Stories of the Prophets Part 6

"The Lord G.o.d hath commanded me," answered Amos, with deep humility.

"Thou art a traitor and thou shalt die," threatened the king.

"I can but speak," calmly replied Amos, "even if thou slay me."

Jeroboam made the threat to take the Prophet's life in order to test him. He figured that it would send Amos groveling to his knees, begging for mercy. The quiet manner in which he accepted the threat however, puzzled the king. He concluded that Amos must be either exceedingly brave or hopelessly crazy.

Now, a man who is not afraid to die, be he brave or crazy, is a very dangerous man to have around. It would have been easy enough to behead Amos and be done with him, but Jeroboam was not a king who took his subjects' lives ruthlessly--especially when it was so simple to get rid of an undesirable one in another way.

"Then go to thy flocks and sycamores," commanded Jeroboam, "and speak to them."

The king's humorous sally called forth a great shout of laughter from those who were present. Jeroboam, smiling, waved his hand, indicating that the interview was over. The guard closed around Amos and he was led into an outer hall. After a short wait he was informed that, by command of the king, he must leave Bethel on that very day and never set foot in the Kingdom of Israel again.

Had Jeroboam himself been a wicked man like King Ahab, Amos, no doubt, would have disregarded the threat against his life and would have confronted the king in his palace, as Elijah confronted Ahab in Naboth's vineyard. Jeroboam, as ruler, however, did not oppress or mistreat the people. Being an old man, resting on the laurels of his great victories and knowing from his friends and counselors and the size of the royal treasury that his empire was rich and the people peaceful, Jeroboam probably had no idea of the corruption and injustice that was rampant in the land. He would have laughed at the thought of it.

Besides, and this was the important thing with Amos, it would have been folly for him to sacrifice his life at this time. To die a martyr for a cause is a n.o.ble and beautiful thing--if martyrdom will in any way advance this cause. To have confronted Jeroboam or to have remained in Bethel would have meant certain death--and, to die then would have meant an end to the crusade that he was just beginning against the oppression of the poor, the denial of justice, the unrighteousness in business dealings and the misunderstanding of G.o.d and His wors.h.i.+p: it would have meant an end to his set purpose to warn Israel against a.s.syria, the enemy approaching from the North, and against the inability to meet this enemy, because of the immorality that was weakening the nation.

He had plenty of time to think this over as he wended his way mournfully out of the busy and joyful thoroughfares of Bethel to his quiet, though beloved Tekoah.

Amos found to his great joy that he did not now stand alone. Many who had heard him, had understood him. When the news that he had been driven out of Israel spread, many followed him to Judah and accompanied him to his home in Tekoah.

As was always the case with Amos in a crisis, he thought quickly and arrived at a new plan of action speedily. On his way to Tekoah he selected from among his followers men who could write--scribes--and confided to them that from now on he must confine all his wealth to the spreading of his ideas throughout the empire by means of the written word.

After all, G.o.d had willed it that he should be driven back to Tekoah.

Amos, as a speaker, could address a crowd only in one place at one time. In listening to a speech, too, much of what the speaker says is lost to his hearers. Therefore, Amos concluded, G.o.d had willed it that he should return to Tekoah, write out his speeches and his warnings, send them to the farthest ends of the land that all the people may read and study and understand in order that they may return speedily to G.o.d; seek good and not evil, that the nation may live.

By day, he and his followers tended the flocks and gathered the fruit of sycamore trees. All the products that were sent to market were sold by honest weight and measure and at honest prices.

By night, he and his scribes wrote out the speeches that he had delivered in Israel, and especially in Bethel, added new ones and sent them with trusted messengers to all parts of Judah and Israel.

Amos was thus probably the first prophet who wrote down his speeches.

What we have of them, however, are only fragments. There is not one speech complete as it was originally written or delivered. The fragments are collected in the Biblical book, called "Amos." Through this book the name of the humble herdsmen of Tekoah is written large in the history of religion.

It was Amos who first conceived of G.o.d as the G.o.d, not of Israel alone, but of all peoples:

"Are you not as the Ethiopians to me, O Israel? saith G.o.d.

