The Prophet: Amos by Francine Rivers

Author:Francine Rivers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Christian / Historical, FICTION / Religious
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2013-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

“Make your offerings quickly,” Bani said. “And give them to Elkanan or Benaniah. If Heled sees you, he will try to bar you from the Temple.”

“Has he caused you trouble?”

“He is the one who told us of your prophecies against Judah.”

“Is he unwilling to confess his sins before the Lord and repent?”

“It is no laughing matter, Amos!”

“Do you see me laughing?” He grasped Bani’s arm. “Take the Lord’s word to heart, Brother, before time runs out. I spoke the truth. Judah is judged! Repentance may bring mercy for a time, but you know as well as I how quickly men return to sin to make their own way in the world.” Ahiam had given himself over to profits.

“And what would I do?”

“Be a shepherd again.”

“Mishala would not be happy as a shepherd’s wife, Amos.”

“She would prefer it to being a widow. Without you, how will she live? How will she provide food for your children?” Many widows were forced to turn to prostitution for food money.

Amos gave his offerings and worshiped before the Lord. He spent the entire day inside the Temple, watching and listening. Not all the priests were like Heled, but the few who were had done great damage to the many who came with sincere hearts to worship the Lord.

I must keep my mind and heart fixed upon You, Lord, and not upon those who would lead me astray. How long had he allowed bitterness against Heled to rule his thinking?

He spent the night at his home in Tekoa. Eliakim gave him good reports about Ithai and Elkanan. They had faithfully obeyed Amos’s instructions, and they had not traded spring lambs with Joram.

Amos walked with Eliakim to the boundary of his family’s ancestral land. “If God allowed, I would stay.”

Eliakim turned to him. “Will you return soon?”

“I will return to Jerusalem as often as the Law requires.”

“I meant come home to stay. Here, in Tekoa.”

“I know what you meant, Eliakim, but I don’t know. I can only hope—” his throat tightened—“one day, perhaps, my friend. Look after everything as though I were here with you.”

Eliakim bowed low. “May the Lord protect you.”

“The eyes of the Lord are upon all the people, Eliakim. All His people.” Judah and Israel might be God’s chosen people, but the Lord rules the nations as well. Empires rise and fall at His command. Amos put his hand on Eliakim’s shoulder. “God will strongly support the one whose heart is completely His.” He looked back toward Jerusalem and thought of Bani and Ahiam. “Terrible days are coming.”

He walked away, shoulders slumped with the burden of the message he carried to Israel, the same message only a few in Judah had heeded.

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