CHAPTER 7

(787 B.C.)

PROPHECIES (SIGNS) OF DESTRUCTION: GRASSHOPPERS

¹Thus has the Lord GOD showed 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 kings mowings. (The revelation of the first nine Verses is: persistence in evil, after repeated forgiveness, will meet with eternal judgment. The first phrase refers to locusts coming upon the harvest. The latter phrase refers to the king taking the first crop of hay and the locusts taking the second, with nothing remaining for the unhappy people. The entirety of this Passage points to the moral Government of God, Who uses Nature to work His Purposes.)

²And 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 You: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. (When praying for personal pardon, sin should be magnified; when pleading for the pardon of a neighbor, sins should be minimized.

The first phrase refers to the exhaustion of all sustenance, with no one to help them but the Lord. And sadly, they had no right to ask Him for anything, because they had sinned greatly against Him. The last phrase records Amos acting as an Intercessor on behalf of this hapless people, which the Lord graciously answered.)

³The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, sa ys the LORD. (The first phrase literally means that God changed His Direction. The use of the word repent, at least as it refers to the Lord, infers no wrongdoing whatsoever on His part. It merely means that He wills a change, without changing His Will; for that He cannot do.

It shall not be, saith the LORD, concerns this particular destruction, in this particular way, but not the overall thrust of the judgment, barring the peoples Repentance.)

THE FIRE

⁴Thus has the Lord GOD showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. (Thus has the Lord GOD showed unto me, refers to a further judgment that had been decided in the high counsels of Heaven against Israel. It was a judgment by fire, and was to be so great that it would devour the great deep, which means to drink up the very ocean itself.

As bad as this seems, due to the prayer of Amos, it appears that this judgment was lessened in its intensity dramatically so; therefore, the people were given more time to repent, which, sadly, they did not.)

⁵Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech You: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. (This petition is the same as in Verse 2, except Jacob says here, cease, instead of forgive. Actually, the word cease fits perfectly, in that the second invasion of Tiglath-Pileser II was cut short, no doubt in answer to this prayer.)

⁶The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, says the Lord GOD. (Once again, Amos importunes, and once again, the Lord answers. It is similar to that which Abraham asked of the Lord concerning Sodom and Gomorrah [Gen., Chpt. 18].)

THE VISION OF THE PLUMBLINE: NO MORE MERCY

⁷Thus He showed me: and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His Hand. (Every evidence is that Amos actually saw the Lord in a vision. And, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, actually speaks of the wall as the Kingdom of Israel, once carefully built up, solidly constructed, and accurately arranged.

In effect, the Lord is saying that Israel, from henceforth, will have to measure up to the plumbline, and that all the mercy that could be shown to Israel, due to the petitions of Amos, had been shown, and could not be extended.)

⁸And 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 anymore (the first phrase portrays the intimacy of the fellowship between Immanuel and the Prophet, and appears with peculiar sweetness in the Prophet being addressed as Amos [Jn. 10:3]. I will not again pass by them anymore, means He would not spare or forgive any more, and the Prophet is thereby instructed to intercede no more. The judgment is irremediable, with the final conquest by Shalmaneser typified here):

⁹And 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. (The first phrase refers to the entirety of Israel. The latter phrase was fulfilled, as recorded in II Ki. 15:10.)

AMOS AND AMAZIAH

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the House of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. (The first phrase portrays the fact that the type of preaching done by Amos was out of place in the Royal Chapel. A State Religion negates any civil and religious liberty. If it is of human origination, it cannot endure the testimony of Truth.

Not to be a member of the State Church is to be, in a degree, a rebel. The king, being the head of the Church, no religious teaching could be permitted which was displeasing to him and to the priests whom he appointed [I Ki. 12:31; 13:1-4]. Amaziah was one of these man-made priests. He was not of the house of Aaron. His charge that Amos predicted the death of the king was a falsehood. Amos predicted the doom of the house of Jeroboam.

The middle phrase means that at least some few of the Israelites had been convinced by the Prophets words and had joined ranks with him. Hence, Amaziah speaks of a conspiracy against the king.

The phrase, The land is not able to bear all his words, reveals the effect the Ministry of Amos had on Israel. God give us more today as Amos!)

¹¹For thus Amos said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. (As stated, the first phrase pertains to the false accusation by Amaziah that Amos had predicted the death of the king. The latter phrase was correct in that it predicted the captivity of Israel. Such is the most hurtful lie of all, in that it contains some truth!)

¹²Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O you Seer, go, flee you away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there (in other words, you are not wanted here! There is no record that Jeroboam took any steps in consequence of this accusation, either deeming the words of Amos to be unworthy of serious consideration or, like Herod [Mat. 14:5], fearing the people, who had been impressed by the Prophets words and bold bearing. Consequently, Amaziah seeks by his own authority to make Amos leave the country. He evidently thought that Amos, like himself, preached for money):

¹³But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the kings chapel, and it is the kings court. (This heathen priest, as he speaks of the kings chapel and the kings court, acts as if human authority is everything, and the Lord, of Himself, had no claims on the land or the place.)

¹⁴Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no Prophet, neither was I a Prophets son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit (the first phrase proclaims the fact that Amos was not a Preacher of his own will, nor of the will of others. He was not meaning that he was not a Prophet, but that his calling was not of human origin, but of God):

¹⁵And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My People Israel. (The first phrase proclaims the fact that Prophets are not born such, nor are they self-made, nor made by others. Go, prophesy unto My People Israel, specifies that the Lord gave Amos a direct Message for Israel, which was not to be added to or taken from!)

¹⁶Now therefore hear thou the Word of the LORD: You say, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not your word against the house of Isaac. (God had not renounced His Rights as the God of Israel. He called them My People Israel, and, therefore, pronounced this judgment upon Amaziah. Now therefore hear thou the Word of the LORD, refers to a Prophecy being directed to this heathen priest personally. The pronoun thou emphasizes this.)

¹⁷Therefore thus says the LORD; Your wife shall be an harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you shall die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. (If, in Amos, we have an example of a faithful Prophet, in Amaziah, we have an example of an unfaithful priest. The fate predicted for Amaziah was indeed terrible; but we discern in its appointment, not the malice of a human foe, but the justice of a Divine Ruler.

Concerning the demand of Amaziah, you shall not prophesy, Amos keen retort was, Thus says the LORD. Such will always be the case with the True Prophet of God.)