Память святого пророка Амоса

The holy prophet Amos, a native of the city of Fekuah, located in the land of Judah, not far from Bethlehem, came from an humble and poor family: he spent his days tending flocks. The Lord, who looks not at the rich and powerful, but at the humble and poor, took him, like Moses and David, from the shepherd flocks to prophetic service (see Exodus 3:1–22, 1 Samuel 16:1–23). He commanded him to leave the land of Judah and go to the land of Israel, so that there, with prophetic preaching, he would persuade people corrupted by idolatry to repentance. It should be noted that after the death of Solomon (954 BC), Jeroboam (953–931 BC), together with the ten tribes of Israel, broke away from Solomon’s son Rehoboam (954–937 BC), who reigned in Jerusalem: from the separated tribes a special kingdom of Israel was formed, the first king of which was Jeroboam ( 1 Kings 12:1–33 ). From the days of this Jeroboam, the Israelites, having fallen away from true worship of God, worshiped idols. Jeroboam, seeking to strengthen his power over the Israelites and fearing that they, going to the temple in Jerusalem on holidays, would again join the king of Judah, overthrowing and killing him, made two golden calves - he knew the inclination of his subjects to idolatry - their ancestors, having come from Egypt through the Red Sea into the desert, poured themselves a calf from golden earrings ( Exodus 32:1–35). Having made the aforementioned golden calves, Jeroboam placed one of them in Dan, and the other in Bethel, the cities of his region; at the same time, he commanded the Israelites not to go to Jerusalem, but to worship and make sacrifices to the golden calves, holding solemn festivals in their honor, while the king said to the people: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). Thus Jeroboam corrupted the Israelites. And although the Lord sent His holy prophets to the Israelites to reprove them and return them to the right path, only a few of them were corrected and returned to the true God; some worshiped both the true God and golden calves. Among these prophets, the Lord sent His servant, Saint Amos, with terrible reprimands. This prophet of God was simple and unskilled in conversation, but not in reason: for the same Holy Spirit acted in him and spoke through his mouth, which acted in all the prophets. Saint Amos carried out his prophetic ministry during the days of King Uzziah of Judah 809–758. BC, whose capital was Jerusalem, and - the king of Israel Jeroboam, whose capital was in Samaria; but this is not the same Jeroboam who, having broken away from the scepter of Judah, made golden calves, but another, later in years 3936; however, like his predecessor of the same name, he was an idolater who served golden calves. Saint Amos began to prophesy in the days of these kings, two years before the terrible earthquake in Palestine, the reason for which, according to ancient writers, was the following: King Uzziah of Judah, nicknamed Azariah 3937, out of his pride, dared to enter the sanctuary of the church and sacrifice incense on the altar of incense according to the priestly rank; when the priests opposed this, he threatened them with death, and at that very time a terrible earthquake began in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine, and not only many buildings were destroyed, but even some mountains moved from their places 3938, and the roof of the church was heard above and through the crack that formed a sunbeam fell on the king’s face, immediately after this the king’s forehead and his whole body were covered with leprosy. So the Lord did not tolerate violence against His altar and dishonor inflicted on His priests. In his prophetic speeches, detailed in the book named after him, Saint Amos threatened terrible disasters that would come from God not only to Israel, but also to the surrounding countries, cities and peoples: Syria, the Philistines, Tyre, Idumea, the Ammonites and the Moabites, especially the Israelites, for they, after knowing God, retreated from Him. The Lord is not as much angered by the sins of pagans who do not know Him as by the sins of people who have come to know Him and have enjoyed His benefits. And what kind of blessings did not the Lord provide to the ungrateful people of Israel?! He freed them from slavery in Egypt, led them through the sea like dry land, brought manna to those who were thirsty in the desert, brought water out of a stone for those who were thirsty, drove out the nations before them and brought them into the promised land, abounding in honey and milk. They celebrated solemn celebrations in honor of the golden idols, carved in the form of calves, exclaiming: “Behold, thy gods, O Israel!” These holidays were celebrated with special pomp and especially often in Bethel, on a high mountain, where the golden calf stood. Here, therefore, Saint Amos came most often and, raising his voice to the people, frightened them with the coming punishments of God, begged and exhorted them to leave atheism, but few people listened to the prophet. There was then in Bethel a priest who served the said calf; Seeing that the prophet of God Amos was blaspheming the idol, cursing at the sacrifices offered to the calf and turning people away from nasty festivities by indicating the terrible Judgment of God over those who worshiped, the priest slandered him to the king of Israel Jeroboam: “Amos,” he reported, “is causing indignation against you among the house of Israel; The land cannot bear all his words, for this is what Amos says: Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken captive out of their land.” With such a denunciation, the priest Amaziah wanted to arouse anger in the king against the prophet Amos, but the king paid little attention to the words of the priest: although an idolater, he still revered the prophet of God and did not want to annoy him. The priest, convinced that he could not restore the king against the man of God, himself began to persecute him with violence: he repeatedly beat Saint Amos and drove him away from Bethel, forbidding him to come to the festivities in honor of the golden calf and to turn the people away from the festive sacrifices and fun: the holy prophet neglected the prohibitions of the priest and the wounds received from him; he again came to Bethel and again addressed the people with a prophetic teaching and exhorting word, and again the priest seized him and subjected him to beatings. One day a crafty priest said to Saint Amos with a prayer: “Seer! Go and escape into the land of Judah; there eat bread and there prophesy, but at Bethel prophesy no more, for it is the king’s sanctuary and the king’s house.” And Amos answered and said to Amaziah: “I am not a prophet and not the son of a prophet, I was a shepherd, gathering sycamore trees 3939. But the Lord took me from the sheep and said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel. Now listen to the word of the Lord. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel and do not speak words against the house of Isaac. For this, this is what the Lord says: when the Assyrians come to the land of Israel, they will captivate and devastate it, they will destroy its cities and take this city, then before your eyes the shameless warriors will defile your wife with fornication, for you also contributed to the delusion of Israel before the all-seeing eyes of God and taught these people to commit unclean deeds in the unclean temple of the golden calf, your god; your sons and daughters will die before you from weapons, and you yourself will die in a pagan land; Israel will be led into captivity out of their land” (cf. Am.7:12-17). These words of Saint Amos aroused strong anger in the priest, and he began to beat the prophet of God without mercy; Finally, the priest’s son, the fierce Uzziah, in a rage, hit Saint Amos with all his might between the eyebrows with a heavy club and mortally wounded him. But he did not die immediately: he was taken, barely alive, to the land of Judah, where after several days he died 3940 in his homeland, in the city of Fekui; Here he was buried with his fathers. Anyone who wants to see the prophecies of Saint Amos can find them in his book; We glorify God, who brought him to understanding, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Having purified in spirit, prophet, your luminous heart, glorious Amos, the gift of prophecy received from above, you cried out loudly in the countries: Behold our God, and no one will be added to Him. The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius ​​(died in the 2nd century AD), by the way, reports that an earthquake in the west of the church tore away half of the mountain, which, rolling towards the east over 4 stages, covered the royal gardens on its way. Sycamore or sycamore is a fig tree, whose fruits belong to the lower class of fig trees. You might be interested in: