Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 7:2
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.
2. The locusts had eaten up all the herb of the land (Exo 10:12; Exo 10:15), when Amos intercedes on behalf of his people, urging its inability to recover itself, if the work of destruction should still continue. The term herb is not limited to grass, but denotes green herbage generally (with the exception of trees): see Gen 1:11; Gen 1:29 [184] .
[184] The Hebrew of is peculiar, and can scarcely be right. C. C. Torrey proposes a plausible emendation ( Journ. of Bibl. Lit., 1894, p. 63): “and it came to pass, as they were making an end,” &c.
how (lit. as who) shall Jacob stand? for he is small ] The resources of the nation are not sufficient to enable it to withstand the further progress of calamity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Amo 7:2
By whom shall Jacob arise?
The duty of Christians towards the Jews
These words were used as a plea for Israel before God, and proved successful.
1. Jacob is fallen. And great was his fall. He stood higher than any other on the face of the earth. He was nearer to God than any other people were. Jacob, among the nations of the earth, was to God what Joseph was to his father among his brethren: the chiefest blessings invariably fell to his lot. To whom pertaineth the adoption. The Jews as a nation were adopted by God into His family. And a dear son was Ephraim to God for a long-period. Alas, that we are now compelled to say of this once exalted people, Thou art fallen! Many a downfall did Jacob experience because of his iniquity. He descended into the land of Egypt. God raised him thence with a stretched-out arm and great judgments. He again fell into Babylon, and once more did God graciously lift him out, and place him upon his feet; but of all his falls, this, the last, is the deepest and the heaviest. Hitherto he had but fallen backwards, as it were. This time he fell prostrate on his face. In all his former falls he had contrived to keep his hold of many promises, blessings, privileges. On this occasion he lost his grasp of all,–he is without a king, and without a prince, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. He descended lower than did any nation, so that all look down now upon the Jew.
2. Jacob is unable to arise. Every movement he makes sinks him lower in the mire. Does he renounce the Talmud? It is but to embrace infidelity. No one has fallen among such cruel thieves as Jacob, and it is hard to pass by him continually, as the priest and Levite are said to have done. Extend a helping hand to Jacob.
3. Jacob is worth raising. True, Jacob has received a great fall, but the pit into which he descended is not bottomless. The grace of God is deeper than the fall of the Jew. The Christian Church has long acted towards the Jew as if it thought he was not fit to be raised. Our hearts appear to have been more tender to all than to the poor Jew. But Jacob is not so foul as that the blood of the Cross cannot cleanse him.
4. Jacob is to be raised. What a multitude of things there are that are worth raising, but of whose restitution we have no certainty. It may be questionable whether Jacob will again be restored to his own country, but there is not the shadow of a doubt as to his being raised into the Divine favour. It is by the instrumentality of the Gentiles that Jacobs restoration is to be accomplished. One great reason for extending the Gospel to us was that we might reach it to others, and to the Jew first.
5. There is a large reward for raising Jacob. Once the Jews are brought to believe, the lever that is to move the whole world will have been obtained. The Jew is a wanderer in every land; he is found under the burning sun of Hindoostan, and among the eternal snows of Siberia; he can speak every tongue, so that, without any educational preparation, he is ready to preach the Gospel of Christ unto all the nations of the earth. (David Roberts, D. D.)
Help for Jacob
The chosen people are in trouble and distress. They have forsaken the living God, and He is punishing their apostasy. But the prophet of the Lord, and the few faithful among his brethren deeply deplore the national sin, and earnestly invoke the Divine mercy. They will not rest, they cannot hold their peace till God pardon the iniquity of His people, and restore to them the tokens of His loving-kindness. At such a time how natural and significant the language of Amos. Often in the Church of Christ are there not seasons of declension, lukewarmness, discouragement, inefficiency, fightings without, and fears within, bitter partisanship, and uncharitable controversy, when all hands are feeble, and all hearts arc faint? And thus afflicted, what need we so much to know as our spiritual poverty and feebleness, and what so much to learn as the sufficiency of our Divine resources?
I. Jacob is small.
1. In numbers.
2. In substance.
3. In influence.
4. In religious knowledge.
5. In fruitfulness and efficiency.
II. By whom shall Jacob arise? His helplessness conceded, who shall help him? Shall the civil ruler? Or the wealthy patron? Or by the popular orator? Or by the speculative theorist? Or by the partisan controversial st? Or by the sensational enthusiast? Nay, Jehovah-Jesus is our strength and salvation. The cause is His, and with Him is the residue of the Spirit. Year not for the future of the Church. God shall help her, and that right early. To the full extent of her necessity His plenipotence is hers. (J. Cross, D. D.)
