Though the vision report contains no account of sin, Amos knows that the locusts are an enactment of judgment upon the disobedient Israel, thus the plea for forgiveness. He probably remembered that locusts served as an instrument of judgment upon Pharaoh (Exodus 10:1–20) and were thus once again a sign of God’s displeasure.1 Deuteronomy 28:42 had also warned that locusts would come to devour all that Israel had if they were disobedient to the covenant.
2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!”