21 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Amos 7 In this and the two following chapters are the visions of Amos, in number five; three of which are contained in this chapter, and with which it begins. The first is of the grasshoppers or locusts eating up the later grass of the land, which are stopped at the intercession of the prophet, Amos 7:1; the second is of fire the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus hath the Lord showed unto me,.... What follows in this and the two chapters, before the prophet delivered what he heard from the Lord; now what he saw, the same thing, the ruin of the ten tribes, is here expressed as before, but in a different form; before in prophecy, here in vision, the more to affect and work upon the hearts of the people:...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have, I. God contending with Israel, by the judgments, but are reprieved, and the judgments turned away at the prayer of Amos, ver. 1-6. 2. God's patience is at length worn out by their obstinacy, and they are rejected, and sentenced to utter ruin, ver. 7-9. II. Israel contending with God, by the opposition given to his prophet....
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thus hath the Lord God showed 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land,.... That is, the grasshoppers or locusts; when in the vision it seemed to the prophet that almost all the grass of the land was eaten up, and they were going to seize upon the corn, and other fruits of the earth: this signifies not Sennacherib's invasion of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord repented for this,.... He heard the prayer of the prophet, and at his intercession averted, the threatened judgment; thus the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, James 5:16; this is spoken after the manner of men; as men, when they repent of a thing, desist from it, so the Lord desisted from going on with this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus hath the Lord showed unto me,.... Another vision after this manner: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire; gave out that he would have a controversy with his people Israel, and proclaimed the time when he would try the cause with them, and that by fire: or he called his family, as Jarchi; that is, his angels, as Kimchi, to cause...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Thus hath the Lord God showed 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. This time, the prophet saw the fire...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee,.... From destroying the land; suffer not this calamity to proceed any further; using the same argument as before: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small; [See comments on Amos 7:2].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord repented for this,.... He heard the prophet's prayer, and desisted from going on with the threatened destruction: this also shall not be, saith the Lord God; the whole land shall not be destroyed, only a part of it carried captive.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus he showed me,.... A third vision, which was in the following manner: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand: this "wall" was the people of Israel, who were built up as a wall, firm and strong; and so stood against their enemies, while supported by the Lord, and he stood by them. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou?.... This question was put to him, the rather, since he was silent, and did not upon this vision, as the former, make any supplication to the Lord; as also, because this vision portended something of moment and importance, which he would have the prophet attend to: and I said, a plumbline; the same...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate,.... Such as the ten tribes of Israel, who descended from Isaac, built at Beersheba, in imitation of Isaac, and pleading his example; who worshipped there, though not idols, as they, but the true God; and in commemoration of his being bound upon an altar on Mount Moriah: but these, as the Septuagint...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel,.... The Targum calls him the prince or president of Bethel; and the word used signifies both a prince and a priest; and very probably this man had the care of the civil as well as religious matters in Bethel. Aben Ezra styles him the priest of Baal; he was one that succeeded the priests that Jeroboam the son of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword,.... Which was not saying truth; for Amos said not that Jeroboam should die by the sword, but that God would raise up the sword against his house or family; nor did Jeroboam die by the sword, but his son Zachariah did: and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land; this was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Also Amaziah said unto Amos,.... Either at the same time; or, it may be, after he had waited for the king's answer, and received none; or what did not come up to his expectations and wishes. We have no account of any answer the king returned; who either gave no heed to the representations of the priest, or had a better opinion of, he prophet, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But prophesy not again any more at Bethel,.... He might prophesy any where, if he did not there, for what the priest cared, that so his honour and interest were not hurt. The reasons he gave were, for it [is] the king's chapel; or "sanctuary" (i); where a temple was built for the idol calf, and where the king worshipped it, and attended all other...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah,.... With much freedom, boldness, and intrepidity, and yet with modesty and humility; not at all moved by his frowns or his flattery: I [was] no prophet, neither [was] I a prophet's son: he was not a prophet originally, or from his youth, as Kimchi; he was not born and bred one; neither his father was a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord took me as I followed the flock,.... Or "from behind" it (u); a description of a shepherd, such an one Amos was, and in this employ when the Lord called him, and took him to be a prophet; he did not seek after it, nor did he take this honour to himself; by which it appears that his mission was divine, and that he did not enter on this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord,.... Which I have from him concerning thee, and which he has pronounced upon thee and thy family: thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel; when God has bid me prophesy: and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac; say nothing against it, though in ever so soft and gentle a manner: it designs the...