In our study of Amos chapter eight, we look at the judgment that was to come on the northern kingdom. We will look at how they were caught up in religious rituals but did not allow the Word of God to affect their heart.
** Note ** In this study, we will be using the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) translation which was translated directly from Hebrew into English. You can get your own hardback or paperback copy on Amazon where we will earn a small commission.
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Here is what Adonai ELOHIM showed me: there in front of me was a basket of summer fruit. He asked, "'Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "A basket of summer [Hebrew: kayitz] fruit." Then ADONAI said to me, "The end [Hebrew: ketz] has come for my people, I will never again overlook their offenses.
Now, the prophet saw a basket of fruit. When fruit is picked from the tree and placed into a basket, it has a limited amount of time until it is rotten and thrown out. The tree is no longer producing and that is what God was saying about Israel.
When that time comes, the songs in the temple will be wailings," says Adonai ELOHIM. "There will be many dead bodies; everywhere silence will reign."
The time of harvest was usually a time of joy in the nation of Israel. They worshiped in the temple and praised God for His provision. This time, the harvest was going to be different because they were going to receive punishment instead of fruit. There would be no songs of worship; only silence as they faced judgment.
Listen, you who swallow the needy and destroy the poor of the land!
A good measure of a nation or man, is how they treat those who are in need. We remember that Amos was a shepherd and so he would have known what it was like to struggle with poverty. That is why God would use him to speak to the leaders about Israel's treatment of their poor citizens.
You say, "When will Rosh-Hodesh be over, so we can market our grain? and Shabbat, so we can sell wheat?"
The leaders of Israel went through the motions of religion but were wanting it to be over so they could get back to making money. It is much the same with many "Christians" today. They may attend a worship service but, as they do, they are simply wanting it to end so they can get back to their life. Amos was telling the Israelites that it was going to end and the same is true for us today.
You measure the grain in a small eifah, but the silver in heavy shekels, fixing the scales, so that you can cheat, buying the needy for money and the poor for a pair of shoes, and sweeping up the refuse of the wheat to sell!"
Not only were they wanting to get their religious duties over to go back to business but they were cheats as well. They would do anything to make a buck and would even cheat the very poor. It is much the same way today as many will use the excuse that "It's just business" but, as we have seen, the Lord watches over the poor and He knows what is going on.
ADONAI swears by Ya'akov's pride, "I will forget none of their deeds, ever.
Here, the title of "Prince of Jacob" refers to Jesus and the fact that He is a Jew. In chapter 6, it had been used to describe Israel and the fact that they trusted in themselves. This is even more true today as it seems that the world has turned its back on God saying they do not need Him.
Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn, who lives in the land? It will all rise, just like the Nile, be in turmoil and subside, like the Nile in Egypt.
Israel is now compared to the Nile which floods every year with the rainy season and rises as much as 25 feet. The Nile does not stay that high as the dry season comes and it falls back down. This is a reminder to them as well as us that God is the provider as He is the One that sends the rain that causes the Nile to rise.
"When that time comes," says Adonai ELOHIM, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
On the day that Israel was sent into exile, there was to be a complete solar eclipse. Throughout the Bible, there is usually an eclipse when God deals with the sin of Israel. The same thing happened when Jesus was on the cross as He was paying for the sins of the Jew and the Gentile.
I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into wailing; I will make you all put sackcloth around your waists and shave your heads bald in grief. I will make it like mourning for an only son and its end like a bitter day.
Without their religious festivals, the people had no hope much like the loss of an only son in a family. The bitter day refers to the fact that they were going to be taken into exile.
"The time is coming," says Adonai ELOHIM, "when I will send famine over the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of ADONAI. People will stagger from sea to sea and from north to east, running back and forth, seeking the word of ADONAI; but they will not find it.
This passage speaks of the four hundred year period between the Old and New Testament. During that time, there were no more prophets sent to Israel. Going from north to east is a symbol of going away from the presence of God.
When that time comes, young women and men will faint from thirst. Those who swear by the sin of Shomron, who say, 'As your god, Dan, lives,' and, 'As the way of Be'er-Sheva lives' - they will fall and never get up again."
During that time of silence, those who trusted in the false gods would perish. This is much the same as what happened with Israel in the wilderness when they disobeyed God and would not seize the promised land.
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