THE DAY OF BITTER MOURNING - AMOS 8

 

Amos 8

The End Has Come

8:1-2

The Coming Judgment

These verses conclude the series of visions in chapter 7 that start with the words “this is what the Lord God showed me”. 

In this vision, God showed Amos a basket of summer fruit. This meant it was the end of the harvest, at the end of summer, but the people would not get to enjoy it. 

God’s patience is finally exhausted and he says the end has come to Israel. There is a play on words here, as the Hebrew word for summer fruit and the word for the end sound the same. We lose this in the English translation.

God can say the end has come because he knows it will come. He knows it will come because he has decreed that it will come. 

But God said he would never pass by them again. The wording sounds somewhat like the language of the Passover, when God said he would pass through Egypt and kill the firstborn of Egypt, but passover the houses of the Israelites who had put blood on the doorframes. (Exodus 12:23) 

This time, God says, he will not pass through to save them, but will allow death to come in. There will be wailing in the temple. This is partially in response to Amaziah’s rebuke of Amos, when he said Bethel is the king’s sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom. (Amos 7:12-13) There will be dead bodies thrown everywhere, and silence from the lack of people to make noise.

The curses of the covenant are reflected in this. God said, if Israel made idols, he swore that they would “soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.” The few survivors would be scattered among the gentile nations. (Deuteronomy 4:25-26) 

The Corruption Of Israel Exposed

8:3-6

God addressed Israel by the sins that brought judgment: trampling the needy and poor (4), just waiting through religious days so that may resume dishonest trade, and enslaving the poor and selling them.(6) The reference to the New Moon is because the day of the New Moon was the beginning of the Hebrew month and was a Sabbath of sorts, since no work was to be done and sacrifices were offered. 

The Lord’s Judgment

8:7-10

As a result of the prideful sins of Israel, the LORD (Yahweh) swore to hold them accountable for their deeds, and bring judgment so terrible that people would mourn and the land itself would tremble. Judgment would be like the rising of the Nile when it floods, covering the land.

There will be cosmic signs of catastrophe, the sun going dark at noon. Their joy   will turn to sorry and bitter mourning will be the norm.

Famine of the Word

8:11-14

Part of the judgment will be God withholding his word from them. He likens it to a famine. The Israelites might seek God’s word in desperation, but they will not find it because he will withhold it. There would be no prophets. 

We can actually see this judgment in action, as there was a period of 400 years of silence from the time of Malachi until John the Baptist appeared on the scene. There was no prophecy and no scripture written during that time.

Their pagan gods would also be silent. The golden calf at Dan would fall as would any places of worship at Beersheba. 

Takeaways

As the people of Israel finally face judgment for their sins, we are reminded that there is a final judgment for all people. When Jesus returns, he brings deliverance for believers, but wrathful judgment for unbelievers. That is why we must proclaim the gospel, and why that proclamation must include the reality of judgment.