Amos 7:14-17 - Neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet

7:14,15

“I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet.” Amos had effectively been told to go and ply his trade elsewhere, as though prophesying was just a job for him, but Amos was not a professional prophet. Rather he was a farmer, with sheep and fig trees. The only reason he was prophesying in Israel was because the Lord had told Him to. So the leaders of Israel were not rejecting Amos, but God.

There is also something to note here about “professional clergy” or pastors. It is good that some people study the Biblical languages, and receive formal theological training, but we do need to recognise that there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that such training is necessary for all, nor that it guarantees success. And experience backs this up. Faith in God and obedience to God are the necessary qualifications. So if you are theologically trained you should not despise someone whom God may use in preaching or evangelism who does not have formal theological training (one would expect them to know the Bible!). Likewise, if you are used by God, but do not have formal training, do not despise those who do have formal qualifications. God will use whoever He will use.

7:16,17

Having dispensed with the silly objections, Amos prophesies again. Their protestations would not end well, for they only invite more judgement from God. So Amos tells them that their wives will become prostitutes (a sign of the land being utterly overrun by the enemy), their children would be killed. The priests themselves would be taken off into exile, as would much of the nation.

“How can a God of love do such a thing?” is a common question. It is not a very helpful question, nor a very sensible one. It is quite clear from numerous parts of the Bible, Old and New Testament, that God is quite prepared to do such a thing. We would be far wiser responding by considering our own ways and repenting. It we who are on trial, not God! It is we who need to change, not God!

For when we say “How can a God of love do such a thing?” what we are in effect doing is saying: God would not do such a thing, therefore what is said is wrong, therefore we can ignore the warnings, therefore we can carry on sinning.

The far more sensible question is “what are we going to do about our sin?”.