Thus did the Lord Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and ate up the inheritance.
Amos sees a second picture of judgment: fire that burns up the great deep and then starts on the land itself. Two questions follow — who calls for this fire, and what can stand between it and the people?
This fire is the second of three visions, and each one is worse than the last. One writer ties them to invasions that really happened.
In Amos 7 a series of three judgments on Israel is set out, rising in severity: first (verses 1-3) by the locusts, next (verses 4-6) by fire, and last (verses 7-9) by a plumbline, which showed the strict measure applied to mark their sin. When patience had worn itself out, waiting any longer would have meant turning a blind eye to evil. It seems these troubles came about in history through Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who swept the kingdom away in the end.
The first vision was locusts. This one is worse, because the fire swallows even water.
He saw a furious fire sweeping everything before it, so that it even devoured the great deep, the floods of water. This stands for a more severe judgment than the previous one. The prophet's intercession held this judgment back too. But when the time came for judgment by the Assyrian, pictured by the locusts and the fire, no intercession could change it. Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser finally put an end to the sinful ten-tribe kingdom.
Fire is not a random image. The same fire that destroys evil also marks what God accepts.
God was revealed in fire early on. This showed the searching character of His righteous judgment, whether He accepts what is good or condemns what is evil... Moses told Israel, "the LORD your God is a consuming fire." When Aaron began his service in the tabernacle, fire came out "from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar." Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire, and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them. When Elijah stood alone against the prophets of the false god Baal, God proved him right by burning up the sacrifice, the wood and the stones with fire from heaven... The general idea in "fire" is that of judgment.
Amos sees the Lord GOD Himself calling for this fire. The call comes only after long restraint. More than once prayer had stopped the blow at the last moment.
God had waited patiently for a long time. More than once He had been on the point of handing Israel over to judgment. The prophet's intercession had stopped the blow. That intercession was the Spirit of Christ working in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18). But now the Lord would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside.
As the fire begins to eat the land, Amos does not defend Israel. He pleads for it. That prayer points beyond the prophet himself.
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. So he pictures the One who did the same in a far deeper way. The prophet admits that the nation is small and helpless, and he pleads with God for it. God answers his prayer, but men reject his service and his testimony, and the priest looks to the king to rid the land of him.
- Patience. God had waited long. More than once He had nearly given Israel up, so this fire comes after restraint, not instead of it.
- Fire. In the Bible fire stands for judgment. It tests all it touches, accepting the good and condemning the evil.
- Escalation. Each vision is worse than the last: locusts, then fire, then the plumbline that measures sin exactly.
- Prayer. A prophet whose name means "burden" carries the nation's sin on his heart and asks God to stop. God answers him, and in that he pictures Christ.
- Limit. Patience has an end. When it ran out, the Assyrian kings did what the visions had warned of.
Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee! How shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Amos sees a second vision of judgment, a fire. Again he breaks in to plead with God, and his only argument is that Jacob is too small to rise again.
This second stroke was heavier than the first, and it ended the same way.
He saw a furious fire sweeping everything before it, so that it even devoured the great deep, the floods of water. This is a more severe judgment than the previous one. The prophet's intercession held back this judgment too.
One writer lays out all three visions and shows where God's patience ends.
Amos 7 sets out a rising scale of three judgments on Israel: first (verses 1-3) by the creeping locusts, next (verses 4-6) by fire, and last (verses 7-9) by a plumbline. The plumbline showed the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been going along with evil.
God answers, and the fire stops. One writer traces the power behind that prayer back past Amos himself.
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prophet interceded — that is to say, the Spirit of Christ which worked in the prophets. That intercession owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18), and it had stopped the scourge. But now the Lord would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside.
Amos pleads what Israel lacks, not what it deserves. He himself had no official standing either.
The prophet acknowledges the nation's smallness and helplessness, and begs God on its behalf. His prayer is effective, but men reject his service and testimony… He was not officially a prophet, being only a herdsman, but God was with him. So those who rejected him were fighting against God.
Amos asks how Jacob can rise. Israel's later history answered him, royal house by royal house.
With the house of Jehu Israel would fall. And that is what took place… Israel had been raised up again after each earlier fall, but not after the house of Jehu had fallen.
Writers have seen in Amos a picture of a greater Intercessor. His own name carries the thought:
In chapter 7 Amos himself becomes a foreshadowing of Christ as the great Intercessor. The name Amos means "burden." In his measure he carried the burden of Israel's sin and misery on his heart. So he pictured in advance the One who did the same in a far deeper way.