The true Helper of the Church
This was an appeal to the heart of God at a time when the judgments of heaven were bringing the chosen people to ruin. This is a question which might well have been asked in every age which the Church has yet seen. Her numbers have always been small in comparison with the ranks of the wicked. The Church, to this day, is but a drop in the ocean. And she is weak as well as small. When we look abroad over the world we behold a race of men dead in trespasses and sins, given over to the dominion of the selfish passions, chained down in ignominious servitude to the world; whom no motives can conquer, no means reclaim. To form such beings into materials for building up the Church, they must be made to undergo a thorough and wonderful transformation. Who shall accomplish this mighty change? The transformation must not only be begun, it must be continued and perfected. After men are set out on the heavenly course, they still have to contend with their original corruptions, and with a world full of objects fitted to inflame them. All these corruptions and temptations stand in the way of the growth of the Church. And the Church as a body has to contend with a world in arms. Every natural man is a foe. The whole bent of the natural heart in every age and country, in every family and individual, is against it. Leave man to himself for a single generation, and with all the means of civilisation and grace, the Church would become extinct. Our strength is wholly incompetent to preserve the Church a single hour, to add one to the number of her sons, to produce a single impression on a single heart. If no other helper is found we must sit down in tears, and give up all for lost. The Church is Gods interest. This interest God has not committed to men; it is His own, His only portion. He has taken it into His own hands. The great end which He purposes to Himself in all His works is to bring out to view the riches of His nature, that creatures may see and acknowledge Him as He is, and for ever enjoy Him. It is the natural course of unbelief to put Him out of view. God is resolved to be acknowledged as the sole author and finisher of the whole. For this reason He studiously constructs the dispensations of His grace in a way to convince His people that it is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit that the Church is enlarged. Then our hope is only in God. Let all other dependencies be given up; the Church must rise by God alone. This is our consolation in the darkest times. (E. D. Griffin, D. D.)
How to have a revival
1. The first step is humiliation.
2. The second step is reformation.
3. The third step lies in the direction of religious duty. The path of duty must be again frequented. The cross must once more be carried. Duty must become, what it once was, the paramount consideration.
4. The spirit of prayer must be sought and exercised till the blessing comes. (Homiletic Monthly.)
Jacob crippled
I. A sad confession. Jacob is small. If none but those who have been redeemed from a low life of flesh-love to a higher one of holiness may be classed under this term to-day, then is Jacob small.
1. Numerically.
2. In worldly esteem.
3. In material resources.
4. In political power.
And alas! Jacob is small spiritually, in personal power. Faith, hope, and charity are small, so is our self-denial. All this diminutiveness comes as the result of being prostrate, down, low. For Jacob to be prostrate is a great reproach indeed. Jacob is, in too many cases, a self-made cripple.
(1) Unbelief has crippled him.
(2) So has sectarianism.
(3) So has inactivity.
(4) So has a stinting selfishness.
(5) So have internal bickerings.
(6) So has a dreary spirit of timidity.
(7) And ceremonialism stunts Jacob.
(8) Restrictionalism has almost strangled Jacob.
II. An anxious inquiry. By whom, etc. That he ought to arise is generally admitted.
1. Not by monarchs smile.
2. Not by decrees of State.
3. Not by the addition of a few more men of means.
4. Not by a larger supply of education and literature.
5. Not by increasing the number of our sanctuaries.
What is needed is heavens force and life. By My Spirit. The Holy Ghost is Jacobs blessed Strength, Guardian, and Helper.
(1) By convincing men of their own personal sin, and showing the Churchs real worth, the Spirit prepares the way for Jacobs growth.
(2) By the Divine Spirit regenerating men, and adding them to the Church. The healthier torte a Church has, the stronger will her offspring be.
