Speaking Truth to Power: The Timeless Conflict of Amos and Amaziah
July 4, 2024 - Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Amos 7:10-17
The book of Amos is divided into nine chapters, but the encounter between Amos and Amaziah brought the mission of Amos to a tragic end. Amaziah reported Amos' ministry to the king of Israel and then tried to silence the prophet. According to Jewish tradition, the only way to silence a prophet of God is to have him murdered, and that is what Amaziah did.
Bethel, where the conflict between the prophet Amos and the priest Amaziah occurred, was established by King Jeroboam I in the 10th century BC. After rebelling against the ruling house of David in Jerusalem, Jeroboam founded the northern kingdom of Israel. To consolidate his power and provide alternative worship sites away from Jerusalem, he built two sanctuaries: one in Bethel, near the border with the southern kingdom of Judah, and another in Dan, in the northern part of his kingdom.
The Bible sees the establishment of these two sanctuaries as a rebellion against God, comparable to that of the desert generation in the time of Moses. In both cases, golden calves were worshipped. When Israel worshipped the golden calf made by Aaron in the desert, the Lord wanted to annihilate the people, and only the intercession of Moses prevented a disaster. When the golden calf was placed in Bethel, a man of God from Judah came and announced that one day that place would be destroyed (see 1 Kings 13:1-3). And it was so. King Josiah, who reigned around 640-609 BC, destroyed it during his religious reform (see 2 Kings 23:15).
The appearance of Amos, another man of God from Judah, would bring to mind the prophecy against Bethel and the ruling dynasty from the house of Jeroboam. Amaziah, who was in charge of the sanctuary, felt obliged to report to the king: "Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. For this is what Amos says: 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land'" (Amos 7:10-11).
The conflict between Amos and Amaziah is reenacted every time a whistleblower clashes with government officials, journalists embedded within the power structure, and shareholders of big corporations. These whistleblowers, like Amos, are often treated as a nuisance in the well-established system. Many of them have paid dearly for their courage in speaking out the truth. However, despite the risks involved, they could not remain silent because a voice in their conscience stirred them to go and speak the truth to the people of the world (see Amos 7:15).