Amos 7:4

"Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land. Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. Jehovah repented concerning this: This shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah."

No matter how this vision is understood, the meaning of it is exactly that of the preceding vision, namely, great disasters threatening Israel, and yet being averted through the intercession of the prophet. Since it was a vision, it could have been a fire so great that it burned up the sea (the "great deep"),[9] and even the earth itself was threatened, carrying with it suggestions of the great and final Judgment Day itself. "This is not for Amos a naturalistic vision. This is the supernatural fire of the Lord's judgment."[10] There is certainly nothing wrong with this interpretation. Some scholars, however perhaps overlooking the fact that this is a vision, have interpreted it naturalistically, making it, "A drought so intense that the great subterranean depths which supply the springs and streams with water dried up."[11] It really makes no difference at all which view is taken; the message is the same either way. It would appear that the vision's being that of a supernatural event is preferable. Keil understood the fire as, "not an earthly fire, but the fire of the wrath of God";[12] and Barnes thought that the destruction of the sea by fire (in the vision) was a symbol of, "The fire of the Day of Judgment."[13] Schultz and others insist that it is "the summer heat."[14] Refer to the interpretation of the first vision, above, for the meaning here; for it is identical with this. Regarding some particular historical situation that may, along with others, be symbolized by this, Dean has:

"The particular calamity alluded to is the second invasion of Tiglath-Pelese II, when he conquered Gilead and the northern part of the kingdom, and carried some of the people captive to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29)."[15]

The spiritual overtones of the passage describing these two visions are definite and impressive; and the introduction of what appeared to be a threat of the final judgment itself is a strong suggestion that all of the great punitive judgments of God upon rebellious humanity are typical of the ultimate and final judgment that will be executed at the Last Day. Mankind should never forget that the entire race of Adam's posterity are still living under the primeval sentence of death imposed in Genesis 2:17, a sentence which was never vacated or repealed, but only deferred, and is yet destined to be executed in its fullness upon humanity. There are surely overtones of that in the passage before us.