Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
Comment: At the end of yesterday’s devotion we had the message being spoken about and to the high places of Isaac (presumably all the territory granted to Isaac), the sanctuaries of Israel (now the name of the northern kingdom) and the house of Jeroboam itself (the royal household). Amaziah hearing this. Amaziah speeds to the king repeating the message of Amos seeking to have Amos disciplined and presumably Amaziah’s words to Amos are the king’s response. In summary the message meant for Amos to go to their neighbour’s country, take up residency there and speak your nasties against them. You are not welcome in my country. Obviously the priest and king thought the words were coming from Amos alone without God being involved.
Prayer: Sometimes men do try to speak as if they are ‘God’ – may I not be fooled. But when You speak help me to listen carefully.
As I read it! 