences, but that they will receive the active judgement of God. The word translated “O seer” may well be a term that was used specifically to refer to “morality prophets” in Judah. Amos definitely was a “morality prophet”, the heart of his message being to highlight the sins of Israel. He is told to go and work and earn his living back where he belongs, and not to trouble the nation of Israel with his messages again, but to leave them in peace. People, especially the powerful, do not want to hear the truth.