Can we picture Amos standing in some frequented spot speaking thus to a scoffing crowd? What do they answer? "Only one of those mad prophet fellows"; "We have the true prophets of Jehovah with us"; "He is only wanting money"; and again, "What he says is treason, he should be done away with." Perhaps some devout soul might even shake his head in pity for the man possessed of such a crazy notion as that Jehovah was angry with his people, upon whom he was showering such evidences of his approval. We have, in the account which follows, no intimation of sympathy with the bold prophet under the arrest and the taunting accusations which resulted. We know only that Amos continued to reiterate his threats, picturing in even more personal terms the calamities which war was to bring upon his pursuers. He tells the story as follows: And sent Amaziah,2 the priest of Bethel, In the midst of the house of Israel; 5 The land is not able To contain all his words. "For thus has Amos said: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, And Israel shall surely go captive from his land." IO And Amaziah said unto Amos: "O thou seer! Go flee thee to the land of Judah; For it is the king's sanctuary, 15 It is the royal residence." I Amos 7: 10-12, 14-17. 2 *Amaziah: perhaps the chief among the priests at Bethel. Amos' act would be considered as conspiracy, because in denouncing the king he might simply be trying to gain sympathy in a conspiracy against the king. 3*Thou seer: Note the old name for the prophet, used of Samuel in the story of the search for Saul's lost asses. It will be remembered that for his services the seer received payment. Amaziah scornfully commands Amos to return to his own land where he can get money for his prophecies with which to support himself. And Amos answered and said to Amaziah; "I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet's son; 20 And Jehovah said unto me: Go, prophesy against my people, Israel. "Now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah: 25 "Therefore thus hath Jehovah said: Thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword; 30 And Israel shall surely go captive from his land.” Jehovah the God of the Nations Amos, expelled from the northern sanctuary and from northern Israel, was not without resources. His burning conviction of impending judgment had not lessened, and he was not silenced. We have no records of further visits to the north, but doubtless there were many, when the prophet would be eyed askance by people who had heard of his strange words. For it must be borne in mind that the memory of the truth of the messages of Elijah and Elisha and of other prophets of calamities already experienced had given to the people a superstitious fear of the prophets. Yet this man Amos, according to his own story, was not one of the accredited number. He had not been trained among the prophets; he seemed to the people a mere imitator seeking for notoriety. But in those days as now the pen was mightier than the sword. I *Amos disclaims any official relation to the order of prophets. He had not been educated under them, nor was he the son of one who had been so educated. His calling is simply that of conviction. 2 The last strophe is a vivid picture of the conditions in a city falling into the hands of a foreign army. zens. 3 *Divided by line: measured off with new boundaries to accommodate new citi 4 *Unclean soil: Palestine was the sacred ground in which every Hebrew desired to be buried. The soil of all other lands was unclean-in other words, unconsecrated. Amos still pondered and then he wrote, and a portion of that which he wrote has come down to us in his book. His later messages were simple interpretations of facts, but they show to us a knowledge of the working of Jehovah in human life far in advance of that of his predecessors among the prophets. To Amos in the quiet stretches of his pastures, the activities of Jehovah, "Jehovah of Hosts" as he called him, were not confined to Palestine. His was a might which controlled all nations at his will. To Israel had been given special care and favor, and from Israel was expected a spiritual understanding which the other nations with their characterless gods might not possess. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth, Israel's failure was complete. The arraignment of the surrounding nations12 which follows is full of the new conception of Jehovah. It must also be noted that the sins for which the nations are to be punished are all breaches of some fundamental moral law, a law set for them as well as for Israel, by Jehovah the God of nations— a universal moral law. I Judgment upon Syria3 Thus hath Jehovah said: "For three transgressions of Damascus,4 Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they have threshed with threshing instruments of iron 5 5 Gilead."6 I Amos 1:3-7, 8c, a, b, d, 13-15. 2 * Locate on the map the nations Syria, Philistia, Ammon, Moab, and see how they surround Israel. 3 *Judgment upon Syria: Note the repetition of the phrase, "For three transgressions, yea, for four," indicating the fulness of the rebellious spirit which had characterized the actions of the nations indicated. 4 *Damascus: the capital city of Syria. 5 *Threshing instruments of iron: To appreciate this figure, we must recall the method of threshing in Palestine, the grain being trodden out on a threshing-floor by oxen, in this case represented as shod with instruments of iron, or treading the threshing sledge with its iron fingers underneath. 6 *Gilead: a section of Eastern Palestine (see map). I "And I will send a fire in the house of Hazael,' And it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad; "And I will cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven,3 IO And the scepter-holder from Beth-Eden;4 And the people of Aram5 shall go into captivity to Kir.' II Judgment upon Philistia Thus hath Jehovah said: "For three transgressions of Gaza,7 15 Because they carried whole peoples into captivity, To sell them as slaves to Edom." "And I will send a fire in the wall of Gaza, .998 And I will turn my hand against Ekron;" 20 "And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And the scepter-holder from Askelon, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish." III Judgment upon Ammon Thus hath Jehovah said: "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, 25 Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; 996 Because they have treated inhumanly the women of Gilead, *Hazael, Benhadad: refer to families or dynasties founded by these men in Syria. 2 *Bars of Damascus: the gates which closed the walls of all ancient cities. 3 *Aven: an allusion to a form of worship of the sun practiced in Syria and centered at magnificent temples. 4 *Beth Eden: cannot be located positively. An ancient city. 5 *Aram: the name for the whole region in which Damascus was situated. 6 *Kir: supposed to have been the original home of the Syrians. 7 *Gaza: the principal city of Philistia, commanding the route between Egypt and Syria-a center of slave traffic. The accusation of the prophet is evidently that of the inhumanity of Gaza in appropriating whole populations for the purpose of securing slaves for sale to the surrounding countries. 8 *Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon: all cities of Philistia. "But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,' 30 With shouting in the day of battle, "And their king shall go into exile, IV Judgment upon Moab2, 3 Thus hath Jehovah said: 35 "For three transgressions of Moab, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they burned the bones of the king of Edom,4 "But I will send a fire in Moab, 40 And it shall devour the palaces of Keryyoth,5 "I will cut off the judge from the midst of her, V Judgment upon Israel" 45 Thus hath Jehovah said: "For three transgressions of Israel, 1*Rabbah: the capital of the Ammonites. 2 Amos 2: 1, 2c, a, b, d, 3, 6, 8, 7, 10, 11α, 12, 11b. 3 The Moabites were related to the Hebrews in blood and language, differing only in dialect. Their country was wealthy but was subdued by David and again by Omri, revolting under his son, Ahab. 4*Burned the bones of the king of Edom: a violation of the sanctity of the tombs of the kings. In ancient times the tomb was regarded with great reverence, and such an indignity was not to be forgiven. We have no record of this particular act in the history of the Hebrews. 5 *Keryyoth: probably a representative city of Moab, if not the capital. 6 Note the skill of the prophet in drawing the attention and sympathy of Israel to his denunciations of their enemies. How much more effective is his judgment of Israel following as a climax upon the preceding judgments, saying in effect, "I will bring punishment upon these foreign lands who had not my message and knew not my will, because their sins were such as any right-minded person would condemn"; |