The same writer summarises what Christ is in this book, and fastens on the very word Amos uses here:
As Israel's Intercessor, begging God for them, that at least some might "arise" (or "stand," as other translations have it).
Twice God hears the plea and stops the blow. But the door of prayer does not stay open forever.
Let us remember that the Lord is "slow to anger"… Poor Jeremiah could tell God how he had stood in the gap to turn His anger away from the people. Then the Lord said to him, "Do not pray for this people," and the anger took its course. For intercession is always the place for the one who has the mind of God. It is where he makes a way for God's love, until the place for intercession is closed.
The delays were real. They were also temporary.
When the time came for judgment by the Assyrian, pictured by the locusts and the fire, no intercession could change it. Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser finally made an end of the sinful kingdom of the ten tribes.
- Burden. Amos carries Israel's sin and misery on his heart. In his measure he pictures the One who bore that burden far more deeply.
- Smallness. His only argument is that Jacob has no strength to rise again — helplessness, not merit, is what he lays before God.
- Mercy. The fire stops. God had spared Israel before, and the prayer of His servant holds back the blow again.
- Limit. Patience is not endless. Once it runs out, more delay would side with the evil, and the third vision brings the measuring-line.
- Now. Intercession is the place for anyone who shares God's mind. That place stays open for a time, and then it shuts.
Jehovah repented for this This also shall not be, said the Lord Jehovah.
Amos is watching his second vision. First came locusts. Now comes a fire that dries up the deep and starts to eat the land. Amos pleads again, and again God turns back. Two questions follow. How can prayer change God's mind? And how long can it keep doing so?
The chapter sets its visions in order, and this fire is not the last of them.
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the one before. First (verses 1-3) come the 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 run out, further delay would have meant sharing in the evil.
The fire is the middle step. It is worse than the locusts, and the same thing stops it.
He saw a furious fire sweeping everything before it. It even devoured the great deep, the floods of water. This is a more severe judgment than the previous one. The prophet's intercession held this judgment back too.
Older translations say God "repented." The ESV says He "relented," and in Numbers 23:19 it says God is not a man who would "change his mind." That word needs care. Scripture denies that God changes the way a man changes. It still says He turns when man turns.
God "is not a man … that he should repent" (Num. 23:19), but He does repent when man changes, especially when man repents.
A man asked, and the disaster did not come. One writer weighs what that says about prayer.
In more cases than one you can see the enormous power of prayer — enormous because God-given. It can even turn the mighty God from His purpose when He means to deal in judgment. Think of that! … In Jeremiah 26 we see how readily the Lord turns from wrath to mercy and pardon. Nothing brings about this wonderful change in Him like pleading and intercession. And if He is so ready to pardon, how much more ready to bless when we ask Him!
Amos does not argue that Israel deserves rescue. He pleads that Jacob is too small to stand. One writer sees a deeper likeness in the man himself.
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 the One who did the same in a far deeper way. The prophet admits the nation's smallness and helplessness, and begs God on its behalf. His prayer is effective, but men reject his service and testimony. He was not an official prophet, being only a herdsman, but God was with him. So those who rejected him were fighting against God.
Amos was not praying out of his own resources.
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 had stopped the scourge. That intercession was the Spirit of Christ working in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18).
The relief here is real, but it is only a delay. Two verses later the plumbline comes out, and there is no third reprieve.
But now the LORD would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand. Nothing would turn Him aside.
One writer traces the same limit in Jeremiah's life.
Jeremiah could appeal to God, and tell Him how he had stood in the gap to turn His anger away from the people. Then the Lord said to him, "Do not pray for this people," and the anger took its course. For intercession is always the place of the one who has the mind of God. It makes a way for God's love, until the place for intercession is closed.
Historically the delay ran out. What the locusts and the fire pictured arrived in flesh and blood, and by then no prayer altered it — Gaebelein points to Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser, who "finally made an end of the sinful ten-tribe kingdom."
- Patience — the fire is the second of three warnings. God is giving more time, not ignoring the sin.
- Prayer — a herdsman asks, and the fire stops. That power is great because God gave it.
- Pleading — Amos claims no merit for Israel. He pleads how small they are, and carries their misery as his own burden.
- Person — behind the prophet's prayer, commentators see the Spirit of Christ. Amos himself pictures the great Intercessor, whose service men rejected.
- Plumbline — the relief is only a delay. When the measuring-line comes out, the place for intercession is closed, and nothing turns God aside.