“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.”
My Notes
What Does Amos 7:2 Mean?
"O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." Amos sees a vision of locusts devouring the land and intercedes: Lord, forgive! Jacob can't survive this. He's too small. The prophet stands between God's judgment and the people's weakness and begs for mercy on the basis of their inability.
The argument isn't that Israel doesn't deserve judgment. Amos doesn't claim innocence. His argument is weakness: "he is small" (qatan hu). Jacob can't endure what's coming. The nation is too small to survive this locust plague. The appeal is to God's compassion for the weak, not to Israel's merit.
God's response (verse 3) is immediate: "The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD." God withdraws the judgment because the prophet interceded. The intercession changed the outcome. The prayer worked.
Amos will intercede again in verse 5 with the same argument and receive the same response. But by verse 7, the intercessions stop. The third vision (the plumb line) receives no intercession because the time for mercy has passed.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you interceding for someone based on their weakness rather than their merit?
- 2.How does God's response to 'he is small' change your understanding of what moves Him?
- 3.Have you experienced a window of mercy that eventually closed?
- 4.What weakness in your life could become the basis for an appeal to God's compassion?
Devotional
Forgive! Please forgive! He's too small. He can't take this. Amos sees the judgment coming and throws himself between God and the people — not arguing that they're innocent, but arguing that they're weak.
The beauty of Amos's intercession is that his only argument is Israel's inadequacy. He doesn't say they deserve mercy. He doesn't claim they've repented. He says: they're small. They can't survive this. The appeal is to God's compassion for the weak, and it works. God withdraws the judgment.
This tells you something about what moves God: not arguments about merit but appeals from compassion. God knows Israel is guilty — He just sent Amos to tell them so. But when the prophet says "he's too small," God relents. The weakness that should disqualify becomes the basis for mercy.
Amos intercedes twice and succeeds twice. The third time, he doesn't even try. The plumb line vision (verse 7) receives no protest because even the intercessor knows the time for intercession has passed. There's a window for mercy, and it doesn't stay open indefinitely.
Are you interceding for someone — not because they deserve it, but because they're too small to survive without mercy? That's Amos's prayer. And the window is still open. But it won't be forever.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land,.... That is, the grasshoppers or…
By whom shall Jacob arise? - The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having…
We here see that God bears long, but that he will not bear always, with a provoking people, both these God here showed…
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,…
Cross References
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