Context No. 3195 of 4322 · Amos

Amos 7:1-5: in context

1Thus the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s harvest. 2When they finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.” 3The LORD relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says the LORD. 4Thus the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land. 5Then I said, “Lord GOD, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”

God shows Amos two visions of coming judgment, a plague of locusts devouring the land, and a fire drying up the deep. And both times Amos does not simply watch; he intercedes: O Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small. And both times the LORD relents: it shall not be.

Amos sees the judgment coming and pleads for mercy, appealing not to Israel's worthiness but to their weakness, he is so small. And God relents, twice. This is the power of intercession: a prophet standing in the gap, begging God to spare, and God responding to the plea. Amos does not argue that Israel deserves to be spared; he asks for mercy on the helpless. God's heart is moved by intercession that pleads his own mercy for the weak, and Amos shows what it means to stand between God's people and the judgment they have earned.

Do I intercede for others facing judgment or trouble, pleading God's mercy for the weak, and do I believe such prayer moves his heart?

Sources

Amos 7:2: "Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small. The LORD relented concerning this."
Exodus 32:14: "So the LORD relented from the evil which he said he would do to his people."
James 5:16: "The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective."