Amos 7:1-9 Cry For Mercy
God shows Amos three different visions of destruction for the land of Israel. Amos’ cry for mercy is answered twice as God relented. But the third time stands firm.
This story reminds me of when Abram was bartering with God to spare Sodom and Gomora. God listened to Abram’s heart each time he brought the number of righteous people down. Abram started at 100 and ended at 10. “Surely, there are TEN righteous men in that city” is Abram’s thought. God agrees to look for the 10, but if He can’t find them, then the whole region would be destroyed. There weren’t 10 found in ALL the land so they received the fury of the Lord.
God is showing Amos the measures of judgment He has prepared for Israel. God starts with locust. God starts “forming” the locust just as the second planting was starting to grow. The second planting MAY have been for the people as this was the “growth after the king’s mowings” (verse 1b). Instead of God getting the first fruits, it looks like the king got them. What would grow in the second planting would feed the people. This is what God was showing Amos He would destroy by the locust.
Locust eat EVERYTHING! Any crop they encounter becomes their food and they ravage it until it is completely used up. It is total devastation!
God hasn’t done it yet. Amos sees God’s preparations in a vision and cries out, “O Lord God, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” (verse 2b). God listens to Amos plea and abandon’s that judgment; for the time being.
Next, God shows Amos a vision of judgment by fire. This fire was so hot that it even burnt up the sea. The land was next for even the water had not quenched it. THAT is a RAGING inferno! It is also reminiscent of when God sent fire from Heaven to consume Elijah’s offering when in competition with Baal’s priests.
Elijah, in the preparation of his offering to God had it SOAKED down with water to the point that the trench running around the altar was filled with standing water. When God sent fire to prove HE was the ONLY God, it consumed EVERY DROP of water on and around the altar. It even consumed the stones of the altar. This is the kind of fire God is showing Amos.
Amos cries out again for mercy. Amos uses ALMOST the same words. He has changed from “please forgive” to “please cease” (verse 5a). His reasoning is the same though. “How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” (verse 5b).
While I was thinking about the difference in these two pleas, something occurred to me. With the locust, widespread starvation would be the result. Presumably, the people would have been able to tough it out or find another source while waiting for the next harvest to come in. With the fire, NONE would survive it! A fire this BIG and this HOT, would consume them completely. There would be nothing but ashes left; like Sodom and Gomora.
Amos’ cry was more urgent with the fire. STOP GOD! PLEASE!!! Not demanding, but urgently appealing for the peoples’ lives.
This reminds me of my husband maneuvering about our house in his new power wheel chair. He has a condition called “Left Neglect”, which makes it to where he doesn’t see or even attend to things on the left side of him. When he navigates passages between furniture or doorways, I have to be right there to cue him to correct his path. When it is a simple course adjustment, I call out “right, Right, RIGHT”. He doesn’t listen until I get loud. But when he runs into something because he didn’t listen to the first correction, I have to call out “stop, Stop, STOP” instead. This is because he keeps trying to go even though he is up against a wall or shelf or whatever. The urgency of situation is what determines my response. Amos’ was MUCH MORE urgent with the fire than the locust, as it pose a MUCH greater threat to the people’s lives.
“Fine”, says God. And He relents again. The next time though, God does something different. He pulls out a “plumbline”. This is a measuring tool that shows how far out of center something is. When you drop a plumbline, gravity does all the work of making the line straight. The line will NEVER drop with a bend or angle in it. Once the line hits the bottom, the one holding the top of the line can move it and cause a variation in angle IF he chooses to do so. Doing so would render the tool useless though.
God will NOT move the top of the line. So, Amos and all those listening to God’s words through Amos, have to measure their actions and hearts against this standard. It is completely obvious how far out of line the people are. God says, “I won’t destroy them with locust or fire but I’m NOT going to stand around and ignore their sin. I’m done with them.” “I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (verses 8b-9).
THIS vision was one God was NOT going to relent on. Amos didn’t even ask Him to. Amos could ‘see’ the deviation from the plumbline too. And he KNEW God was righteous in His decision.
God’s standards haven’t changed throughout time. His plumbline is still as true today as in the days of creation. If we were to measure our lives solely by that plumbline, we would ALL be FAR OFF from center. Even Amos wouldn’t be able to stand as straight as the plumbline. But God holds out mercy and grace for those who are TRYING to measure up. Israel had no desire to even look at God’s plumbline. THAT is why He said He was done with them; AT THAT TIME.
When WE try with our own might to bring our lives in complete agreement with God’s plumbline, we can’t do it. No matter how hard we try. It takes the work of Jesus on the cross to even begin the process of lining up with God’s standards. Then it takes a willing heart; willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and to follow where He leads, to get our lives even close to meeting His standards. The willingness to try is all He is asking from us.
Father God, I want my life to ‘measure up’ to Your standards. I KNOW I have MORE work to do before I’m even halfway there. I can ONLY do it through Your Spirit working in my life. Help me yield EACH AND EVERY TIME. THANK YOU for NOT using destructive judgments on my life. I’m CERTAIN I have earned them, but YOUR grace has seen me through instead. Keep working on me Father!
