Amos
Amos 7
Chapter VII · Vol. III, p. 1440
1 The judgments of the grasshoppers, 4 and of the fire, are diverted by the prayer of Amos. 7 By a wall and plumb-line is signified the desolation of Israel. 10 Amaziah complaineth of Amos. 14 Amos showeth his calling, 16 and Amaziah's judgment.
1 Thus hath the Lord GOD ashowed unto me; and, behold, bhe formed 1grasshoppers2 in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.3
A.M. cir. 3214. B.C. cir. 790.
a ver.4,7. Je.1.11-14.
b ch.4.9. Joel 1.4;2.11. Is.33.4. Na.3.15,17.
1 Or, green worms.
2 The word is rendered 'locusts,' Is.33.4.—Newcome. Locusts in their caterpillar state, when they do most mischief.—Parkhurst.
3 Grass is seldom mowed in the East. Instead of cutting down, the idea is more probably eating down; and should therefore be translated 'the king's feedings.' This was at the close of the summer, when autumn was coming on, at which time the locusts breed.—C.
2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, cO Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise?4 ford he is small.
c Ex.32.11;34.9. Nu.14.17-19. Je.14.7,20,21. Da.9.19.
4 Or, who of (or for) Jacob shall stand?
4 Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me; and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by gfire,6 and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
g He.1.7. ch.1.4;7.4,7, with 2 Ki.15.19,29.
6 By fire. This may signify either drought or lightning, domestic incendiaries or foreign invaders, burning what they could not carry away. The 'burning,' however, 'of the great deep,' would seem rather to refer to a vision in which the very sea seemed consumed, as the emblem of a great and unparalleled judgment.—C.
5 Thenh said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
h See ver.2. Ex.32.11.
7 Thus he showed me; and, behold, the Lord stood upon a jwall made by a plumb-line, with ka plumb-line in his hand.
8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line7 in the midst of my people Israel: lI will not again pass by them any more:
7 The test of uprightness.—C.
l ch.8.2;5.17. Mi.7.18. Na.1.8,9. Eze.7.2-13.
9 And nthe high places of Isaac8 shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I owill rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
n ch.3.14;5.5;8.14. Le.26.30,31, with Ge.26.25;46.1;35.14,15.
o 2 Ki.15.10.
8 The grove at Beer-sheba, where Isaac dwelt and built an altar to God, Ge.26.25;46.1; and which the idolaters had now perverted to their own abominable purposes.—C.
10 Then Amaziah, pthe priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos qhath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
p 1 Ki.12.31,32. Je.20.2,3, with 2 Ki.14.23,24.
q Ezr.4.15. Ne.6.6. Je.26.9,10. Lu.23.2. Ac.24.5.
11 For rthus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
r ver.9. Ps.56.5.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou sseer, tgo, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for uit is the king's chapel,9 and it is the king's court.1
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet,2 neither was I a prophet's son; but I was van herdman, and a gatherer3 of sycamore fruit:4
2 Educated, 2 Ki.2.3,5;4.38;6.1. 1 Ki.20.35.
v ch.1.1. Zec.13.5. 1 Co.1.27.
3 A gatherer. Rather, dresser—the tree requiring careful management.—C.
4 Or, wild figs.
15 And the LORD took me as I followed5 the flock, and the LORD said unto me, xGo, prophesy unto my people Israel.6
5 Heb. from behind.
x 2 Sa.7.8. Mat.4.19-22. Ac.4.19,20,29.
6 Amaziah orders Amos to prophesy no more against Bethel. This is his simple, yet noble, reply. The prophetic office was not of his own seeking. He had received no official training, no human instruction. It was not as a mere matter of course, arising from the nature of his office, that he prophesied. His ministry is not human, it is divine. He was commissioned not by man, but by God. He could not, therefore, cease from the work to which God had called him. Like the apostles under similar circumstances, he would obey God rather than man.—P.
16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: thou sayest, yProphesy not against Israel, and zdrop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; aThy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and bthy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a cpolluted land: and Israel dshall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
Notes
Ver. 1-9. These things were represented to Amos in a vision. The vermin not only consumed the fruits of the ground, but were an emblem of the Assyrian ravagers. The terrible lightning, or drought, dried up their rivers, and destroyed part of the people, or figured out the devastations begun by Tiglath-pileser in Gilead and Galilee. The straight wall signified the Hebrew nation, formed and regulated by the most just laws; and the plumb-line denoted that their conduct was discovered as not answerable to their laws, and therefore God would no longer forbear to punish them.
Ver. 16. Isaac. They call themselves by 'Isaac,' rather than by Abraham or Jacob; taking advantage of the antiquity of Isaac's altar to sanction their modern idolatry. Even as Rome takes advantage of the antiquity of her name and power to sanction her innovations in doctrine and worship, and countenance her usurpations over Christian rights and liberties. C.
Reflections.—God executes diversified judgments upon obstinate sinners; and commonly directs his strokes in a gradual manner. Yet often the earnest supplications of God's ministers divert his judgment for a time. And even the low and distressed case of nations and churches are a plea with his mercy. But at last utter, though just, destruction shall overtake the incorrigible revolters from his law; and neither temples nor palaces can protect from ruin, but concur to render them more miserable. Furious persecution is the common reward of ministers' faithful warnings and fervent prayers from their wicked neighbours. And none are more ready to wrest their words, and accuse and persecute them as traitors, than profane clergymen, as their fidelity and diligence are a standing reproach to themselves. They who are prompted by all their religion by carnal hopes of provision or preferment are apt to imagine everybody as mean and selfish as themselves. But it is a great comfort, especially in evil times, for ministers to have had a clear call to their work. And if men, even the greatest, oppose them, God will attest their mission and messages in the fearful ruin of their enemies. And it is at our infinite hazard to attempt silencing even the weakest whom God hath commanded to speak.