Amos 7

General context

The Lord God shows Amos grasshoppers formed "in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth," after "the king’s mowings." When they finish eating the grass, Amos says, "O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small," and "The Lord repented for this: It shall not be." A second showing is fire that devours "the great deep" and eats "a part"; Amos says, "O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee," and again the Lord repents. In the third the Lord stands "upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand" and asks, "Amos, what seest thou?" Amos answers, "A plumbline." The Lord will set a plumbline among his people and "not again pass by them any more"; the high places of Isaac will be desolate and he will rise against "the house of Jeroboam with the sword." Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, sends word to Jeroboam that "Amos hath conspired against thee," reporting that Amos says Jeroboam will die by the sword. Amaziah tells Amos, "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah," and not to prophesy at Beth-el, "for it is the king’s chapel." Amos answers that he was "no prophet" but "an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit," taken by the Lord from the flock, and he speaks a sentence on Amaziah's wife, children and land.

Cited passages: Amos 7:1, Amos 7:2, Amos 7:3, Amos 7:4, Amos 7:5, Amos 7:6, Amos 7:7, Amos 7:8, Amos 7:9, Amos 7:10, Amos 7:11, Amos 7:12, Amos 7:13, Amos 7:14, Amos 7:15, Amos 7:17

Amos 7 (KJV)

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Historical context

Amaziah is identified by office and place, "the priest of Beth-el," and Jeroboam as "king of Israel," the king already named at 1:1 as "Jeroboam the son of Joash." Amos states his own former work in his own words: "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit," and he says the Lord took him "as I followed the flock." What Amaziah reports and what the printed vision says differ: the vision at verse 9 says the Lord will rise "against the house of Jeroboam with the sword," while Amaziah's message says Amos said "Jeroboam shall die by the sword." The chapter does not say whether Amos spoke that second sentence. Beth-el is called "the king’s chapel" and "the king’s court," which is why Amaziah orders the prophesying to stop there. Isaac stands as a name for the people, at "the high places of Isaac" and "the house of Isaac." No outcome is narrated: the chapter ends with the sentence spoken and nothing carried out.

Cited passages: Amos 7:10, Amos 1:1, Amos 7:14, Amos 7:15, Amos 7:9, Amos 7:11, Amos 7:13, Amos 7:16, Amos 7:17

Literary context

Three visions open with almost the same line, "Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me," and the first two run the same course: a destroying thing, the same plea, "by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small," and the same result, "The Lord repented for this." The third breaks the pattern. Instead of a plea there is a question to the man, "Amos, what seest thou?", and the answer is one word repeated back, "A plumbline." Nothing is withdrawn this time; the Lord says he "will not again pass by them any more." The wall is already described as one "made by a plumbline," and the same tool is then set "in the midst of my people Israel." The chapter then leaves vision for narrative, a message sent to a king and an exchange between two named men, and it turns on who may speak where. Amos answers the order "prophesy not" by describing what he was before he was sent, and the sentence he then gives falls on Amaziah's own household rather than on the nation.

Cited passages: Amos 7:1, Amos 7:4, Amos 7:7, Amos 7:2, Amos 7:5, Amos 7:3, Amos 7:8, Amos 7:13, Amos 7:14, Amos 7:17

Key moments

1. Forgive, I beseech thee (Amos 7:2). After the grasshoppers eat the grass, Amos asks the Lord to forgive because Jacob is small.
2. The Lord repented (Amos 7:3). The Lord says the thing shown will not be.
3. The plumbline (Amos 7:7). The Lord stands on a wall made by a plumbline, holding a plumbline.
4. Amos, what seest thou (Amos 7:8). Amos names what he sees and is told the Lord will not pass by Israel again.
5. Amaziah sends to Jeroboam (Amos 7:10). The priest of Beth-el reports to the king that Amos has conspired against him.
6. I was no prophet (Amos 7:14). Amos tells Amaziah he was a herdman and gatherer of sycomore fruit, not a prophet.
7. Sentence on Amaziah (Amos 7:17). Amos speaks a sentence on Amaziah's wife, children, land and death.

For reflection

Twice Amos asks the Lord to stop and twice "The Lord repented for this." At the plumbline he is asked a question and says only what he sees. What changes between the second vision and the third that the chapter does not explain?

People in this chapter

• Jacob
• Amos
• Isaac
• Judah

Also indexed here:

• Amaziah
• Jeroboam