AMOS

Amos Chapter 7

Warning Visions

• Amos 7:1  Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 

Some believe these grasshoppers are actually locusts that quickly devour the trees and crops. Locusts are members of the grasshopper family of insects. Today we call them 17 year locusts. In 2024 it was 17 years after the last visit from the locusts. For some reason they return every 17 years at least in the United States.

• Amos 7:2  And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 
• 3  The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. 

Through the prayers of Amos, God had mercy and stopped the locusts. The prayers of the faithful avails much.

• 2Chronicles 7:13  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 
• 14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 
• 15  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 

God will hear our prayers of faith even those from a little child. In fact our prayers are bottled up. Especially those that are uttered by those that have been persecuted for righteousness sake.

• Revelation 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 

Saints is a term for all believers in Jesus, not just those assumed to earn that position by the church leadership. The term is given to all believers.

• Amos 7:4  Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 
• 5  Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. 
• 6  The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. 

Again Amos intercedes in prayer for the people and God stopped that judgment.

• Amos 7:7  Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 
• 8  And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 
• 9  And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 

Notice that Amos did not pray about this wall of judgment the Lord says He will send.

Amos Accused

• Amos 7:10  Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 
• 11  For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. 
• 12  Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 
• 13  But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 

This attempt to shoot the messenger always puzzles me. If God brings judgment to any one or any nation, nothing can be stopped by getting rid of the one who brings the message. In fact that might cause the judgment to come faster. There those today that want to change the bible into a politically correct version with nothing offensive to anyone. Now, just how is that going to change God's mind? Interceding with prayers of faith and repentance is the only way to get God to reverse judgment. When are we going to "Get" that?

• Amos 7:14  Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: 
• 15  And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 
• 16  Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 
• 17  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. 

Trying to stop Amos did not stop the judgment in that day. God sends prophets to warn and it is up to those that hear what the future results will be.

We see the wrath of God upon all who have presecuted and killed His people in the book of Revelation at the end times. However there are judgments all through history when people do not repent. We see also in the book of Jonah that I've mentioned before where the preaching of Jonah caused a whole citiy to repent. God stopped the judgment at that time. Jonah didn't like it much but God saw their repentance was genuine and delayed judgment. Ninevah went back into sin many years later but it was delayed by the repentance of those in Jonah's day.

If we do not know God, have not yet been saved from sin and are lost, all we have to do is repent, believe in the name of Jesus, the one who died for our sins, and we can be forgiven and granted eternal life. Repenting and receiving Jesus to enter our lives is the only way to be reconciled to God and be ready for eternity. It's the good way and the only way. We can learn love instead of hate and fear. -DC

Amos Chapter 8