This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. For this is what Amos is saying:
“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”
Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
“Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’”
- Amos 7:1-17
Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments
Amos 7:1-3 ‘first vision’: “In Amos’s first vision, he saw ‘swarms of locusts’ in the spring after the king’s crop but before the people harvested their crop. Amos interceded with one-word prayers: ‘forgive’ (v. 2) and ‘stop’ (v. 5). The Lord ‘relented,’ altered his course and canceled the judgment (vv. 3, 6). Between ‘it shall come to pass’ and ‘it came to pass’ stands God’s mercy.”
- Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)
Amos 7:1 ‘locusts’: ”’Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth.’ These are called grasshoppers in our translation, but they were, of course, locusts.
“’And, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.’ There were two crops that could be harvested from the land in that day, and the first crop went to the king as taxes. Actually, the people paid more than one-tenth as a tithe. It is estimated that they paid out about three-tenths of what they took from the land, and here we can see an example of that. However, this time, after the king had gotten his due, a plague of grasshoppers or locusts came in and took their share so that there was nothing left for the people who had really done the work. This was a judgment that should have shaken the people and should have awakened them.”
- J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi
Amos 7:4-6 ‘no, the land is on fire’: “The LORD relented concerning this. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the Lord God.’ Having prayed concerning the locusts and God relented, this time the prophet saw the fire devouring the land-perhaps the fire of war that casts its blazing brand on peaceful dwellings. This fire, however, was something worse than that, for the deep itself seemed to be licked up by tongues of flame. So the prophet, in hearty sympathy with the afflicted people, cried again as he had done before, and the answer came, ‘This will not happen either, said the Lord God.’ This ought to encourage us to make use of the position in which his grace has placed us and to cry earnestly to him to turn away his wrathful hand and have pity on us sinners. God grant that many of us may have such an intercessory spirit as that of Amos the herdsman-prophet.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations
Amos 7:4 ‘was the fire a drought?’: “Many commentators believe the fire here was actually a drought. I am perfectly willing to say that a drought has to go along with the fire. When we have dry weather here in Southern California, we often have fires in the mountains. We have a great many fires here due, in my judgment, to the carelessness of the public. Many of them have been started by cigarettes. Nevertheless, the high fire danger is usually brought on by a drought. But the thing which did the destroying, I believe, was a literal fire, and I think Amos makes that very clear.”
- J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi
Amos 7:7-9 ‘plumb line’: “Then God showed a vision of a plumb line. A plumb lines had weights tied to one end, and by holding the device, one could determine whether a wall was vertically straight. When the Lord told Amos, I am set-ting a plumb line among my people Israel, he was implying that Israel was crooked (7:8). Their continued idolatry; injustice, lying, and disloyalty were too much to overlook. With their third strike, they were out: I will no longer spare them, God said (7:8).”
- Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)
Amos 7:8-9 ‘The Lord Almighty Judgment is Certain’: “It is an ominous word. The nation had gone too far. And this time Amos offered no appeal for leniency.
“The word translated ‘Plumb line’ (‘anak’) occurs only in this passage in the Hebrew Bible. Builders utilize Plumb lines to ensure that walls and structures are built vertically. If a wall continues to be built ‘out of plumb’ it eventually will fall. Israel’s lack of justice for the poor and their misuse of religion was ‘out of plumb’ with God’s expectations. Their neglect eventually toppled them. Frankly, their demise did not require God’s hand to interject a locust plague or a fire. Israel’s own sin caused their collapse.”
- Jay McCluskey, A Long Walk with the Minor Prophets
Amos 7:10-9:15 ‘Confrontation with Amaziah’: “The account in Amos 7:10–17 of Amos’s encounter with Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, includes the message that Amaziah sent to Jeroboam II (7:10, 11). The message reports a prophecy in which Amos predicts that Jeroboam will die violently and that Israel will go into exile. This prophecy thus dates Amos’s ministry sometime before the end of Jeroboam’s reign in 753 B.C.
“Attempts have been made to date Amos’s ministry by an earthquake which occurred during the reign of Judah’s King Azariah (or Uzziah), but which was still remembered hundreds of years later (see Zech. 14:5). Amos received his vision two years before the earthquake (Amos 1:1).
“Unfortunately, an exact date for this earthquake is uncertain. Archaeological work at the city of Hazor shows evidence that it happened sometime in the mid-8th century B.C. The Jewish historian Josephus connects the earthquake with the violation of the priest’s office by Azariah (2 Chr. 26:16–20). When Azariah’s violation resulted in leprosy, his son Jotham governed with him as coregent (2 Kin. 15:5). Jotham’s 10-year coregency with Azariah began in 750 B.C., so following Josephus would place Amos’s ministry a few years before 750.”
- Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible
Amos 7:10-17 ‘The Book of Amos’: “Two of the minor prophets, Amos and Hosea, spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel during the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Both took the Assyrian threat very seriously, but their messages were unheard. Comparative prosperity in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.) had fed complacency.
“Amos spoke harshly about this complacency. Although he himself was from Tekoa in the land of Judah (Amos 1:1), Amos was sent by God to prophesy to Israel (see 7:10–17), and he brought with him a deep intolerance for oppression. He raged against the lavish lives of the rich (4:1–3), the oppression of the poor (5:11–15), and the ostentatious religious ceremony of the oppressors (5:21–24).”
- Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible
Amos 7:10-14 ‘not schooled as a prophet’: ”That was the burden of the prophet’s message. God was going to judge the nation and the king, and send Israel into exile. Amaziah the priest responds by saying, in effect, ‘Don’t come to us. Go back to your hometown. Go back to the country you came from and prophesy down there:’ But sturdy, rugged Amos, the blunt and countrified cowboy preacher, said, ‘I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd’ (7:14).
“Now, in saying this, Amos doesn’t mean his father was not a prophet. He means that he has not been to the accepted school of the prophets. He says he is a rancher, a farmer, a cowboy who is simply going where God tells him to go and doing what God tells him to do.“
- Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible
Amos 7:12-13 ‘The Book of Amos’: “Even more startling, Amos belittles Israel’s precious Exodus heritage. Yes, Israel was chosen from among all the nations, he says, but that just means God will judge Israel more harshly (3:1, 2). Besides, Amos adds, God works among other nations, too, such as Ethiopia, Philistia, and Syria (9:7). Given Amos’s message, it is not surprising that he was eventually sent home to Judah (7:12, 13).”
- Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible
Amos 7:12 ‘The Lord God Almighty’s Message is Undeniable’: ” Amaziah was Israel’s lead priest appointed by King Jeroboam II. He called Amos a ‘seer,’ meaning someone with insights. But in this case the word was spoken in a derogatory manner. While Amos prophesied against Israel, he actually was from the southern nation of Judah. Naturally, Amaziah did not like hearing God’s instructions from a non-member of their community. Most people do not want to hear critical judgments, especially from an outsider.
“Amos did not like the assignment either. Why would he do this? Why would he face an audience bound to be hostile to him? The simple answer is because God gave him the message.”
- Jay McCluskey, A Long Walk with the Minor Prophets
Amos 7:14-15 ‘Beliefs and Ideas’: “Like David (Ps. 78:70), the prophet Amos received the call of God while he was tending sheep (Amos 7:14, 15). The Greek poet Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer, relates how he heard the divine call to be a poet while he was shepherding. The gift of writing poetry was not given to all and was not to be refused when offered.”
- Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible
Amos 7:14 ‘Agriculture and Herding’: “David is one of several shepherds who eventually became great leaders (2 Sam. 7:8). Amos was called to be a prophet while he was tending sheep (Amos 7:14). Moses noticed the burning bush when he was ‘tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law’ (Ex. 3:1). One of Greece’s earliest poets, Hesiod (c. 700 B.C.) received his call to write poetry while he was a shepherd on Mount Helicon.”
- Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible
Amos 7:16 ‘Quote’: “All the wealth in the world cannot be compared with the happiness of living together happily united. – St. Margaret of Youville”
- Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)
Amos 7:17 ‘led away captive’: “To Assyria ca. 722 B.C.”
- John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)
My Thoughts
Amos has a vision of locusts destroying the crops of Israel. Amos cries out that this is too much. They will not survive.
Amos has a second vision, and this time it is fire. Oddly, it does not say that the fire burns anything. Rather, the ground dries up and there is no crop. Basically doing the same thing that the locusts would have done.
I think because the language speaks of the ground drying up, some scholars think this was a drought that was predicted.
Amos again says that is too much and God relents.
But then, the Lord has a plumb line. Amos identifies it correctly.
The Lord says that Israel will not escape punishment. Their high places will be destroyed. Their sanctuaries will be destroyed. And the kingly line of Jeroboam will be destroyed.
A plumb line is used to determine a vertical line. A plumb bob is tied to a string. This plumb bob is very heavy and will be drawn by gravity straight down. It is also important to make the string out of strong material. A thinner string that can still hold the plumb bob will not the affected by the wind as much.
Not counting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, most walls that are not vertical will topple over in time. Thus, using the plumb bob, God is declaring that Israel is out of plumb, leaning too far from the “straight and narrow.” Their own sin will destroy them.
In the second half of this chapter, it is not the king who questions the authority of Amos, but the lead priest, Amaziah. This is where Amos gives a little more information about what his primary job is. He tends sheep and sycamore fig trees. He is not a professional prophet.
Amos is indeed from Judah. that might upset people. I lived in the South during the Civil Rights movement. The white people in the South did not mind a discussion about Civil Rights. They would have agreed, in time, to the changes, and when the changes became federally mandatory, they adjusted to integration in many ways better than their northern neighbors (thinking of a couple of school districts that firebombed the bus system to prevent bussing). The riots in the South were probably not a reaction by the majority, mostly misguided governors of a few states, but the people from the north coming to the South to incite a riot is something they did not like. They had heard the stories of the carpet baggers and their oppression by their grandparents. They felt history was repeating itself. This could have been thought of the same way.
But Amos was doing as God told him. It did not matter what Amos’ profession had been nor his parental lineage. He was called by God.
Some Serendipitous Reflections
Amos 7:1-9 Locusts, Fire, and a Plumb Line 1. When have you prayed, as Amos, ‘God, I beg you to stop’? How did God answer?
“2. In your Amos-like prayer, what person or group would be the ‘Israel’ for whom you would be praying?
Amos 7:10-17 Amos and Amaziah 1. How many ministers are in your group? What credentials (academic, spiritual, other) do you have to be in ministry? Who outside your group might begrudge your being ministers of renewal or a vanguard group warning others?
“2. If there is one thing out of the ordinary that God is calling you to do, what is it?”
- Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups
Amos 7 has two sets of questions as shown.
Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.
If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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