Title Amaziah and Amos (Amos 7:10-17)
Content In order for a leader to lead a community successfully, his/her individual ability must be excellent, but it is also very important to know what kind of staff members help him by the side. A person who has many good advisers is said to be “a person of great virtue”, and Jeroboam II, who is the background of the Amos Bible, was a man without virtue.
Amaziah, who appears in today's text, was Jeroboam II's closest confidant. The Bible speaks of him as 'the priest of Bethel', but he was not a Levitical priest, but a priest appointed by the king at his own discretion. But in any case, if he was given the office of a priest, he had to be faithful to his duties as a priest. He advised the people of Israel and King Jeroboam to abide in the Word of God, and if he had committed a sin, he had to play the role of atonement for that sin through burnt offerings and sin offerings. It was his duty to point out his faults and advise him to return to God and conduct right government for the people when the king did not practice justice and was engaged in atrocities and oppression.
However, Amaziah did not carry out such a mission at all. Rather, he lived a life that took advantage of the power of the state and pursued only his own interests. His identity and position were only means of making a living.
To him, the proclamation of the words of Prophet Amos was very offensive. Thinking that his position and power could be destroyed in one day, he urged Amos to quit the job immediately and return to his country (Judah). (Verse 12)
The prophet Amos was not originally a prophet.
He was a shepherd of sheep and a farmer of mulberry trees.
One day, God told him to leave Judah and go to Israel to preach the word of God there. He obeyed the word and gave up everything and lived a life faithful to the new mission God had entrusted to him.
So he continues to fulfill his mission by telling Prophet Amaziah that he has received a word from God and can never give up on it.
Amaziah and Amos!
Although two people with similar names, their lives are starkly contrasted.
Amaziah was a person who used her power and position to live a life that only pursued her own success and her own interests.
On the other hand, Amos was a humble person, but when God entrusted him with a new mission, he gave up on his own to fulfill that mission and lived for God's work and for the benefit of others (the people of Israel).
What kind of life do we live today?
What kind of life should I live?
A single word from Amaziah to Amos makes me reflect on my own life.
"Flee to the land of Judah, and go, eat bread there, and prophesy there..."
Amaziah only thought of the preaching of the word that Amos was doing as "a means of eating bread."
The moment this work of proclaiming God's word, preaching the gospel, and doing God's work turns into a means of earning a living, I have no choice but to become like Amaziah. But sometimes, whenever material difficulties and financial pressures come, I have to confess that I have become an Amaziah.
I thank God for letting me see my shameful self this morning. This morning, we repent of our shameful life and decide to live a life like Amos once again.
Dear all!
Is this just for pastors and missionaries?
It's not like that.
God did not give you a job or a business to solve only the problem of making a living through it.
There is clearly a mission that God has entrusted to you through that work.
If it does not become an instrument for God's work (evangelism) and the benefit of others, but only as an economic means, we become people like Amaziah at that moment.
Amaziah and Amos!
As I meditate on the lives of these two people, I hope that you and I will be able to practice the realization that God has given us in our daily lives as we reflect on what we are living for and what kind of life we should live today.