Amos 7:4-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Amos 7:1-9

We here see that God bears long, but that he will not bear always, with a provoking people, both these God here showed the prophet: Thus hath the Lord God showed me, Amos 7:1, 4, 7. He showed him what was present, foreshowed him what was to come, gave him the knowledge both of what he did and of what he designed; for the Lord God reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets, Amos 3:7. I. We have here two instances of God's sparing mercy, remembered in the midst of judgment, the narratives... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 7:4

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 fire to descend upon Israel, as upon Sodom and Gomorrah; so other Rabbins Kimchi mentions: or, as he interprets it, the scorching heat of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 7:5

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 Gill on Amos 7:2 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Amos 7:6

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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 7:4

The Lord God called to contend by fire - Permitted war, both civil and foreign, to harass the land, after the death of Jeroboam the second. These wars would have totally destroyed it, had not the prophet interceded. It devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part - We are here to understand the partially destructive wars which afterwards took place; for the Lord causes all these things to pass before the eyes of Amos in the vision of prophecy; and intimates that, at the intercession of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 7:4

Verse 4 The Prophet shows that God had not once only spared the people, but that when he was again prepared for vengeance, he still willingly deferred it, that, if possible, the people might willingly recover themselves: but as all were unhealable, this forbearance of God produced no fruit. Now as to the words of the Prophet, we see that a heavier punishment is designated by the similitude of fire, than by what he said before when he spoke of locusts. We stated that by locusts is to be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Amos 7:6

Verse 6 He adds, that God was again pacified. We must ever bear in mind the object he had in view; for ungodly men thought the Prophets to be liars, whenever God did not immediately execute the vengeance he had denounced: but Amos here reminds them, that when God defers punishment, he does not in vain threaten, but waits for men to repent; and that if they still go on in abusing his patience, they will have at last to feel how dreadful is the vengeance which awaits all those who thus pervert... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 7:1-6

Revelation and prayer. "Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me," etc. This portion of the Book of Amos ( Amos 7:1-17 and Amos 8:1-14 ) contains four symbolical visions respecting successive judgments that were to be inflicted on the kingdom of Israel. They were delivered at Bethel, and in all probability at the commencement of the prophet's ministry. Each of them, as it follows in the series, is more severe than the preceding. The first presented to the mental eye of the prophet a swarm... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 7:4

Called to contend by fire; Septuaguint, ἐκάλεσε τὴν δίκην ἐν πυρί , "called for judgment by fire;" Vulgate, vocabat judicium ad ignem. God called the people to try their cause with him by sending fire as a punishment among them (comp. Isaiah 66:16 ; Ezekiel 38:22 ); and in the vision the fire is represented as so vehement that it devoured the great deep, drank up the very ocean itself ( Genesis 7:11 ; Isaiah 51:10 ); or the subterranean fountains and springs, as Genesis... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Amos 7:4-6

§ 2. The second vision devouring fire, represents a more severe judgment than the preceding one, involving greater consequences, but still one which was again modified by the prayers of the righteous prophet. read more

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