But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
Amos 7:13 belongs to the final decree against impenitent Israel during the long reign of Jeroboam II, after predicted judgments had been stayed for a season while Israel's armies won signal victories in a time of apparent prosperity that produced no change in impenitent hearts, when it was decreed that Jeroboam would die by the sword and Israel would surely be led away captive out of their own land. The speaker is Amaziah, an idolatrous priest at Bethel, a leader among the idolatrous priests there. He ordered Amos to prophesy no more at Bethel because Bethel was the king's chapel or sanctuary and the king's court.
He also told Amos to flee into Judah. The appeal to the king's chapel and court shows the king's authority being used to forbid prophetic warning at Bethel. The order was a rejection of Amos's plain warnings against Israel and its king. It shows how far Israel had gone in impenitence, remaining unmoved even by the decreed sentence that Israel would surely be led away captive out of their own land.
Amos 7:13 belongs to the final decree against impenitent Israel during the long reign of Jeroboam II, after predicted judgments had been stayed for a season while Israel's armies won signal victories in a time of apparent prosperity that produced no change in impenitent hearts, when it was decreed that Jeroboam would die by the sword and Israel would surely be led away captive out of their own land. The speaker is Amaziah, an idolatrous priest at Bethel, a leader among the idolatrous priests there. He ordered Amos to prophesy no more at Bethel because Bethel was the king's chapel or sanctuary and the king's court.
He also told Amos to flee into Judah. The appeal to the king's chapel and court shows the king's authority being used to forbid prophetic warning at Bethel. The order was a rejection of Amos's plain warnings against Israel and its king. It shows how far Israel had gone in impenitence, remaining unmoved even by the decreed sentence that Israel would surely be led away captive out of their own land.