(1)his Call

by HYLAND, D. T. | Category: The Herdsman Of Tekoa | Jan 2006

The unity of Israel under the monarchy was short-lived. In an act of divine judgement, the nation was split into two kingdoms, north and south. The northern kingdom comprised ten tribes; the southern kingdom was composed of Judah and Benjamin. To both kingdoms God sent His servants the prophets to plead with the people to return to Him and re-dedicate themselves to the terms of the covenant entered into at Sinai.

After the division, Jeroboam became king of the northern tribes. He decided that his subjects must be prevented from going up to Jerusalem to worship, lest they transfer their allegiance to Rehoboam king of Judah. Shrines were established and golden calves set up in Dan and Bethel. These two shrines became stumbling-blocks to the northern kingdom for centuries. A false priesthood was set up and a ritual purporting to serve in place of the festivals of the Lord was established. Everything was based on expediency; principles of divine worship were compromised.

The false shrine at Bethel was still operative almost 200 years after the death of Jeroboam I, when Jeroboam II came to the throne of the northern kingdom. During the reign of Jeroboam II there was commercial prosperity. Samaria, the capital, became the meeting-place of merchants who travelled between Egypt and Mesopotamia. The merchants became prosperous but the poor were oppressed and downtrodden. Material prosperity was accompanied by moral and spiritual decline.

Amos was chosen by God to challenge the northern kingdom of Israel and to bring them to an awareness of their responsibilities to Him. Amos was a southerner, a sheepbreeder who came from the village of Tekoa where the grazing was not lush pasture but scrubland, so that he eked out a living by tending sycamore trees. Amos was a humble man. He was the kind of person God could use because he trembled at the Word of God. He would not have chosen this task for himself, �"I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet"� (Amos 7:14). Amos was knowledgeable about current affairs and aware of what was going on in the countries of the Middle East. He lived close to his God in the Tekoan desert. When the call of God came he immediately responded. This was in contrast to his contemporary, Jonah, who, when the call of God came, at first tried to run away.

A daunting task

God, who had communed with Amos in the Tekoan desert, had a message for His rebellious people in the north. Amos was to leave his flock in the care of someone in the south to go and proclaim God�s message to the people of the northern kingdom. It was a daunting task. Despite his feelings of unworthiness, Amos set off to be God�s spokesman, �"The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?"� (Amos 3:8). The call was to speak God�s message in Bethel, one of the centres of idol worship. What Amos saw in Bethel filled him with revulsion. He saw the evidence of the spiritual and moral decadence of the people. Wherever he looked he saw the results of backsliding, yet no one seemed to care. Amos began to speak at Bethel, prefacing the message with, �Thus says the LORD�. Amos paved the way for the message to the northern kingdom by pronouncing the judgement of God upon six surrounding nations who had been guilty of gross inhumanity.

Judah indicted

After pronouncing God�s judgement on these nations, there was a message for the kingdom of Judah. What had the people of Judah been guilty of? �"They have despised the law of the LORD"�. What an indictment! It is a principle of God�s dealings with men and women that greater light brings increased accountability. �"Their lies lead them astray"� (Amos 2:4). The Hebrew word here translated lies is used figuratively of idols. It would require the refining fire of the Babylonian captivity to bring home to them the seriousness of idolatry. A subsequent article will deal with his message to the northern kingdom.

HYLAND, D. T. | Jan 2006
The Herdsman Of Tekoa