Amos Chapter Seven
Read Amos 7:1-9 – Amos’ First Vision
v.1 “Thus hath 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 king’s mowings.”
God is longsuffering and will
frequently bear with mankind for a long time, but God’s longsuffering is not
endless. In the balance of the book we
have three visions given to Amos, three warnings for
Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do
nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
God is going to bring evil against
his people as punishment for their sins just as He gave instruction to his
prophet Jeremiah for
Jeremiah
The King in this verse is God. The hayfield to be mowed is the nation of
II Kings 13:3 “And the anger of
the LORD was kindled against
God had exercised his mercy and longsuffering and
II Kings
But
v.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.”
In his vision Amos pleads with God
for
Exodus 32:11 “And Moses besought
the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot
against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with
great power, and with a mighty hand?”
And he goes on to
plead with God and God relented, repented and let them live. Amos in his vision pleads for
v.3 “The LORD repented for this: It shall not
be, saith the LORD.”
The Lord repented, he heard the plea
of his prophet and held his anger, for the moment. But he gave Amos another warning for
v.4 “Thus hath 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.”
The second part of his vision shows
Amos punishment of
Numbers 11:1 “And when the people
complained, it displeased the LORD:
and the LORD heard it; and his anger was
kindled; and the fire of the LORD
burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.”
v.5-6 “Then said I, O Lord GOD,
cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is
small. 6The LORD
repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
In his vision Amos again pleads with
God for
v.7-8 “Thus he showed me:
and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 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
In the third part of this vision
Amos sees God as one standing on a wall holding a plumbline. Of course, most everyone knows what a
plumbline is used for; to make sure that a vertical structure is straight or
plumb. It can also tell us where any
bulges or deformities exist in a vertical structure or wall, where it needs to
be corrected or torn down and rebuilt.
This terminology is common in Old Testament writings and is used to
describe the work of David against
II Samuel 8:2 “And he smote Moab,
and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two
lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so
the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.”
And by the
prophets:
Isaiah 28:17 “Judgment also will
I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
This plummet is
what we call a plumb bob today.
v.9 “And the high places
of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of
The high places where
Hosea
10:8 “The high places also of Aven, the sin of
The name Aven has two meanings in scripture. First of all it was a designation for Beth=aven another name for
II Kings 15:8-10 “In the thirty and
eighth year of Azariah king of
Read Amos
v.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. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by
the sword, and
The preaching of Amos now has created an
enemy in
Acts 19:26-27 “Moreover ye see and
hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath
persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are
made with hands: 27So that not only this our craft is in danger to
be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be
despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world
worshippeth.”
Amos, speaking the
words that God has given him to bring them to repentance, is charged with
bringing a conspiracy against Jeroboam.
Indeed, Amos did say that God would cause
Amos
Amos is but being God’s messenger,
bringing God’s words of warning to
v.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: 13But prophesy not again any more at
Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
Apparently the conspiracy charge
against Amos didn’t receive the desired result.
He was accused of plotting against
Acts
Amos was not
welcome in
v.14-15 “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 sycamore fruit: 15And the
LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy
unto my people Israel.”
The response that Amos makes to
Amaziah is that he is not a professional prophet. He was a herdsman, a gathering of sycamore
fruit (a type of fig), a common working man. He is prophesying against
We find a parallel in God’s calling
or appointing David to rule as king over
II Samuel 7:8 “Now therefore so
shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the
sheep, to be ruler over my people, over
David wanted to
build a house for God. God’s response is
first of all he doesn’t want a “HOUSE OF CEDAR”. Secondly that it is not David’s purpose to
build God a house but to rule
v.16-17 “Now therefore hear
thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against
Because his commission is from God;
Amos is bringing the word of God to
Ezekiel 20:45-47 “Moreover the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying, 46Son of man, set thy face toward
the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south
field; 47And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the
LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it
shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame
shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.”
Amos continues
“THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD” and he repeats the general theme of the message
that is being sent by God to
Hosea 9:3 “They shall not dwell in the LORD’S land; but Ephraim shall return
to