Verses 1-3 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
The prophet Amos has already received from the LORD that judgement and punishment was coming to Israel and Judah. Now he has a vision in which the crops and food supply in Israel is to be destroyed which would cause famine in the land for both men and livestock. Remember that in the previous chapter the prophet Amos speaks about “them that are at ease in Zion” and how they are living in luxury. A famine would cause distress as it did in Egypt when the nation was destroyed by God via 10 plagues, and luxury would no doubt cease in time. But when Amos interceded for the nation, the LORD God listened to him and agreed to not bring this judgement to the land and the people.
Application: It is easy to think that a believer’s prayer is not very effective, but no one knows what the LORD will do because of a believer’s prayer. Just one man, Amos, stopped a plague of grasshoppers in Israel and. Likewise, one man’s prayer (Moses) stopped the LORD from destroying the entire Hebrew people on more than one occasion when He was so tired of their rebellion that He wanted to start over with Moses and his family. So pray and leave the outcome to God.
Verses 4-6 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
Then another vision of judgement with destruction via a consuming fire. The Hebrew word translated as “contend” is “ryib” and it means to strive or contend either physically or with words, to make complaint or to quarrel. The Hebrew word translated as “fire” is “esh” and it means fire, flames, supernatural fire, and altar-fire or God’s anger. The Hebrew word translated as “great deep” is “rab” and it means much, many, great, strong, exceedingly or abounding in. So God was going to send a consuming fire to destroy at least part of Israel. Scripture says, “For our god is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) and so this fire may have been spiritual or it may have been physical. But since the prophet Amos interceded again and pleads for mercy on behalf of the nation Israel, God does not send this judgement.
Verses 7-9 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
In a third vision, the prophet Amos sees the LORD standing on a wall which was straight up and down because a plumb line was used when it was being erected. Plumb lines are still used today in construction and they consist of a string with a weight at the bottom that, when it stops moving, shows the vertical on an upright surface to determine if it is leaning or straight up and down. This image of the plumb line meant that the coming judgement could not be stopped by the prophet Amos and that it was going to happen. And when it did happen, the high places where the Israelites worshipped pagan or Satanic gods and sacrificed living people and engaged in sexual orgies would be destroyed. They were called high places because they were usually built on hills or land that was raised above the valley floor.
The plumb line was also metaphor or word picture for God measuring His people, and they were faulty and not in alignment with His Word or His will.
Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom when the kingdom split after the death of King Solomon. He introduced idolatry during his reign and his descendants followed his example, so it was against his house or descendants that God promised to rise against with violence via the sword, indicating warfare.
Application: When God says, “I will not again pass by them any more” it means that He will not longer tolerated their sin and He will no longer fellowship with them. His relationship with whomever is being referred to, in this case Israel, is over. This is a very sad and disastrous situation to be in. Remember that when the first Passover was celebrated in Egypt, the Hebrews were to paint blood on the top and sides of the doors of their houses so that the LORD would pass over their houses and not allow the destroyer to kill their first born. They were protected by the blood of the lamb. Here the Israelites were to not only lose God’s protection and provision, but He was going to alienate them and do away with them because of their transgressions. The Hebrew word translated as “pass by” is “abar” and it means to pass over or by or through, alienate, do away, take away, march over, or to cease to exist. It is possible for people to be so rebellious against the LORD that He decides to not pass by them any more. The Holy Spirit no longer tries to get their attention. These people, like the nation Israel of old, will die in their sins and go to Hell. These are the people who will not listen to the Gospel message and who simply cannot be reached as they are serving the Devil and enjoying doing so.
Verses 10-11 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
Amaziah was the priest of Bethel under Jeroboam II and, being a religious leader of a center of pagan idol worship, he was not pleased with what the prophet Amos was saying. Usually, it is the religious leaders who first become upset at the truth because their position and power is being threatened. So he contacted the king of Israel and reported the lie that the prophet Amos was conspiring against the king. According to Amaziah, the country and its people were not able to tolerate or endure the words of Amos. Because Amaziah was not serving the LORD God, he either did not have the discernment to know that Amos’ words were not his, but were God’s, or he was deliberately defying God Almighty by attacking His servant, Amos.
Verses 12-13 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
He then told the prophet Amos to get out of town and go to Judah which was basically an enemy of Israel.
Verses 14-17 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: 15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. (Amos 7)
The prophet Amos does not argue with Amaziah. Amos was of the working class and Amaziah was of the elite class. So Amos was respectful and simply gave his testimony so that Amaziah would know that he, Amos, did not choose to be a prophet, but was called by God. And to prove that he was a prophet and that his words would come true, he prophesied against Amaziah and his family. The end result of this prophecy was that Amaziah would lose everything dear to him and end up in captivity where he would die in a land that was considered unclean religiously by Jewish standards. The Hebrew word translated as “polluted” is “tame” and it means unclean or impure.
Application: The prophet Amos never claimed to be a prophet. God chooses whom He will to bring forth His word in His time. No one can stop the word of God, not even organized religion. The prophet Amos was standing against Amaziah who was representative of organized religion in those days. The very institution (Bethel) that should have received this prophecy with joy, awe, and a healthy fear, and which should have gone forth to convert the people and bring them back to righteous living withstood God and His servant for the sake of political correctness, power, and control. In these last days there is a real need for shepherds in the churches, not administrators and budget directors and church boards attempting to regulate the work of God Almighty.