Amos

Amos 7: God shows mercy and declares judgment

Begin in prayer

Before we hear Amos plead for Jacob and speak God’s judgment, please stop with your children and pray. Ask the Lord for hearts that receive His word and look to Jesus for mercy.

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey Yahweh your God’s voice; and Yahweh will relent from the evil that he has pronounced against you.

Jeremiah 26:12-13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your mercy and Your word of judgment. Show us Jesus, who saves His people from sin. Give us hearts willing to hear and obey You. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Amos sees visions of locusts and consuming fire, and God spares Jacob when Amos pleads for mercy. Then God shows a plumb line and declares judgment against Israel’s shrines and Jeroboam’s house. Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, accuses Amos of conspiracy and orders him to leave. Amos answers that God called him from tending the flock to speak to Israel. He declares that Amaziah’s family will suffer judgment and Israel will go into captivity.

As you read Amos 7, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God shows mercy and gives Amos His word of judgment.

Amos pleads for Jacob because the nation is too small to survive the judgments he sees. God hears his prayer and says the locusts and fire will not come. This mercy gives Israel no right to presume that judgment can never fall. A plumb line is a weighted string used to test whether a wall is straight. God’s line shows Israel to be a nation that cannot stand before His judgment. Bethel had a temple built for a golden calf, and Amaziah served there as the king’s priest. Amaziah calls it the king’s sanctuary and tells Amos to go and earn his bread in Judah. Amos says he was no prophet’s son, trained by other prophets, but a herdsman the LORD took and sent. Rejecting the messenger will bring Amaziah no escape from the message.

How does Amos 7 show us that God shows mercy and gives Amos His word of judgment?

God hears Amos plead for mercy.

The locusts in the vision leave Jacob without food, and Amos asks God to forgive. The consuming fire brings another plea for God to stop. Amos bases his appeal on Jacob’s weakness and need. God hears him and declares that these judgments will not happen. Jesus is the greater One who pleads for His people, and His plea rests on His own sacrifice.

God declares that Israel’s judgment will come.

The plumb line follows the two visions in which God spared Jacob. This time God says He will no longer pass Israel by. The high places and sanctuaries will be ruined, and Jeroboam’s house will face the sword. Earlier mercy does not make God’s warnings empty.

God sends Amos to speak despite opposition.

Amaziah accuses Amos of conspiracy because his message threatens the king and his sanctuary. God’s call gives Amos authority to speak despite the priest’s order. Amaziah’s wife will become a prostitute, his children will be killed, and his land will be divided. Amaziah himself will die in an unclean land, and Israel will go into captivity.

Memorise

Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

Amos 7:8

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what word from God am I refusing when I need Jesus to save me?

Amos pleads, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you!” Jacob is small, and God relents. Yet the plumb line shows that judgment will come. Amaziah tells Amos to stop prophesying at Bethel. God’s command stands, and Amos must speak the word he received.

Amos can plead for Jacob, but he cannot pay for Jacob’s sins. Jesus offered Himself on the cross for His people and bore their sin. His sacrifice accomplished their salvation once for all, and it is enough. He was raised to live forever. The mercy sinners need is found in Him.

Do not push away the word that shows your sin. Leave the sins His word brings to light and trust in Jesus. To all who believe in Him, He gives forgiveness. Ask God for a heart that hears and obeys. Christ speaks truth, and He receives those who come to Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD heard Amos’s prayers, yet Israel could not silence His word. Please explain the judgment on Amaziah’s family in verse 17 in your own words. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for speaking truth and showing mercy, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so give each one time to pray if they want to.

And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

1 John 2:2

Lord God, thank You for the mercy Amos sought and for the truth You gave him to speak. Please lead each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus. Give us hearts that listen when Your Word corrects us, and help us obey You rather than excuse our sin. Amen.