(3) By the richer adornment of Christian men with the sweet graces of a higher life, so that their rare moral beauty may arrest, and even charm the enemy without the gate. How can we aid this lifting? This dignity is not the privilege of officers only. Every member of the rank and file counts for one. Manifold are the ways in which this end may be reached. Make commercial life brighter and sounder, and home life sweeter. Let life be readier spent and lost in others need. Let the sense of stewardship for God be more than a sentiment. (E. D. Green.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. By whom shall Jacob arise?] The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having devoured much of the produce of the land, were proceeding, till, at the intercession of the prophet, they were removed. Then, seeing in the light of prophecy the nation in every sense brought low, he cries, “By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.” Calmet justly remarks: “After the death of Jeroboam the second, the kingdom, so flourishing and powerful before, was reduced to such weakness that it was obliged to have recourse to strangers for support. Menahem applied to Pul, king of Assyria, whence arose the final misery of the state.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either visionally, the whole scheme represented both locusts, grass, herbs, and corn, and it represented the grass as almost all eaten up, and the locusts ready to fall upon the corn, and all that remained. Or else really, it was acted, and the grass was devoured. Though the former seems most likely, I leave it to every ones judgment. Amos interceded by prayer for this people in this case; and he sueth for mercy, entreats for pardon, hereby justifying Gods proceedings; and though this people for whom he prays is insensible of their condition, yet the prophet is deeply affected with it, and deprecates the displeasure of God, and implores his mercy; to God belongs forgiveness, to them nothing but shame.
By whom shall Jacob arise? how shall any of Jacob escape? or if thou, O God of Jacob, dost east him down, who will or can lift him up? he must needs perish if thou be still angry and show not pity. For he is small; weak in strength, few in number, not able to resist his enemies the Assyrians.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. by whom shall Jacob arise?IfThou, O God, dost not spare, how can Jacob maintain his ground,reduced as he is by repeated attacks of the Assyrians, and erelongabout to be invaded by the Assyrian Pul (2Ki 15:19;2Ki 15:20)? Compare Isa51:19. The mention of “Jacob” is a plea that God should”remember for them His covenant” with their forefather, thepatriarch (Ps 106:45).
he is smallreduced innumbers and in strength.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land,…. That is, the grasshoppers or locusts; when in the vision it seemed to the prophet that almost all the grass of the land was eaten up, and they were going to seize upon the corn, and other fruits of the earth: this signifies not Sennacherib’s invasion of the land of Judea, but Pul’s invasion of the land of Israel, whose army seemed like these locusts; and spreading themselves over the land, threatened it with desolation, as these locusts seemed to have wholly consumed all the grass of the land; then the prophet said what follows:
then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee; the sins of the people, as the Targum, which were the cause of these locusts coming, or of the Assyrian army invading the land; and the prophet prays that God would avert this judgment, signified in this vision, or remove it, which is often in Scripture meant by the forgiveness of sin, Ex 32:31; this is the business of the prophets and ministers of the Lord, to intercede for a people when ruin is near; and happy is that people, when they have such to stand up in the breach for them. The argument the prophet uses is,
by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small; or “little” a; like the first shooting up of the grass, after it has been own: or, as Noldius b renders it, “how [otherwise] should Jacob stand?” and so Kimchi, how should there be a standing for him? that is, unless God forgives his sin, and turns away his wrath, how shall he stand up under the weight of his sins, which must lie upon him, unless forgiven? and how shall he bear the wrath and indignation of God for them? and so if any sinner is not forgiven, how shall he stand before God to serve and worship him now? or at his tribunal with confidence hereafter? or sustain his wrath and displeasure to all eternity? see Ps 130:3; or, “who of” or “in Jacob shall stand” c? not one will be left; all must be cut off, if God forgive not; for all are sinners, there are none without sin: or, “who shall stand for Jacob?” d or intercede for him? it will be to no purpose, if God is inexorable: so the Targum,
“who will stand and ask “pardon” for their sins?”
or, “who will raise up Jacob?” e from that low condition in which he is, or likely to be in, if God forgive not, and does not avert the judgment threatened, to a high and glorious state of prosperity and happiness; for, if all are cut off, there will be none left to be instruments of such a work: “for he [is] small”; few in number, and greatly weakened by one calamity or another; and, if this should take place, would be fewer and weaker still. So the church of Christ, which is often signified by Jacob, is sometimes in a very low estate; the number of converts few; has but a little strength to bear afflictions, perform duty, and withstand enemies; it is a day of small things with it, with respect to light and knowledge, and the exercise of grace, especially faith; when some like the prophet are concerned for it, by whom it shall arise; the God of Jacob can cause it to arise, and can raise up instruments for such service, and make his ministers, and the ministry of the word and ordinances, means of increasing the number, stature, spiritual light, knowledge, grace, and strength of his people.
