Kill the Messenger


Amos 7:10-17
10 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.
11 For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ”
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. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: “ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”

When those inside of the church begin (or continue) to be a mouth piece for the political world, we have fallen on hard times. “Go share your prophecies somewhere else – like Judah.” (My paraphrase.) This is the message Amos is getting from those inside of the established spiritual hierarchy. The priest goes and tells the king that he doesn’t need to listen to Amos and that Amos should be sent away. He also tries to make Amos look like a money-grubber. The taunt thrown at Amos is, “Your just doing this for the cash.” (Again, my paraphrase.) When you can’t get people do to what you want, better to attack their character and motives, trying to make them look bad in the hopes that their message will be ignored. Why would those inside of the temple do this to someone who is speaking the words of God?

We tend to protect that which we perceive is ours – even if it really isn’t. This priest (and his very pleasant life) was threatened by the words of Amos, because they made him look bad – really bad. Clearly, the established church had become an abomination to God and He was calling them out through the voice of Amos. Time to kill the messenger!

When others deliver a message to us that we just don’t want to hear perhaps it is time to take a step back and examine what is being said to us. That doesn’t mean every person who tells you something negative is speaking for God – absolutely not. But, those troubling words might be a reason to take a look inside and see what’s going on with us. Why do those words bother us or cause us to feel uncomfortable? There’s a reason. If nothing else, it is a call to pray about what you are feeling and ask God for some clarity and truth. He’s all about truth and having us know it. Ask Him!

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