The Five Visions of Amos

Text and Content

The latter part of the book of Amos contains a series of five visions, each introduced with the words "Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me."

• The vision of the locusts (Amos 7:1–3): After the king's mowings, locusts devour the new growth of grass. When Amos pleads for forgiveness, saying, "By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small," the Lord relents.
• The vision of the fire (Amos 7:4–6): Fire devours the great deep and the land. Amos intercedes again, and once more the Lord relents.
• The vision of the plumb line (Amos 7:7–9): The Lord stands beside a wall with a plumb line in His hand. A plumb line is a weighted cord used to determine whether a wall stands straight. The Lord declares that He will no longer spare His people.
• The vision of the basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1–3): In Hebrew, the words for "summer fruit" (qayits) and "end" (qets) sound alike. Through this wordplay the declaration is delivered: "The end is come upon my people of Israel."
• The vision of the Lord beside the altar (Amos 9:1–4): The Lord stands beside the altar and commands that the capitals of the pillars be struck. He declares that there is no escape, whether one hides in heaven, in hell (Sheol), or at the bottom of the sea.

Between the third and fourth visions (Amos 7:10–17) is a narrative in which Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, attempts to drive Amos away.

Background

Amos was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycomore fruit from Tekoa in Judah (Amos 1:1; 7:14). He prophesied in the Northern Kingdom during the reigns of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel. During this period the Northern Kingdom of Israel enjoyed economic prosperity, but oppression of the poor and merely formal worship were widespread. Bethel was, in Amaziah's words, "the king's chapel" (Amos 7:13). Scholars differ over the precise meaning of the Hebrew word anak, translated "plumb line"; some take it to refer to a metal such as tin or lead.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The five visions progress from a stage in which the prophet's intercession is accepted to a stage in which judgment becomes final. The image of the plumb line also appears in 2 Kings 21:13 and Isaiah 28:17, and in Zechariah 4:9–10 it serves as a sign of the rebuilding of the temple. The promise of restoration that follows the visions (Amos 9:11–12) is quoted by James at the Council of Jerusalem in the New Testament as a basis for the salvation of the Gentiles (Acts 15:16–17).

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• The meaning of "the Lord relented": The Reformed tradition, presupposing the immutability of God, tends to read this expression as an accommodation to human language. Wesleyan theology and similar traditions tend to place greater emphasis on it as God's genuine response to prayer.
• The altar in the fifth vision: The text does not specify which altar is meant. Many interpreters understand it as the altar at Bethel, though some take it to refer to the temple in Jerusalem.
• Distinguishing the text from later interpretations: Explanations that read the locusts or the fire as predictions of specific modern events are interpretations not found in the text.