Amos 7:1-3 - Homiletics

The vision of devouring locusts.

The prophet is appropriately called a seer. He sees clear and he sees far. Not only has Amos foresight of what is coming; he has insight into what, in certain circumstances, would have come. He is taken as it were behind the scenes, and made a witness of the forging of Heaven's thunderbolts, to be laid up for use as occasion may require. In this case he is cognizant by spiritual intuition of the preparation of judicial measures which, as circumstances turn out, are never executed.

I. ALL HIS CREATURES ARE MINISTERS OF GOD TO DO HIS WILL . The angels are his "hosts"—ministers of his that do his pleasure. The Assyrian was the rod of his anger. He says, "I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them." He maketh the winds his messengers, the flaming fire his minister ( Psalms 104:4 ). All created things, in fact, are but different elements in a vast ministry, by which he executes his purpose. 1. Judgments are generally brought about by second causes. To this rule there is scarcely an exception. Sometimes it is famine, brought about by drought, or mildew, or locusts. Sometimes it is desolating war, brought about by jealousy, love of power, and greed. Sometimes it is pestilence, the result of causes all within the natural sphere. We know nothing of afflictive judgments coming apart from the interposition of the causes out of which they would naturally arise. 2. Second causes are all in the hands of the First Cause. They do not operate at random. Theirs is action "cooperant to an end." They are adjusted and controlled. They are combined in schemes of order and proportion, nicely fitted to the achievement of their ultimate results. The eye is of the blindest that cannot see how—

"Behind the dim unknown

Standeth God, within the shadow, keeping watch above his own."

(Lowell.)

3. Natural cause are prepared and used for a moral end. Manasseh's captivity leads to his conversion ( 2 Chronicles 33:11-13 ). Israel's desert discipline cultivates a robustness of national character which was wanting at the Exodus ( Isaiah 43:21 ). So a long captivity in heathen Babylon puts an end to the ever-recurring national idolatry. When all God's measures were executed, he could look on the Hebrews and say, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." And that is God's method in all cases. Scripture declares, and experience and observation argue—

"All discord, harmony not understood:

All partial evil, universal good."

(Pope.)

II. GOD 'S AGENTS STRIKE IN THE NICK OF TIME . "He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop." In consequence of the timing of this judgment, it is:

1 . More thorough-going. If the locusts had been sent earlier, there might have been time after they had gone for the second crop to grow. If they had conic later, it might have been already saved. God will not beat the air. He will strike how and when and where the culprit shall feel his blow.

2 . It is more striking. The element of time is the chief index to the miraculous character of many events. They follow immediately on the Divine word or act, and so reveal themselves to be Divine works. The catching of a netful of fishes, or the sudden calming of a storm, or the recovery of a woman from fever, were none of them necessarily miraculous events. It was their occurrence at the Saviour's word that revealed the Divine agency in them. The coming of the locusts at the prophet's word, and at the critical time, revealed God's hand in the event.

3 . It is more effectual. A judgment is likely to serve its disciplinary purpose in proportion as it is real, appropriate, and manifestly of God. The difference between a timely judgment and an untimely one would be the difference between one blessed to its proper effect and one utterly futile.

III. THEY MAKE AN END OF THE WORK THEY TAKE IN HAND . In all that God does we should expect thoroughness.

1 . There is the power. All forces and agents are under his control. He can bring them to bear in any quantity and on any point. For him "nothing is too hard," and "all things are possible." When God lifts his hand he can "smite through."

2 . There is the need. Divine judgments never come unneeded, nor till it is evident that nothing else will do. Each is wanted, and the whole of each. If anything less, or anything else, were sent it would be inadequate. The last atom of imagined strength must be destroyed. The last remnant of fancied resource must be swept away. Only when every conceivable prop has been knocked away will men be brought to their knees in absolute submission.

IV. THE HAND OF JUDGMENT MAY BE ARRESTED BY THE TOUCH OF PRAYER . "Jehovah repented of this: It shall not take place, saith Jehovah." The pictured events never transpired. The adoption and abandonment of them as retributive measures occurred only in vision. Still, a parallel for this "plastic vision" may be found in God's actual doings, as in the case of the antediluvians, of Saul, of Hezekiah, of Jerusalem, and of Nineveh ( Genesis 6:6 ; 1 Samuel 15:11 ; Isaiah 38:1-5 ; 2 Samuel 24:16 ; Jonah 3:10 ). As to this:

1 . God does not change his mind, but his method . His immutability arising out of his infinity is clearly revealed ( Numbers 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 15:29 ; Ezekiel 24:14 ; Malachi 3:6 ). As self-existent and independent he is above the causes of change, whilst as an absolute Being he is above the possibility of it. And the immutability of his Being is true of his purpose. His ends are unchallengeably right and his means resistlessly powerful. He may change his method, and often does. Up to a certain point is mercy. Then it is expostulation, denunciation, and judgment in quick succession. When one method fails to bring about desired results, another and another are resorted to by a God who will not fail. The variation of method is really the expression of an unalterable plan.

2 . This change of method is correlative to a change of circumstances. It is the varying of the one that leads to the varying of the other. New circumstances justify and even call for a new line of action. Yet these circumstances are themselves part of his wider purpose, which therefore remains unchanged and unchangeable.

3 . Such a change of circumstances is often the introduction of the element of prayer. This is a new factor in the problem, and puts another complexion on the ease. Nineveh, sinning with a high hand, God said he would destroy. But Nineveh, praying in dust and ashes, was a different thing. God does not destroy penitent people. This, and not the sparing of them, would imply a change of purpose, and even of nature itself. Intercessory prayer, as here, modifies the circumstances in a different way; but the modification is real, and will be coordinated with a corresponding modification in God's way.

4 . The necessity of a case is a legitimate plea with God. "How can Jacob stand? for it is small." So David prays, "Pity me, for I am weak." God's blessings are not only gifts, but mercies. He bestows them freely, and in pity for our need. The extremity of this need is, therefore, its strength as an appeal for God's help. "My God shall supply all your need, according to his fiches in glory by Christ Jesus."