In verses 1-6, we read, “This is what the Lord God showed me in a vision”: What was God showing Amos? Two possible natural disasters that would cause starvation and death. The first was a great swarm of locusts that would destroy the second crop of the year. Why the second crop? Because the first crop went to the king as taxes. The king would not starve, but the people would. Imagine what Amos thought as he realized that many men, women, and children would suffer horrible starvation.
The second possibility was a great fire that would also destroy the second harvest and would burn up the waters and devour “the entire land”. The first plague was bad enough with no food to eat but then there would be no water to drink. In 2025 CE, we saw the devastation of the problem of fire with a lack of water for firefighting exacerbated by winds up to 100 m.p.h. scattering the flames in every direction in a relatively small part of California. There the people could flee to safer areas and find food, water, and shelter, but Israel in the mid-sixth century BCE had no such hope.
How did Amos respond to this vision? Twice Amos pleaded with God: “O Lord God, please forgive Your people! Don’t send them this plague! If You turn against Israel, what hope is there? For Israel is so small!”
Can you imagine the gall of Amos to ask Almighty God to drop His plans? What did God say in response? He said, “I won’t do it. . .I won’t do that either.” What! God can be moved to change His plans by the voice of one person? Yes, yes, and yes!
Peter begins by telling us “they will fall. But you are not like that, for you have been chosen by God Himself – you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own – all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Pet. 2:9).
The greatest duty of a priest is to intercede for other people. Israel was given the opportunity but failed to accept it; read Exodus 19 & 20. But that ended with the resurrection and ascension of our Lord. We, male and female, are given the privilege of serving as priests interceding for the lost of this world.