a “parvulus”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; “parvus”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. b “quomodo (alias) surgeret Jacob?” Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 60. No. 1979. “quomodo consistet?” Liveleus “quomodo surget Jacob?” Drusius. c “Quis staret, Jahacobo?” Junius Tremellius “quis remaneret Jacobo?” Piscator. d “Quis stabit pro Jacobo?” Mercerus. e “Quis suseitabit Jahacob?” V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But we must supply this prophecy or vision to its proper time. I doubt not, and I think that I can gather this from certain considerations, that the Prophet here compares the time which had preceded the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, with the prosperous time which followed. For when Jeroboam the Second began to reign, the kingdom was laid waste, partly by hostile incursions, and partly by drought and heat, by inclement weather, or by pestilence. Since then the condition of the people, as sacred history relates, was most miserable, hence the Prophet says, that locusts had been shown to him, which devoured all the grass and standing corn: for he not only says, that locusts were formed, but also that they devoured the grass, so that nothing remained, When they had finished, he says, to eat the grass of the earth, then I said, Lord Jehovah, etc. Thus then the Prophet shows that sure tokens of God’s wrath had then already appeared, and that the people had in part been already afflicted, but yet that God had afterwards given them time for repentance.
Now by locusts I understand a moderate kind of punishment. We have seen elsewhere (Joe 1:4) that the country had been then nearly consumed by the locusts and the cankerworms, and the like pests. But in this place the Prophet metaphorically designates hostile invasions, which had not immediately laid waste the whole country but in some measure desolated it. This was indeed manifest to all, but few viewed it as the judgment of God, as also the Lord complains, that the perverse regard not the hand of the smiter, (Isa 10:3) Though then the Israelites saw their land consumed, they did not think that God was displeased with them; for ungodly men do not willingly examine themselves nor raise their eyes to heaven, when the Lord chastises them: for they would grow, as it were, stupid in their calamities rather than set before themselves the judgment of God, that they may be seriously led to repentance: this they naturally shun almost all. Hence the Prophet says that this was especially shown to him. The calamity then was known to all, and evident before the eyes of the people; but the Prophet alone, by a vision, understood that God in this manner punished the sins of the people: at the same time, the special object of the vision was, — to make the Israelites to know that the hand of God was withheld, as it were, in the middle of its work. They had seen the enemies coming, they had felt many evils; but they thought that the enemies retreated either through good fortune or some other means. They did not consider that God had spared them, which was the main thing. It was therefore shown to the prophet in a vision, that God spared his people, though he had resolved to destroy the whole land.
And the Prophet expressly declares, that God had been pacified through his intercession and prayer: hence appears very clearly what I have already referred to, that is, that the Prophet condemns the unbelieving for having perversely trifled with God; for they regarded the threatening which they had heard from the mouth of Amos and of others as jests. Whence was this? Because God had spared them. The Prophet shows how this took place; “The Lord,” he says, “had at first resolved to destroy you, but yet he waits for you, and therefore suspends his extreme vengeance, that by his kindness he may allure you to himself; and this has been done through my prayers: for though ye think me to be adverse to you, as I am constrained daily to threaten you, and as a heavenly herald to denounce war on you; I yet feel compassion for you, and wish you to be saved. There is, therefore, no reason for you to think that I am influenced by hatred or by cruelty, when I address you with so much severity: this I do necessarily on account of my office; but I am still concerned and solicitous for your safety; and of this the Lord is a witness, and the vision I now declare to you.” We now see that God’s servants had so ruled and moderated their feelings, that pity did not prevent them from being severe whenever their calling so required; and also, that this severity did not obliterate from their minds the feelings of compassion. Amos, as we have already seen, severely inveighed against the people, sharply reproved their vices, and daily summoned irreclaimable men to the tribune it of God: as he was so vehemently indignant on account at their vices, and as he so sharply threatened them, he might have appeared to have forgotten all compassion; but this place shows that he had not yet divested himself of pity, though he faithfully discharged his office, and was not diverted from his purpose, when he saw that he had to do with wicked and obstinate men. He was therefore severe, because God so commanded him; it was what his calling required; but at the same time he pitied the people.
