Thus did the Lord Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
Amos turns from spoken warnings to a series of visions. In the first, God forms locusts to eat the second growth of grass — what was left after the king took his share. Two questions follow. Why does God show a prophet a disaster before it comes? And what happens when that prophet prays?
The vision opens with God showing something to a man. One writer finds the rule behind that in an earlier chapter of Amos.
Chapter 3 lays down another great principle. When God plans to do anything, He makes it known to His servants. This is true whether He has blessing or judgment in view. He reveals His hidden purposes to His servants. He honours them with His confidence and lets them into His secret. It is the same with us. God has been pleased to let us into the wonderful secrets of His mind. He reveals to us now what He will one day display to millions of wondering eyes.
Mown grass, new shoots and swarming insects: the picture comes from farm work. So did the man God chose.
This prophet was a Jew living in Tekoa, a small town six miles south-east of Bethlehem. He followed the very humble occupation of a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit (Amos 7). From there God called him to speak "the word of the Lord" in Israel. He spoke above all in Bethel, the southern seat of idol worship in the kingdom of the ten tribes. He describes himself and his peasant life with charming simplicity. His images and comparisons are drawn from nature and the animals he knew so well. They are beautiful and very striking.
The vision does not stay a picture. Amos speaks, and God answers.
In the first vision Amos saw how the Lord prepared locusts (not grasshoppers, as the older English version has it). They started in with their destructive work, just as they did in the day of Joel. Then Amos interceded for the sinful nation: "O Lord God, forgive, I beg You; by whom shall Jacob rise, for he is small?" He confessed and pleaded for forgiveness, admitting that they were helpless. The Lord is well pleased with such a spirit. So He gave the praying prophet this answer: "It shall not be, says the LORD."
Amos saw five visions in the closing chapters. Two of them never came to pass, and the prophet himself is the reason.
The third part, chapters seven to nine, gives the five visions which Amos had. Because the prophet interceded, the first two judgment visions never happened. The third vision is that of the plumb-line; the fourth, the vision of the basket with ripe fruit. In the last vision he saw the Lord standing beside the altar, ready to strike.
Where did such praying come from? One writer traces its power back beyond Amos himself.
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prophet's intercession had stopped the scourge. That intercession was really the Spirit of Christ working in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18). But now Jehovah would rise to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand. Nothing would turn Him aside.
The prophet's own name carries the theme of the chapter, and points past him.
In chapter 7 Amos himself becomes a foreshadowing of Christ as the great Intercessor. The name Amos means "burden." In his own measure he carried the burden of Israel's sin and sorrow on his heart. In this he prefigured the One who did the same in a far deeper way. The prophet, admitting the nation's smallness and helplessness, begs God on its behalf. His prayer is effective, but men reject his service and testimony.
The locusts are the first of three linked visions, and the sequence has an end point in real history.
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, rising in severity. First (verses 1-3) come the grasshoppers or creeping locusts. Next (verses 4-6) comes fire. Last (verses 7-9) comes a plumbline, which showed the strict measure used to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have meant turning a blind eye to evil. In history these troubles seem to have come through Pul, Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, who finally swept the kingdom away.
- Shown — God does nothing without telling His servants first, whether He plans blessing or judgment.
- Seen — a herdsman from Tekoa watches locusts eat the second crop; his pictures come from the fields and animals he knew.
- Spoken — he pleads Jacob's smallness and helplessness, and the answer comes back: "It shall not be."
- Stopped — prayer held back the first two visions; behind it the Spirit of Christ was working in the prophet.
- Sealed — the plumbline follows the locusts and the fire; when patience ran out, invading kings swept the kingdom away.
And it came to pass, when they had wholly eaten the grass of the land, that I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee! How shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Amos has just watched the Lord prepare a swarm of locusts that eats the land bare. He does not argue — he prays. His plea rests on nothing in Israel except its weakness. Can a nation this small ever stand again?
This cry belongs to the first of three visions of judgment. One commentator lays out the sequence and ties it to history:
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1–3) the creeping locusts, next (verses 4–6) fire, and last (verses 7–9) a plumbline. The plumbline showed the strict measure applied to mark their sin. When patience had worn itself out, further delay would have been agreement with evil. It seems these troubles came to pass in history under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who swept the kingdom away at the end.
The prophet confesses before he asks. He does not defend Israel. He admits it has nothing left to stand on — and that is the prayer God answers:
In the first vision Amos saw how the Lord prepared locusts (not grasshoppers, as the older translation has it). They began their destructive work, just as they did in the day of Joel. Then Amos interceded for the sinful nation: "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beg You, by whom shall Jacob rise, for he is small?" He confessed and pleaded for forgiveness. He acknowledged their helplessness. The Lord is well pleased with such a spirit, and the praying prophet received the answer from the Lord: "It shall not be, says the LORD."
The ESV asks "How can Jacob stand?"; older translations ask "by whom shall Jacob arise?" Either way, Jacob cannot rise by himself.
Judgment was already under way, and one man's prayer stopped it. A writer traces the power of that prayer back past Amos to the Spirit of Christ in the prophets:
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The intercession of the prophet stopped the blow. That intercession was the work of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings; see Psalm 18.
Amos gets his answer, yet the chapter does not end in relief. The delay shows God's patience; it does not cancel His word:
Amos 7 shows the patience of Jehovah. The prophet interceded for Jacob, and Jehovah relented of the evil He was bringing on them; still judgement must follow.
The next verse says the Lord relented. Does that mean God changed His mind? A commentator explains the same wording:
It does not mean a change of mind on God's part, but a change of action caused by a change of mind on man's part. God sends warnings to man so that man may change his mind and repent. Then God may change His action from judgment to mercy. God has not changed His mind. God's mind has always been toward mercy. He is "a gracious God and merciful." But man's sin must bring down the righteous judgment of God, even though He is slow to anger.
Amos carries what he prays about. His name and his work point beyond him:
In chapter 7 Amos himself becomes a foreshadowing of Christ as the great Intercessor. The name Amos means "burden." In his own measure he carried the burden of Israel's sin and misery on his heart. In this he pictured in advance the One who did the same in a far deeper way. The prophet, acknowledging the nation's smallness and helplessness, begs God on its behalf. His prayer is effective, but men reject his service and testimony.
The same writer sums up how Amos presents Christ, using this verse's own word:
As Israel's Intercessor, begging God for them, so that at least some might "arise" (or "stand").
- Small. Amos pleads no merit and no strength. Israel's helplessness is the whole ground of his appeal.
- Confessed. He asks forgiveness before he asks for relief — and that spirit pleases God.
- Stopped. The prayer halts a judgment already in motion. Its power is the Spirit of Christ working through the prophet.
- Relented. God's action changes, not His mind; warning exists so that mercy may replace judgment.
- Delayed. God holds the blow back; He does not cancel it. The plumbline still comes, and only the true Intercessor makes Jacob stand.