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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.

Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me — sc. In a prophetic vision: this being the first of those five that follow to the end of the prophecy; all foretelling the evils that should befall this people, to whom Amos is again sent, as Ahijah was to Jeroboam’s wife, with heavy tidings, and as Ezekiel was afterwards to his rebellious countrymen, with a roll written full of lamentations, and mourning, and woe, Ezekiel 2:10 .

And, behold, he formed grasshoppers — Or, locusts, forerunners of famine, Joel 1:4 , See Trapp on " Joel 1:4 " or (as some will), of the Assyrians, whom the Divine justice made a scorpion to Israel, as Israel had been a scourge to Judah. When the Israelites were in their flourish, as the grass or wheat is in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth, they had been first mowed by Benhadad, King of Syria; but, growing up again under Jeroboam, their king, they were devoured by Pul and his army, as by so many greedy locusts.

In the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth — For in those fat and fertile countries they use

“ Luxuriem segetum tenera depascere in herba. ”

Now if the latter growth were eaten up too, what else could follow but extreme famine?

It was the latter growth after the king’s mowings — Or sheep shearings, as some read it; but the former is better: and Diodati here noteth that it is thought that the kings did take the first crop, in esum et usum iumentorum, to keep their wax horses and for other services; leaving the latter mowings for other cattle, who were taught to say, After your majesty, is good manners.

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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.

When they had made an end of eating — Not the grain only, but the grass, to the very roots; besides a pestilent stench left behind them; when, I say, they had done their worst. Prayer is the best lever at a dead lift; as is to be seen, James 5:18 ; upon the prayer of Elias the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit, after three years and a half’s drought; when it might well have been thought that root, and fruits, and all had been dried up, and that prayer had come too late. But that is seldom seen; as all God’s people can say experimentally. But whatshall we think of Jamblicus, a heathen author, who hath such a commendation of prayer, which might well beseem an experienced Christian? He calleth it Rerum divinarum ducem et lucem, copulam qua homines cum Deo coniunguntur, the guide and light of Divine duties, the band whereby men are united to God (Lib. 5, cap. 27). Nay, he proceedeth and saith, that prayer is clavis instar, qua Dei penetralia aperiuntur, instead of a key, wherewith God’s cabinet is opened; and much more to the same purpose. All this the prophet knew full well, and therefore sets to work in good earnest; and, as when a cart is in a quagmire, if the horses feel it coming they will pull the harder till they have it out, So he.

Then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee — Sin, he knew, was their greatest enemy; the mother of all their misery. Of that therefore he prays for pardon, and then he knew all should be well; as when the sore is healed, the plaster falleth off. Of Christ it is said, that "He shall save his people from their sins," Matthew 1:21 , as the greatest of evils; and the Church in Hosea 14:2 , cries, "Take away all iniquity." Feri Domine, feri, saith Luther, nam a peccatis absolutus sum. Smite me as much as thou pleasest, now that thou hast forgiven my sins.

By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small — Here is much in few. It is Jacob, thy confederate; and he is down upon all four: and he is but small, low, and little, and (as some render it) Quis stabit Iacobo? "Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," John 11:3 . They that are thine by covenant are at a very great under; trodden on by the bulls of Bashan, as a poor shrub of the wilderness; so the Psalmist’s word imports, Psalms 102:17 . "Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished" (that knows not whether he had best help or not), or "as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not," Jeremiah 14:9 . Thus the prophets indeed prayed for their unkind countrymen; so did Paul, Athanasius, Luther. I have obtained of God, said he, that never while I live shall the Pope prevail against my country: when I am gone let those pray that can pray. And, indeed, he was no sooner gone but all Germany was on a flame: as when Austin’s head was laid, Hippo was soon surprised by the enemy; and when Pareus’s, Heidelberg.

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The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.

The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord — Here was mutatio rei, non Dei; facti, non consilii: a change, not of God’s will, but of his work; therefore (by way of explication) it followeth, "It shall not be, saith the Lord." To speak properly, there can be no repentance in God, 1 Samuel 15:20 , but this is spoken after the manner of men; and it notably setteth forth the power of faithful prayer, able, after a sort, to alter God’s mind, and to transfuse a dead palsy into the hands of omnipotence, Exodus 32:10 , where God is fain to bespeak his own freedom; and Moses is represented as the great chancellor of heaven.

