The prophet Amos said that the sword would come against the house of Jeroboam II, the king of Israel, and Israel would be led into captivity (Amos 7:11). At this message, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, said to Amos, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court” (Amos 7:12, 13). Years prior, Bethel had become the center of innovative worship under rule of the former Jeroboam (Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat) to fit the king of Israel’s agenda and offer convenience for the people (1 Kings 12:25-33). Jeroboam II, like the other kings of Israel, did not depart from this sinful precedent (2 Kings 14:23, 24).
Prophets were covenant enforcers for Israel, calling the people to be faithful to the covenant of the Lord delivered through Moses. Amaziah had the wrong idea of the function of a prophet. He thought a prophet was to always bring news people wanted to hear. If a prophet brought news that was hard to swallow, Amaziah’s solution was not to respond to the message in repentance, but to remove the prophet so the hard message would no longer be heard. Amos 2:12 tells us that the people in those days, “commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.” Isaiah describes them by stating, “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isa. 30:9, 10).
Amaziah said to Amos, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there” (Amos 7:12). Often kings had their own prophets on their payroll. They would hire men to be prophets for them by providing their daily necessities, such as food. For example, false prophets ate at Jezebel’s table (1 Kings 18:19). If a prophet were being thus cared for by the king and queen, it is no surprise that prophets would often tell the king whatever he wanted to hear whether true or false. This is what Ahab’s prophets did to him; 400 of them told him to go to war because they knew that was what the king wanted to do (1 Kings 22:6). However, Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, prophesied the true message of the Lord and suffered for it (1 Kings 22:7-28). Thus, Amaziah was telling Amos to go to Judah and make a living by prophesying there. Amaziah thought Judah would be more receptive to Amos’ message. He appealed to Amos to just worry about taking care of himself and his own physical needs.
Amos, on the other hand, had the correct view of a prophet’s duty. He replied to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos 7:14, 15). Amos understood that prophesying was not just a way to make money. Amos kept a flock of sheep and gathered figs for a living. His prophesying was not to make money but because the Lord had charged him to do so. Amos knew God had a message that needed to be delivered. Amos lived in fear of God, saying, “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8). It was not about pleasing men, but God (cf. Gal. 1:10). God’s message was a warning of punishment to His people, saying, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2). Just as Ezekiel 33 tells of the watchman who was to give the people warning of an approaching enemy, so the prophet was to warn them of the threat of judgment by the word of the Lord.
Nowadays, some preachers are concerned primarily with making money and pleasing people. The biggest crowds and salaries are what they seek. They approach preaching as a means to these ends. They have the same false view that Amaziah did. The truth is God has a message to deliver, and it must be preached even if it does not please people. Let us support those who preach God’s message without fear or favor. Consider the inspired words Paul had for the younger preacher Timothy:
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry (2 Tim. 4:1-5).
God’s message will not always be welcomed. His faithful messengers must endure afflictions. If all men speak well of you then perhaps you are like the false prophets (Luke 6:26). If the masses don’t flock around you and resistance comes from your attempts to spread God’s word then “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt. 5:12).
–Mark Day