Amos 7:4
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
The vision shows the Lord God calling to contend by fire, and that fire devoured the great deep and ate up a part of the land. The Hebrew word for the great deep is tehoum, meaning the deep or abyss, corresponding to the Greek abussos. It denotes depths such as the sea or ocean rather than a place of suffering. The book belongs to the time of Jeroboam II, when prosperity in Israel was marked by injustice, idolatry and corrupt worship.
The name Amos means burdened, and Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea who prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel until he was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom. His message warned that failure to live up to the light and responsibility that had been given would bring punishment. The verse stands as part of a prophetic warning that pestilence and certain destruction would follow Israel's sin, presenting the corruption and ruin of a people as foretold by God.
The message called the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to turn from sin, put away idols and worship God. The book foretells the downfall of apostasy and points forward to the last days when there will be a famine of the Word. It is full of striking illustrations drawn from shepherd life. Amos chapters 7, 8 and 9 belong together for morning reading on December 17 with Revelation chapter 8 in the evening. The warning applies to the subtle corruption of the nation in later times.