Let then all teachers in the Church learn to put on these two feelings — to be vehemently indignant whenever they see the worship of God profaned, to burn with zeal for God, and to show that severity which appeared in all the Prophets, whenever due order decays, — and at the same time to sympathize with miserable men, whom they see rushing headlong into destruction, and to bewail their madness, and to interpose with God as much as is in them; in such a way, however that their compassion render them not slothful or indifferent, so as to be indulgent to the sins of men. Indeed, the temper of mind which I have mentioned ought to be possessed, so that they may go forth as suppliants before God, and implore pardon for miserable and wretched men: but when they come to the people, in their new character, that they may be severe and rigid, let them remember by whom they are sent and with what commands, let them know that they are the ministers of God, who is the judge of the world, and ought not therefore to spare the people: this then is to be attended to by us.
Now as to the word repent, as applied to God, let us know, as it has been elsewhere stated, that God changes not his purpose so as to retract what he has once determined. He indeed knew what he would do before he showed the vision to his Prophet Amos: but he accommodates himself to the measure of men’s understanding, when he mentions such changes. It was then the eternal purpose of God, to threaten the people, to show tokens of his displeasure, and yet to suspend for a time his vengeance, that their perverseness might be the more inexcusable. But in the meantime, as this was without advantage, he sets forth another thing — that he was already armed to execute his vengeance. God then does not relate what he had decreed, but what the Israelites deserved, and what punishment or reward was due to them. When, therefore, God begins to inflict punishment on sinners, it is as though he intended to execute fully his vengeance; he however forms a purpose in himself, but that is hid from us. As soon then as he lifts up his finger, we ought to regard it as owing to his mercy, that we are not instantly reduced to nothing; when it so happens, it is as though he changed his purpose, or as though he withheld his hand. This then ought to be borne in mind, when the prophet says, that God created locusts to devour all the grass, but that he suppliantly entreated God to put an end to this calamity. He then adds, that it repented God, not that there was any change of mind in God, but because God suddenly and beyond hope suspended the vengeance which was near at hand. It shall not then be
With regard to the clause, Be propitious, I pray; how will Jacob rise up, or who will raise up Jacob? it appears that the Prophet saw no other remedy, except the Lord, according to his infinite goodness, forgave the people, and hence he prays for pardon. In the meantime, he shows that he prayed for the Church, “Lord,” he says, “thy hand does not now pursue strangers, but an elect people, thy peculiar possession:” for by the name, Jacob, the Prophet extols the covenant which God made with Abraham and the Patriarchs; as though he said, “O God, wilt thou be inexorable towards the people whom thou hast chosen and adopted, of whom thou art the Father? Remember that they are neither Babylonians, nor Egyptians, nor Assyrians, but a royal priesthood, and thy holy and peculiar people.” And there is nothing that inclines God more to mercy than the recollection of his gratuitous covenant, as we have elsewhere seen.
He then says, that Jacob was small. He does not allege the worthiness of Jacob, or adduce any proof of excellency, but says that he was small; as though he said, “O Lord, thou drawest forth now thy power against miserable creatures, who are already enfeebled enough” for he calls him small, because he had been worn out by many calamities: and hence I said, that reference is here made to that miserable time, of which Scripture records, when it declares that the free as well as the captive were reduced to extreme distress, before Jeroboam the second began to reign. Then indeed God restored his people; but short was that favor; for immediately after the death of king Jeroboam, a sedition arose, which proved ruinous to the whole kingdom: his son Zachariah, as it is well known, was slain by Shallum, (2Kg 15:8)
How then will Jacob rise up? Some take the verb יקום, ikum, (48) in a transitive sense, “Who will raise him up?” but others think it to be a neuter verb, “How will Jacob rise up?” that is, by what means will Jacob rise up? as מי, mi, may be taken to mean, how, or by what means: How then will Jacob rise up? But this difference has little to do with the main point It is then enough to say, that the Prophet here speaks of the weakness of the people, that on this account God might be more ready to forgive them. It now follows —
(48) One MS. has יקים, which is, to cause to rise, or to raise up. This agrees with the Septuagint — αναστήσει, and comports with the rest of the sentence; for מי is ‘who,’ and not ‘how’ or ‘by what means.’ — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) The grass of the land.The same word is used in the original in Gen. 1:11, signifying herbs and vegetables. Amos saw the first wave of disaster in the destruction of the food of the people, and he interceded for respite and forgiveness. The cry takes the form, Who is Jacob that he should stand? (E.V., by whom, is incorrect) for he is small.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 7:2. By whom shall Jacob arise? After the death of Jeroboam the second, the kingdom of Israel, formerly so flourishing and powerful, fell into a state of weakness, which induced it to have recourse to strangers to support it, being unable of itself. Menahem had recourse to Pul king of Assyria, whence arose the last misery of the state.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1193
GODS CONDESCENSION TO PRAYER
Amo 7:2-3. Then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.
IT is very instructive to see, amongst all the servants of Jehovah, whether Prophets or Apostles, how love was blended with fidelity in the whole of their ministrations. They were constrained to declare all which God had shewed unto them [Note: ver. 1, 4, 7.]. But did they desire the woeful events which they predicted? They could appeal to God that they did not [Note: Jer 17:16.]. The Prophet Amos had been commanded to foretell that the fruits of the earth, with the exception of those which had been gathered in, should be eaten up by grasshoppers [Note: ver. 1, 2.]. But he immediately betook himself to prayer, and, by his importunity, prevailed on God to suspend the threatened judgment. He was directed afterwards to foretell the destruction of a part of the land by fire [Note: ver. 4.]: and again, in the same terms as before, he interceded for the land; and obtained for it a similar relaxation of the impending calamity. The judgments had been begun to be inflicted [Note: Amo 4:9; Amo 4:11.]; but at his request they were removed. It is probable that these judgments were also threatened in a figurative sense; and related to the invasions of Pul, king of Assyria, who contented himself with imposing a tribute of a thousand talents of silver; and that of Tiglath-pileser, who took several cities, and carried away the inhabitants captives to Assyria [Note: 2Ki 15:19; 2Ki 15:29.]. But, without entering into the history of these events, I wish to fix your attention on the repeated intercessions of the prophet, (for the repetition of them in the same words, and the repeated answer to them in the same words, render them peculiarly deserving of our attention;) and to shew you from them these blessed truths;
I.
That the judgments we fear may be averted by prayer
Judgments of the heaviest kind are denounced against us
[Temporal judgments, such as those referred to in the passage before us, would be very terrible: yet are they nothing, in comparison of what we have cause to fear. The wicked, says David, shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God [Note: Psa 9:17.]. In another psalm he is more explicit still: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup [Note: Psa 11:6.]. Who amongst us has not forgotten God, days without number? and who, therefore, has not reason to tremble at these awful declarations?]
But they may all be removed by fervent and believing prayer
[Look into the Scriptures, and see the wonderful efficacy of prayer! If ever there was a person that had reason to fear his prayers could not be heard, it was David: because he had long known the Lord; had received the most distinguished favours at his hands; and yet committed adultery and murder, and continued impenitent for a long period, till his sin was charged home upon him by the Prophet Nathan: yet, behold, he, the very instant he acknowledged his transgressions, was forgiven. I have sinned against the Lord, says he: and instantly the prophet replies, The Lord hath put away thy sin: thou shalt not die [Note: 2Sa 12:13.]. Hear the prayers which he offered on the occasion: Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation [Note: Psa 51:2; Psa 51:14.]! Hear with what confidence he prayed: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow [Note: Psa 51:7.]. What! you clean! you whiter than snow? Yes, I, even I. Hear how particularly he himself notices the speed with which his prayer was answered. When I kept silence (and refrained from prayer), my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. But at last I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity I hid not: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and (instantly) thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin [Note: Psa 32:3-5.].
We may notice, also, the instance of Manasseh, who was perhaps the most daring in his impieties of all the human race: He built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he reared up altars for Baal, and worshipped all the host of heaven; he built altars for them all, even in the house of the Lord itself, and set a graven image there; he made his son to pass through the fire; he caused his subjects to do more evil than had been committed by the nations whom God had driven out before them; and to all these impieties he added this, that he shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem with it from one end to the other [Note: 2Ki 21:3-16.]. Now can we suppose that such a monster of impiety as this could ever be forgiven? Yes: not even his prayer was shut out, when he besought the Lord. We are told, that in his affliction he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him; and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God [Note: 2Ch 33:12-13.]. Repeatedly is this noticed in the history respecting him; his prayer unto his God, his prayer, and how God was entreated of him [Note: 2Ch 33:18-19.]: and no doubt it is thus repeated in order to shew us, that, whatever be our demerits, we shall not be cast out, if, with humble, fervent, and believing supplications, we betake ourselves to the prayer-hearing and sin-pardoning God.
