He tells them that The LORD had showed him five visions to prophesy against them. This was not just a dream but a visual message from God.
The first was locusts. (v1-3) I read that locusts are a form of grasshoppers in caterpillar stage. These were at the beginning of the late crop after the king’s mowings so this would leave the people with no harvest. Amos asked The LORD to forgive for Jacob was small and would get nothing after the locusts had stripped the land bare. It is clear that the prayer was answered and God answered their plea for mercy. It is reassuring that God answers prayer.
The second was fire and it consumed the great deep (it dried up the water) and devoured the territory (v4-6). Amos did what he did before and prayed and God answered and, in His mercy, answered.
The third vision was a plumb line (v7-9). Today one would use a spirit level but before that a plumb line would be used to see if walls are straight vertically. God was using this to see if Israel was in line with Him and His standards. Israel was way out of line– “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”
This would not have made pleasant hearing This time the prophet doesn’t ask for mercy as he realises how bad they are. He sees the nation as God sees it. We must remember that God sees things from His perspective not ours and He will deal with it as He sees fit, and He is never wrong whatever we may think.
In verses 10-13 an incident took place before we read of the next two visions. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, was not a godly man. He was priest of idolatrous worship and sent a message to King Jeraboam, who was not a good king. Amaziah spread the message was that Amos was conspiring to kill the king and against the people of Israel. He told Amos to flee to Judah and never prophesy against Bethel again. These idolatrous priests did not like to hear about or preach about sin whereas Amos was telling it like it is.
It is ever the same today, false teachers will only tell you what you want to hear, that we are all good, just like Paul wrote to Timothy – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2Timothy 4:3,4)
Even the priests were ignoring the prophet’s warnings and Amos replied that he was not a prophet nor the son of a prophet but a farmer when the LORD called him and showed him the message he was giving. He was no conspirator but a loyal citizen and one who obeyed the LORD and was concerned for the good of his people. He had even prayed that God would stay His hand in the first two prophesies (v14,15).
The LORD gave His answer that their wives would become prostitutes and their sons and daughters would be killed by the sword. Their land would be divided and the people would be led away captive into exile. (V16,17) Even though he was using Amos’ words to turn the king against him, accusing him of conspiracy, ironically the message of Amaziah would amazingly come true that people would die and others go into exile. Amos had been brave enough to speak the words of The LORD. Amaziah had warned Amos not to speak these things, but Amos obeyed The LORD.
