John Gill Commentary Amos 7:4

"Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to content by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land." — Amos 7:4 (ASV)

Thus has the Lord showed unto me Another vision after this manner: and, look, the Lord God called to contend by fire;

gave out that he would have a controversy with his people Israel, and proclaimed the time when he would try the cause with them, and that by fire: or he called his family, as Jarchi; that is, his angels, as Kimchi, to cause fire to descend upon Israel, as upon Sodom and Gomorrah; so other Rabbins Kimchi mentions: or, as he interprets it, the scorching heat of the sun, like fire that restrained the rain, dried up the plants, and lessened the waters of the river, and so brought on a general drought, and in consequence famine: or rather a foreign army, involving them in war, burning their cities and towns; see (Amos 1:4Amos 1:7Amos 1:10Amos 1:12Amos 1:14);

and it devoured the great deep; it seemed, as if it did; as the fire from heaven, in Elijah's time, licked up the water in the trench, (1 Kings 18:38); so this, coming at God's command, seemed to dry up the whole ocean; by which may be meant the multitude of people, nations, and kingdoms, subdued by the Assyrians; see (Revelation 17:15);

and did eat up a part; a part of a field, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; of the king's field, (Amos 7:1); as Kimchi; showing, as he observes, that the reigning king was a bad king, and that this was for his sin: or rather a part of the land of Israel; and so refers, as is generally thought, to Tiglathpileser's invasion of the land, who carried captive a part of it, (2 Kings 15:29).