The whole people of Nineveh attest this blessed truth. There was no call to repentance suggested by the Prophet Jonah: the judgments denounced by him were altogether unqualified with the smallest hope of mercy: the Prophet himself seems scarcely to have contemplated a possibility of forgiveness to them; yet were they, even the whole population, spared at the voice of their cry [Note: Jon 3:10.].
I say then, without hesitation, to all the sinners of mankind, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord; and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon, and multiply his pardons above all the multitude of their sins [Note: Isa 55:7. The margin.].]
My text leads me to notice another most important truth; namely,
II.
That the weakness we feel may be urged by us as a plea
The state of Israel at that time seemed indeed to be very desperate: for God had already begun to cut them short. But the prophet, instead of desponding, twice urged this very circumstance as a plea with God to grant him his request: O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee! by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. And each time the success of his plea is mentioned, The Lord repented for this: it shall not be, saith the Lord [Note: Compare ver. 2, 3, and 5, 6.].
Now such may be our plea before God
[We are ready to make our weakness a ground of despondency before God: How can I turn to him? How Song of Solomon 1 effect a reconciliation with him? How can I hope ever to emancipate myself from my cruel bondage? There is no hope: I may as well continue as I am: I can but perish at last [Note: Jer 3:25.]. But all this is wrong: for God often delays his interpositions for this very end, that he may bring us to see how destitute we are of help or hope in ourselves: nor is he ever better pleased, than when, with a total dereliction of all hope in ourselves, we cast ourselves wholly and unreservedly on him. Let us once be brought to say with king Jehoshaphat, We have no might; but our eyes are unto thee; and we may be sure that our deliverance is nigh at hand [Note: 2Ch 20:12.]. The prophet succeeded thus.]
And such success shall we also obtain
[I have said that God orders his dispensations, for the most part, so as to bring us to self-despair. Hear his own words: The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left [Note: Dent. 32:36.]. If there were any power in ourselves, we should be ascribing our deliverance to our own arm: but when we see how destitute we are of all strength, then are we willing to give God the glory of all that he effects in our behalf. See this in the Apostle Paul. He was assaulted with some grievous temptation, which he calls a thorn in his flesh. Thrice he cried to the Lord to remove it: and by his repeated entreaties he obtained this answer; My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And what was the effect? His fears are dissipated; his sorrows are dispelled; and instantly he bursts forth into these triumphant exclamations: Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me: for when I am weak, then am I strong [Note: 2Co 12:7-10.]. Here is the great truth which I would impress upon your minds; When I am weak, then am I strong. It is not possible to have too deep a sense of your own weakness. Perhaps in the whole world there does not exist another passage comparable to that in the Prophet Isaiah, where he represents whole mountains of difficulty to be encountered, and Israel, as a mere insignificant worm, groaning under them: Fear not, thou worm Jacob: I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff: thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel [Note: Isa 41:14-16.]. Endeavour to realize this idea. Place mountains before your eyes: then look down upon a poor helpless worm; and then see, through his exertions, the whole mountains beaten to dust and scattered as by a mighty whirlwind; and then you will have some faint conception of the truth inculcated in my text; sins, that reach unto the heavens, scattered to the winds; and judgments, deep as hell, removed for ever from your sight. Bring every threatening which the word of God contains: and to every one in succession I will say, Respecting this the Lord hath repented: and this shall not be; neither shall that be.]
Let me now, in my application of this subject, adress,
1.
Those who despise the judgments of the Lord
[Many there are who look upon the threatenings of God with as little concern as if there were no truth in them; and who, like Amaziah in the chapter before us, condemn the preachers as exciting groundless fears; and say to them, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Israel [Note: ver. 10, 16.]. But to all such persons I must say, that the word of God shall stand, and not one jot or tittle of it shall ever fall to the ground. Look back, and see, Did not Gods word take hold of the disobedient Jews [Note: Zec 1:6.]? Go to Assyria, and see; or go to Babylon, and see; or look upon them in their present dispersion, and see. You may put far from you the evil day; but it will come at last; and with augmented terror, in proportion as it has been despised. I call upon you, then, yea, on every one amongst you, to turn unto the Lord, and to cry, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee [Note: The Text.]! For where is there one amongst you that does not need forgiveness? or who can obtain forgiveness, if he will not ask? But, if ye will not turn to God, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and rundown with tears, because of the ruin that awaits you [Note: Jer 13:17.].
If you would ask, How shall I arise? gladly do I declare, that there is One able to save, and as willing as He is able. God has laid help for you on One that is mighty: and you shall have no want of grace or strength if only you will flee to him for succour.
But this leads me to address,]
2.
Those who are sinking under discouraging apprehensions
[Beloved Brethren, what is that which you are saying? How shall I arise? for I am small. Hear the answer which God gave to his Church of old. Zion of old laboured under your very infirmity: Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? Yes, saith the Lord; even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee; and I will save thy children [Note: Isa 49:24-25.]. You see how readily God interposed for Israel, at the cry of Amos; and that too for an obstinate and rebellious people: and will he not hear your cry, which is offered for yourselves? Moreover, you have a better intercessor than Amos: the Son of God himself ever lives in heaven, whither he is gone on purpose to make intercession for you. Put your cause into his hands: commit yourselves entirely to him, and you have nothing to fear: for him the Father heareth always. Say to him, as Hezekiah did under the most desponding apprehensions that could be conceived, Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me [Note: Isa 38:14.]: and be assured, that if, with a renunciation of all self-dependence, you cast your care on Him, he will speedily interpose for your relief: he will, in love to your souls, deliver them from the pit of corruption, and cast all your sins behind his back [Note: Isa 38:17.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 7:2 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.
Ver. 2. 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, Jas 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
By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
by whom shall Jacob arise? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate, read “who shall raise up Jacob’? “
Jacob. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Subject), App-6, for the whole nation
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
when: Exo 10:15, Rev 9:4
O Lord: Amo 7:5, Exo 32:11, Exo 32:12, Exo 34:9, Num 14:17-19, Jer 14:7, Jer 14:20, Jer 14:21, Dan 9:19, Jam 5:15, Jam 5:16
by whom shall Jacob arise: or, who of – or forJacob shall stand, Isa 51:19, Eze 9:8, Eze 11:13
for: Psa 12:1, Psa 44:24-26, Isa 37:4, Jer 42:2, Zec 4:10
Reciprocal: Exo 32:32 – if thou Num 11:2 – prayed Deu 9:19 – But the Deu 28:38 – for the locust Deu 28:42 – thy trees 1Ki 8:34 – forgive the sin Psa 78:46 – gave also Pro 29:8 – wise Joe 2:13 – and repenteth Joe 2:17 – Spare Amo 4:9 – the palmerworm Amo 5:2 – none
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 7:2, After this destruction by the insects, Amos made his plea on behalf of Jacob (Israel), suggesting that the nation was too small to withstand such a loss.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Amo 7:2-3. When they had made an end of eating the grass With us grasshoppers are not hurtful, but those in our text were locusts, as the word , here used, is rendered, Isa 33:4 : in which sense the word is understood by the Vulgate and Houbigant: see also Nab. 3:17. By whom shall Jacob arise? Or, who shall raise up Jacob; for he is small? If thou suffer these calamities to proceed to extremities, by what means shall the small remains of the riches and strength of the kingdom be rescued from utter destruction? The Lord repented for this, &c. The prophet here informs us, that it was represented to him in his vision, that the Lord was pleased to hearken to his earnest supplication, and to promise that the threatened judgment should not proceed to an utter destruction of the whole kingdom. Those who suppose all this to be metaphorically expressed, understand this of Puls being induced by a sum of money to depart out of the land, as we read 2Ki 15:20 : but it may be understood of a threatened judgment of locusts and other insects, which was deprecated by the prophets prayers, and so not executed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In his vision Amos saw the locusts strip the land of its vegetation. Then he prayed and asked the sovereign Lord to pardon Jacob (Israel) for its covenant unfaithfulness. Jacob was only a small nation and could not survive such a devastating judgment if the Lord allowed it to happen as Amos had seen in his vision.
Amos’ view of Israel as small and weak stands in contrast to that of Israel’s leaders who believed it was strong and invincible (cf. Amo 6:1-3; Amo 6:8; Amo 6:13; Amo 9:10). Israel occupied a large territory under Jeroboam II, second only in its history to what Solomon controlled, but it was still small in relation to the larger empires of the ancient Near East. Amos may have meant that Israel was small in the sense of helpless. God had promised to take care of Jacob when that patriarch encountered Yahweh at Bethel, now a center of apostate worship in Israel (cf. Gen 28:10-22). Perhaps that is why Amos appealed to God with the name of Jacob (cf. Amo 3:13; Amo 6:8; Amo 7:5; Amo 8:7; Amo 9:8).