When God Measures The Church
Sermons on the First Readings
We begin to hear about prophets in the Bible after Israel convinced God to let them have a king. It was almost as if God set up his own checks and balances system. Once the people looked to a king and the government to guide them, God also called prophets to remind the government that it, too, was subject to God.
There were apparently professional prophets in Israel who served as ethical advisors to the king, but occasionally a voice arose that challenged the very nature of the society. Amos was one of those unique voices.