Amos 7:12–16 (ESV),
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” 14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord . . .."
Amaziah is the priest in Israel. He orders Amos to stop preaching a message of doom and destruction and orders him to leave Bethel. Here we see a little of the biography of Amos. I think the point Amos is making is to show Amaziah that this is distinctly a call of God on his life. He can do no other than what God has called him to do. So he went right on preaching. "Amos was not prophesying on his own authority but on God’s authority." [1]
This reminds me of the early Church. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:27–29, ESV)
Matthew Henry adds this insight: "Having been so meanly bred, he could not have the courage to speak to kings and great men, especially to speak such bold and provoking things to them, if he had not been animated by a greater spirit than his own. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint, Isa. 50:7. Note, God often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and a herdman of Tekoa puts to shame a priest of Bethel, when he receives from God authority and ability to act for him." [2] [Emphasis mine]
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1. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1672). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
2, Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1515). Peabody: Hendrickson.
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