For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Amos 7:1-9

1 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

3 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

6 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

A. Find Out

1. What was the first of three pictures the Lord showed Amos? v.1
2. What was Amos’s reaction and so the Lord’s response? v.2,3
3. What was the second picture? v.4
4. What was Amos’s reaction and so the Lord’s response? v.5,6
5. What was His third picture and its meaning? v.7,8
6. What did the Lord explain would happen? v.9

B. Think:

1. What was the extent of the first two destructions revealed?
2. How did Amos argue against them?
3. How was the third picture different in intent and outworking?

C. Comment:

The first half of this chapter (v.1-9) shows three visions that the Lord gave Amos. The first one was of a swarm of locusts coming to strip the land bare (v.1,2a) and when Amos sees this, he cries out that such a judgment will completely destroy Israel (v.2b). The Lord’s response is to relent. (v.3).

The second picture is of fire, that devoured the land (v.4) and Amos cries out again with the same plea (v.5), and again the Lord relents (v.6).

The third picture is different; it is not of destruction as such but the reason why the Lord might be bringing judgment. It is of a plumb line (v.7) and the Lord conforms He is coming to assess Israel and, when they are found wanting, judge them (v.8), and it is specifically against the idol worship of the northern kingdom and King Jeroboam (v.9) that had clearly never been dealt with since its inception.

What is interesting about this half of the chapter is that it reveals two things. First, the Lord’s intention to bring a severe judgment on the land because of its idolatry. Second, the Lord’s willingness to relent when Amos realises the severity of what could come. It is almost as if the Lord indicates this is what could happen, but when the prophet is able to realize and declare the awfulness of that, He will show that His intention is not to entirely wipe out the nation, just send them into exile. History shows that some did return to join the south.(2 Chron 30:6-11).

D. Application:

1. God’s judgments are always very controlled, to achieve a purpose.
2. God clearly wants His spokesmen to understand His heart here.  

Amos 7:10-17

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

A. Find Out

1. Who told who about Amos? v.10
2. What did he say Amos had been saying? v.11
3. What things did he then tell Amos to do? v.12,13
4. What does Amos explain of his calling? v.14,15
5. What had they told Amos to do? v.16
6. What fivefold answer did Amos give? v.17

B. Think:

1. What do we see here about Amos and his calling?
2. What state was the priest clearly in?
3. How was the Lord’s answer all-embracing?

C. Comment:

We move from prophecy, in the first half of this chapter, to see opposition that Amos was receiving. It came in the form of a priest at Bethel who, from either fear or jealousy, reported to the king what Amos had been prophesying (v.10), that the current king, Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:23-29) would die by the sword (v.11), although there is no record in Scripture of his death,  and it is more likely, looking at Amos’s prophecies, that he has been referring to Jeroboam I who first led Israel astray with his idols.

After telling the king, the priest challenges Amos, demanding he leaves the area (v.12) and stops prophesying (v.13). Amos, in a self-deprecating manner simply explains he hadn’t been raised as a prophet but was in fact a shepherd when the Lord called him (v.14) and told him to go and prophesy to Israel (v.15). He is quite clear in his calling.

Having explained, he moves back into full prophetic mode and first reiterates what the priest has been doing, trying to stop him bringing the word of the Lord (v.16) and because of that the Lord will bring disciplinary punishment on the priest’s wife and sons (v.17a), will divide his land and (by implication) he himself will be taken into captivity where he will die (v.17b). Moreover, the things he has been saying about Israel will be proved true (implied) for Israel WILL be taken into captivity in exile in a foreign land. (v.17c).

D. Application:

1. God’s message does not change just because people don’t like it.
2. God’s messenger is called to remain faithful, even when opposed.