Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

Amos had no qualifications for the position of prophet, at least in the eyes of the ruling class. His message to Jeroboam, the king of the Northern Kingdom had been relayed to king Jeroboam by Amaziah the priest of Bethel. See Amos 7:10-13. The message contained harsh judgment on the king and that the northern kingdom would be taken away captive.

Amaziah, the priest then took the position of protecting the apostate king, and warned Amos off to Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Go cause trouble to the south, for that is where you come from. Don’t bother us in the north!

Amos response? I’m a nobody Amaziah. A simple herdsman, and a picker of fruit. A farmer, not professional priest with all the adornment and pomp. A simple man, who has been called by God to head north, to provide a warning to this nation, to supply a Word of the LORD to the people who have walked away from Him. I am no danger to you! How dangerous can a farmer be? I am here to provide a message of deliverance from doom!

How like the Master, who until He took on His ministry of warning and providing the Word of the LORD to His generation, was a simple carpenter, a builder of “things”, a man who worked with His hands.

He acquired no institutional learning other than the mandatory training of all Jewish boys. He learned of the Torah, the Law and Jewish history from His family, and some formal schooling where He may have learned the three “R’s”, that is reading writing and ‘rithmetic.

Other than that, Jesus was untrained (thankfully) of any institutional process. His training came from time with the Father. Copious focused times with the Father, receiving His mission, not unlike Amos, to provide warning and the Word to a nation in trouble.

Amos and Jesus were untrained tradesmen, who heard the call of God and did not let some man made requirement for earthly education stop them from fulfilling their God given ministry.

Are you a highly trained professional Christian? Be thankful for your training, for God can use it, but understand from the example of Amos and Jesus, the crucial training for ministry is directly from the Lord.

Are you a tradesman, possibly a layman in the church? Be thankful for such an example as we see in Amos and our Lord. Be careful in dwelling only under the LORD’s direction. For we also need to understand from the example of Amos and Jesus, the crucial training for ministry is directly from the Lord.

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