Lockman - Bible questions and answers

		Amos 7:1 Thus the Lord GOD showed me [a vision], and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing.
		Amos 7:2 And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said, "O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?"
		Amos 7:3 The LORD revoked this sentence. "It shall not take place," said the LORD.
		Amos 7:4 ¶ Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land.
		Amos 7:5 Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?"
		Amos 7:6 The LORD revoked this sentence. "This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD.
		Amos 7:7 ¶ Thus He showed me [a vision], and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand [to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed]. [2 Kin 21:13; Is 34:11]
		Amos 7:8 The LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard] Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment]. I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.]
		Amos 7:9 "And the [idolatrous] high places of Isaac (Israel) will be devastated and deserted, And the sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins. Then I shall rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword [and destroy the monarchy]."
		Amos 7:10 ¶ Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel [site of the golden calf shrine], sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. [1 Kin 12:31, 32]
		Amos 7:11 "For in this way Amos has said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'"
		Amos 7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go, you seer, run for your life [from Israel] to the land of Judah [your own country] and eat bread and live as a prophet there!
		Amos 7:13 "But do not prophesy any longer at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal residence." [Luke 10:10-12]
		Amos 7:14 ¶ Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet [by profession], nor am I a prophet's son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.
		Amos 7:15 "But the LORD took me as I followed the flock and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'
		Amos 7:16 "Now therefore, listen to the word of the LORD: You say, 'You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.'
		Amos 7:17 "Therefore, thus says the LORD, 'Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.'"

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