Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Amos
Chapter 7: Behold, I Will Set a Plumbline
Amos 7 turns from oracles to visions, and to the prophet's own story. God shows Amos two judgments, a devouring locust swarm and a consuming fire, and twice the prophet throws himself into the gap, 'O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small,' and twice 'the LORD repented.' Then comes a third vision that will not be turned aside: the Lord stands with 'a plumbline in his hand,' the true measure by which crooked Israel is judged, and He says, 'I will not again pass by them any more.' The chapter closes with a clash between the prophet and the establishment, as Amaziah the priest of Bethel tries to silence and expel him. Amos answers with the humblest and boldest of testimonies: 'I was no prophet... but the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Amos chapter 7, the visions of judgment, the prophet's intercession, and his confrontation with Amaziah. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter shows the power of intercessory prayer, God's righteous standard, and the courage of a man called by God. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
O Lord GOD, Forgive
A prophet standing in the gap, and God relenting.
A Plumbline in His Hand
God testing His people by a true standard.
The King's Chapel
A priest of the establishment tries to silence the prophet.
The LORD Took Me
A herdman made a prophet by the sovereign call of God.
By Whom Shall Jacob Arise? (Amos 7:1-9)
God shows Amos judgments of locusts and fire, and twice the prophet's intercession stays the LORD's hand; then a third vision, the plumbline, sets God's true measure against a crooked people, and this judgment will not be turned aside.
Behold, I Will Set a Plumbline in the Midst of My People
"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. 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. The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. 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. Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 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: 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."
Hebrew Study
"The LORD repented for this," nacham (נָחַם), to relent, to be moved to compassion, to turn from a course. This does not mean God sinned or made a mistake; it is the Bible's way of describing God responding to prayer, turning from a threatened judgment when His servant intercedes. Amos cried, "O Lord GOD, forgive," and "The LORD repented... It shall not be." God's warnings are often conditional invitations to repentance, and He genuinely responds to the prayers of His people, "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). The same word describes God relenting at Moses' plea (Exodus 32:14) and at Nineveh's repentance (Jonah 3:10). Prayer is no empty ritual; God has ordained it as a real means by which mercy comes.
"a plumbline," anak (אֲנָךְ). A plumbline is a cord weighted with lead, dropped beside a wall to test whether it is truly vertical or dangerously out of line. God sets a plumbline "in the midst of my people Israel", He measures them against His own straight standard, and they are found crooked. A wall too far out of true is not repaired but torn down, and so "I will not again pass by them any more." The image teaches that God has a fixed standard of righteousness and measures every life by it, "judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet" (Isaiah 28:17). We are not the measure of ourselves; God is, and His plumbline is perfectly straight in Jesus Christ, the only life ever built exactly true.
Explanation
God gives Amos three visions. In the first, a locust swarm ("grasshoppers") devours the late crop, the "latter growth" that was Israel's last hope of food after the king took his share. Amos cannot bear it and intercedes: "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." He pleads Israel's helplessness, and "the LORD repented... It shall not be." In the second vision a supernatural "fire" dries up "the great deep" and begins to consume the land; again Amos cries, "O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee," and again God relents, "This also shall not be."
The third vision is different. The Lord stands by a wall "with a plumbline in his hand" and asks, "Amos, what seest thou?" This time there is no plea, for the plumbline shows Israel is fatally out of true, and the sentence is fixed: "I will not again pass by them any more." The corrupt "high places" and "sanctuaries" will be laid waste, and God will "rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." Twice mercy delayed the blow; but a people who will not be straightened must at last be measured and, being crooked, judged.
Gospel Focus
See first the power and duty of intercession. When judgment loomed, Amos did not gloat; he pleaded, "O Lord GOD, forgive," and God relented. This is the ministry God still seeks, people who "stand in the gap" for others (Ezekiel 22:30). God looks for intercessors and honors their prayers; twice here a nation's judgment was stayed by one man's cry. If we truly believed that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," we would pray for the perishing far more than we do. Christ Himself is the great Intercessor who "ever liveth to make intercession" (Hebrews 7:25), and He calls us to join Him in praying for a world under judgment.
See also the plumbline. God has a standard, and it is not ours. We love to measure ourselves against other people, or against our own past, and pronounce ourselves straight enough. But God drops His plumbline, His own perfect righteousness, and by that measure "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). No wall of our own building is truly plumb. Yet the gospel is that One was: Jesus Christ lived a life perfectly true to God's line, and He offers to be our righteousness, "made unto us... righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30). The plumbline that condemns us drives us to the only One who measures true, and in Him crooked sinners are counted straight.
The LORD Took Me as I Followed the Flock (Amos 7:10-17)
Amaziah the priest of Bethel accuses Amos to the king and orders him to flee and prophesy no more at the royal shrine; Amos answers that he is no professional prophet but a herdman seized by God's call, and pronounces a solemn judgment on the priest who would silence God's word.
Go, Prophesy Unto My People Israel
"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. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 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: And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court." Amaziah's objection reveals everything wrong with Bethel's religion. He calls the shrine "the king's chapel" (literally, "the king's sanctuary") and "the king's court", it belongs to the crown, serves the crown, and dares not offend the crown. Religion had become an arm of the state, a chaplaincy to power, existing to bless the king rather than to speak God's word to him. Whenever the church becomes the servant of political power, unwilling to rebuke it, the prophetic voice is the first casualty. True worship belongs to God, not to any king, and God's messengers answer to Him, not to the palace.
