GroupBookApproximate DatesPre-ExilicProphets of IsraelJonah (preached to Nineveh)Amos Hosea780-850765-750755-715Prophets of JudahObadiah JoelMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniah840835-796740-690630-612606-604625Post-Exilic ProphetsProphets of the Returned RemnantHaggaiZechariahMalachi520515430 They are called Minor Prophets simply because they have less material included in the Bible than Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel,who are the Major Prophets because of the volume of Scripture attributed to them.
Amos was a herdsman and a fruit picker. He is very unpopular with Amaziah the priest of Bethel who treats him with disdain and disrespect.
As a shepherd and a fruit-picker, Amos would have simply taken some bread with him for his lunch each day, as was the tradition among field workers.
Amaziah turns this simplicity into a jibe designed to insult Amos who has come to him with God's message.
Amo 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. Amo 7:11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Amo 7:12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: Amo 7:13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. Amo 7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: Amo 7:15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Amo 7:16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Amo 7:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. I know of numerous incidents in modern times that bear a resemblance to this Old Testament story, in which so-called "lay people" are treated as inferior by so-called "clergy", and the prophecies they bring scoffed at and ignored. In one large local church which was part of a major world denomination, the pastor made mistake after mistake in failing to discern God's will. Each time he contradicted God, he himself was contradicted by the outcome.
A new mission statement made by the pastor from the pulpit stated that he and his leadership team were committed to this local church becoming great and
"making a name for itself". This agenda had been promoted a few times when in a large prayer meeting a "lay person" accurately prophesied from Genesis 11:4-9
Gen 11:4-9(4) And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.(5) And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.(6) And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.(7) Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.(8) So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.(9) Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. In the prophecy it was stated that "if the church attempted to make a name for itself, the Lord would take its name away." This is exactly what happened. A woman came forward and complained that a former senior pastor of 16 years tenure with the church, had carried on an adulterous affair with her. Investigations extracted a confession from the pastor in question, by then ministering in another country, that for a period of two years over a decade before, he had committed adultery with a number of women, but had repented and ceased his deception since that time.
The church was devastated by this news when it was made known and many people left, some for other churches, but some falling away from faith and going back into the world.
The then encumbent pastor who had set out to "make a name for the church" was given an ultimatum by his leadership who voiced the dissatisfaction with his style and methods that many under his regime were feeling, effectively forcing his resignation.
Following this the succeeding pastor approached firstly the national and then the international superintendents and executives of the denomination in an attempt to bring about a public disciplinary action against the previously adulterous pastor in line with 1 Timothy 5:19-20.
1Ti 5:19-20(19) Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.(20) Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. This request was denied and the churched seded from the denomination, changed its name to become independent, and is now apparently thriving after initially struggling with low numbers and a large mortgage. A simple prophecy from a simple "herdsman and fruit-picker" can prove to be correct, and God can take away the name of a church that becomes a tower of Babel, being built to "make a name for itself".