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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.

And, behold, the Lord God — Whose asterisk, or starry note, this "behold" is, saith Tarnovius, stirring up to attention. Another compareth it to a hand in the margin of a book, pointing to some notable thing. Another, to the sounding of a trumpet before some proclamation; or to the ringing of a bell before the sermon of some famous preacher.

The Lord God called to contend by fire — That is, by parching heat and drought, causing dearth, as Joel 1:19 . For which purpose God called his angels, those ministering spirits, that execute his judgments upon the wicked (as they did once upon Sodom), to contend for him (a metaphor from civil courts), to plead for him by fire, to destroy the perverse Israelites by fire and brimstone, Isaiah 66:16 Ezekiel 38:22 , as they had done Sodom and Gomorrah (so some interpret it according to the letter); or by the woe of war, compared to fire, Isaiah 26:11 , as being a misery which all words (however wide) want compass to express; or, by immoderate heat and drought, as before; so great, that

it devoured the great deep — as that fire of the Lord in Elijah’s time licked up the water that was in the trench, 1 Kings 18:38 . See Isaiah 51:10 .

And did eat up a part — Or, it devoured also the field: not only the waters in and under the earth, that serve to make it fruitful, but a part of the earth itself; which was altogether above and against the common course of nature. Some render it, and did eat up that part, or that field, sc. that mentioned Amos 7:1 , the king’s field; that as the king had chiefly offended, so he should be principally punished. Others interpret it by Amos 4:7 , "One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereon it rained not withered."

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Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small.

Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee — See Amos 7:2 ; and persevering in prayer for the public remember to plead, not merit, but misery, Psalms 79:8-9 , and with all humility to acknowledge that "it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not," Lamentations 3:22 .

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The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

The Lord repented for this — As he is gracious, Exodus 22:27 , and quickly repenteth him of the evil, Joel 2:13 . Redire nos, non perire desiderat (Chrysologus). "I said, I would scatter them into corners," …, Deuteronomy 32:26-27 . Mercy could not behold such strange wrath and cruelty and not weep herself even sick, as it were.

This also shall not be, saith the Lord — So ready is he to yield himself overcome by the suits of his servants, Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus. See Amos 7:3 .

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Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

This he showed me, and behold — See Amos 7:4 .

The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, … — Here he was set, or stood firm (as the word signifieth), as not to be removed from his purpose by any entreaties: he was fully resolved upon their ruin, and it should be done exactly, ad amussim, by line and by rule, as it were, and with so much justice, and most exquisite diligence, that against it should lie no manner of exception. It is said of the Areopagites, in Athens, that their sentence was so upright that none could ever say he was unjustly condemned of them. How much more true is this of the righteous judgment of God, who must needs therefore be justified, and every mouth stopped? Matthew 22:12 . And he was speechless, because self-condemned, Titus 3:11 , and had not what to request.

With a plumbline in his hand — To show that he would accurately examine their actions and punish their depravities, Lamentations 2:8 2 Kings 21:13 not sparing them as heretofore. A heavy sentence surely, Psalms 130:8 .

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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:

Behold, I will set a plumbline — I will call them to a strict account, and show them no favour, Jeremiah 16:3 , I will now actually execute my justice which I have hitherto suspended; and pay them home for the new and the old; bringing upon them an evil, an only evil, without mixture of mercy, Ezekiel 7:5 .

I will not again pass by them any more — A metaphor from men that pass by such things as they slight and count inconsiderable; winking at small faults as not worthy to be reckoned upon. Hence, Micah 7:18 , God is said to pardon iniquity and pass by transgression; as elsewhere he is said to bind them up in a bundle, to seal them up in a bag, to cast them behind his back, to remove them "as far as the east is from the west," Psalms 103:12 , so that he beholdeth no sin in Jacob nor perverseness in Israel, Numbers 22:21 . The Church, privy to her own infirmities, calleth herself black, Song of Solomon 1:5 , but Christ calleth her fair all over, Song of Solomon 4:7 . She saith, God hath punished us less than our sins, Ezra 9:13 . He saith, She hath received double for her sins, Isaiah 40:2 . Too much, saith God; too little, saith she. O beautiful contention! But this is a privilege proper to the communion of saints, with whom God will not deal according to the rigour of his law (as he doth with the wicked), but according to his prerogative.

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