Amos 7:1-17

     Amos chapter seven contains three visions from God, as well as a dialogue between the prophet and a corrupt priest associated with the calf worship in Israel. The first vision was of a locust plague which God was intending to send upon Israel because of some unnamed sin. But Amos prayed for his people that God would not send the judgment and the Lord changed His mind (Amo 7:1-3). God revealed a second vision to Amos in which He intended to send fire upon Israel to judge them. However, the prophet prayed again, asking God to spare His people, and again, the Lord changed His mind and did not send the judgment (Amo 7:4-6). “Some things that God intends to do are not firmly determined by Him; He is open to changing His mind about these things. However, He has decreed other things and no amount of praying will change His mind about those things (cf. Acts 1:11; Rev 22:20). It is, therefore, important that we understand, from Scripture, what aspects of His will are fixed and which are negotiable.”[1] The third vision was of God standing next to a vertical wall holding a plumb line in His hand (Amo 7:7-8a). A plumb line was an external standard used to measure buildings for straightness. Here, the plumb line represents God’s righteous standards by which He would measure Israel’s conformity to His character and laws. Because Israel was so far out of line with God’s will, the Lord declared, “I will spare them no longer” (Amo 7:8b). God then specifies the judgment, saying, “The high places of Isaac will be desolated and the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (Amo 7:9). This occurred in 722 B.C. when God sent the Assyrians to destroy Israel and take them away into captivity. After God’s declaration against Israel, Amos was approached by Amaziah, an apostate priest at Bethel who was associated with pagan calf worship and who was directly connected with king Jeroboam II. Amaziah went to the king and told him that Amos had conspired against him (Amo 7:10), saying, “Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile” (Amo 7:11). Amaziah then turned on Amos, saying, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence” (Amo 7:12-13). Amos replies to Amaziah and corrects his misunderstanding that Amos was part of a prophetic guild and that he earned his wages through his prophetic ministry. Amos informs Amaziah that he had a true calling from the Lord to prophesy to Israel and that his personal needs were met through his business as a herdsman and farmer (Amo 7:14-15). Amos then prophesies against Amaziah—who was telling him not to prophesy against Israel—and told him, “Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile” (Amo 7:17). Part of the conflict between Amaziah and Amos arose from competing loyalties. Whereas Amaziah was loyal to Jeroboam II who had probably appointed him priest and paid his salary, Amos was loyal to God who had called him into ministry. In the end, Amaziah was judged for trying to stifle the word of God as it was being communicated by Amos, the Lord’s prophet.

 

[1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Am 7:3.