Did I not bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt, And the Philistines from Caphtor, And the Syrians from Kir?"

It was Amos who first appeared as the public champion of the poor and downtrodden, who publicly denounced the greed of the rich and the corruption of the men in power:

"For I know how manifold are your transgressions, And how mighty are your sins-- Ye, that trample upon the poor, That afflict the just, that take a bribe, And that turn away the needy in the gate."

It was Amos who first cried out against the mistaken idea that animal sacrifices were what G.o.d asked of His people:

"Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and meal-offerings In the wilderness, forty years, O house of Israel?"

It was Amos who first brought forward the great and universal truth that G.o.d judges every human being, no matter what the race or color, according to his or her acts:

"Seek good and not evil, That ye may live; Seek G.o.d and ye shall live."

It was Amos who first made clear, that G.o.d demands of men, above all things, justice and righteousness:

"Let justice roll down as a flood of water, And righteousness like a never-failing stream."

We do not know definitely what became of Amos.

One tradition has it that he came to Jerusalem and, while he was denouncing Uzziah, king of Judah, Uzziah struck him on the forehead with a piece of glowing iron. As a result of the blow, Amos died while preaching in the hope of saving his people in Jerusalem, as his father died while fighting in defense of Jerusalem, in the hope of saving his country.

The probabilities are, however, that Amos lived peacefully with his disciples among his sycamore trees near Tekoah, until he had completed the writing of his speeches and saw to their distribution all over Israel, believing that there was yet time for the people of Israel to return to G.o.d and to save the nation from the calamity that was threatening it.

THE MAN WHO LEARNED HIS LESSON

CHAPTER I.

_An Eventful Night._

Whenever Jezreel was sent early to bed, although he had been a good boy during the day, and, in addition, when his little sister and brother were ordered to go with him, he knew the evening would be another one of those that made his little heart ache.

Jezreel was only ten years old, but he was sharp and keen for his age.

He understood that his parents wanted him out of reach and sound.

Twice before, on similar occasions, after he had recited his night prayer and the maid-servant had tucked him in his bed, he lay with his eyes closed tight but wide awake, listening.

He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he could not sleep. He heard his father and mother talking to each other loudly, but could not make out just what they were saying. Their voices, however, he felt, were not soft and sweet, as they usually were, when they addressed the children.

On this particular evening, as he went out of the dining-room with Lo-ruhamah, his seven-year-old sister, and Lo-ammi, his four-year-old brother, Jezreel made up his mind to do a very unusual thing. He determined not to sleep at all.

That afternoon, his father, Hosea, had returned from Bethel all out of sorts. The children had been expecting him, as they always did, when he came home from the sanctuary, to bring the usual little gifts; but the father seemed to have forgotten them. In fact, Hosea was quite irritated when, not understanding his father's mood, Lo-ammi cried for the expected sweets or trinkets.

In a little while, however, Hosea, calmed his youngest son and promised all three of the children that, in the morning, he would take them to the bazaars in the market place, to buy what they pleased.

Just then their mother, Gomer, came in. She was a beautiful woman, dressed in the latest fas.h.i.+ons of the wealthy Samarians. Her robes were long and flowing. A veil, woven of golden threads and imported from a.s.syria, set off her jet-black hair. Her arms and fingers were adorned with jewel-studded bracelets and rings. She was accompanied by an Ethiopian slave.

Strange to say, the children did not rush to their mother, except little Lo-ammi, who was fond of the jeweled things she wore.

Gomer, on the other hand, did not seem to feel hurt that the children clung to their father and quite ignored her. After a formal greeting to her husband, and a pat of Lo-ammi's head, Gomer retired to her own room.

A little later the evening meal was announced, and, immediately after they had eaten, Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah and the baby were told to go to bed.

Their attendant, satisfied that the three children were fast asleep, left the room and went about her business. Thereupon Jezreel got out of bed, moved a chair near to the door, sat down and listened.

Below he heard his father's and mother's voices. Words were spoken in a high, shrill tone, loud and harsh, but indistinct. There were short periods of silence, followed by explosive sentences that sounded like threats. If he could only understand what it was all about! But he couldn't, until, finally all was silent in the room below.