"I was no prophet... but the LORD took me as I followed the flock." Amos disclaims any professional standing: he was not trained in the prophetic guilds ("a prophet's son"), but a "herdman" and "a gatherer of sycomore fruit," a working man. His authority rests on one thing: "the LORD took me... and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy." This is the pattern of God's calling throughout Scripture, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise... and things which are despised" (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). The Lord Jesus called fishermen; God still takes ordinary people from ordinary work and sends them with His word. The qualification for God's service is not pedigree or position but His call.
Explanation
Amos's preaching provokes the establishment. "Amaziah the priest of Bethel" reports him to King Jeroboam as a conspirator, "the land is not able to bear all his words," twisting Amos's warning of judgment into treason. Then he confronts Amos directly, ordering him to "flee thee away into the land of Judah," to go earn his "bread" prophesying elsewhere, and above all, "prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel." The priest of a royal shrine cannot tolerate a word that threatens the king who pays him.
Amos's reply is a model of humble courage. He claims no rank: "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman." He did not choose this; "the LORD took me as I followed the flock" and commanded, "Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." Because his authority is God's call, he cannot be silenced by a priest. So he turns Amaziah's own command back on him, "Thou sayest, Prophesy not," and delivers a devastating personal judgment: Amaziah's wife, children, and land will be lost, and he himself will "die in a polluted land" in exile. The man who tried to silence God's word will be swept away with the nation he refused to warn.
Gospel Focus
Amos's answer to Amaziah is a gift to every ordinary believer who feels unqualified to serve God. "I was no prophet... but the LORD took me as I followed the flock." He had no credentials, only a call, and that was enough. God delights to take unlikely people, herdsmen, fishermen, tax collectors, and send them with His word, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called" (1 Corinthians 1:26). If God has called you, you need no other pedigree; and if He has put His word in you, no Amaziah has the authority to silence it. "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
And the confrontation warns against a religion captive to power. Amaziah's fatal words were "it is the king's chapel", worship bent to serve the throne, unwilling to speak truth to it. Whenever the fear of man, of the king, the crowd, the culture, muzzles the word of God, the salt has lost its savour. God's messengers must answer to God alone, speaking His word whether it pleases the powerful or not. Amaziah tried to protect his comfortable place by silencing the prophet, and lost everything; Amos risked everything by speaking, and stands forever as God's faithful servant. Better to be a herdman with God's word than a court priest without it.
Chapter 7 in Review
Amos 7 moves from vision to confrontation. God shows the prophet judgments of locusts and fire, and twice Amos stands in the gap, "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small," and twice "the LORD repented." But the third vision cannot be turned aside: the Lord sets "a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel," and a nation measured crooked must be judged. Then Amaziah the priest tries to silence and expel Amos from "the king's chapel," and Amos answers with humble boldness: "I was no prophet... but the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy," pronouncing judgment on the priest who would muzzle God's word.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is rich with instruction. It shows the real power of intercession, that God relents in answer to the prayers of His servants, and calls us to stand in the gap for a perishing world as our great Intercessor does. It holds up the plumbline of God's righteous standard, by which no life of ours is straight, and which drives us to Christ, the only life built perfectly true. And it dignifies the humblest servant with the highest calling: God takes herdsmen and sends them with His word, and no earthly power can silence the voice that God has raised. Better a herdman with God's word than a king's priest without it.
- Intercession is powerful: twice Amos's plea stayed judgment, and "the LORD repented" (7:3, 6; James 5:16).
- God seeks those who will "stand in the gap" and pray for others (Ezekiel 22:30; Hebrews 7:25).
- God measures every life by His own plumbline, and we are found crooked (7:8; Isaiah 28:17; Romans 3:23).
- Only Christ is built perfectly true, and He is made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).
- Religion captive to power silences the prophet: "it is the king's chapel" (7:13; Acts 5:29).
- God calls ordinary people by His word alone: "I was no prophet... but the LORD took me" (7:14-15; 1 Corinthians 1:26-28).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you intercede for those under judgment, or only observe them?
- When God drops His plumbline beside your life, where are you out of true?
- Is there any way the fear of people tempts you to silence God's word?
- Do you believe God can use you, an ordinary person, simply because He calls you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: nacham ("repented," relented, verses 3, 6); anak ("plumbline," verses 7-8). God relenting in response to intercession: Exodus 32:10-14; Numbers 14:11-20; Jonah 3:9-10; and the certainty of God's own nature, Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29. Standing in the gap and the power of prayer: Ezekiel 22:30; Genesis 18:22-33; James 5:16-18; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Hebrews 7:25. God's plumbline and standard of righteousness: Isaiah 28:17; 2 Kings 21:13; Lamentations 2:8; Romans 3:23; and Christ our righteousness, 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21. Religion serving political power: Jeremiah 20:1-2; 26:8-15; 1 Kings 22:8-28. God calling the lowly and unqualified: Exodus 3:11; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29; Acts 4:13. Obeying God rather than men: Acts 4:19-20; 5:29. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The visions of locusts and fire, Amos's intercession, and the plumbline of God's standard: Amos 7:1-9; James 5:16; Isaiah 28:17.
- Amaziah's attempt to silence the prophet and Amos's testimony of God's call: Amos 7:10-17; Acts 5:29; 1 Corinthians 1:26-28.