CHAPTER 8

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.

Amos received yet another vision. This time a basket of "summer fruit," fruit very RIPE! God uses this vision to announce that the end of Israel as a nation is very near. The time at Amos' prophecy was about 760BC, a time of prosperity and military affluence for Israel. But by 722BC the nation would be captured by Assyria.

When Israel fell, God said that the songs of the temple would be "howlings" for the dead rather than praise to the Lord!

When a nation refuses God's guidance, and even spurns him, that nation is not long for existence. This also holds true for individuals and churches.

4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

Prosperity was good. People were taking advantage of it. They were buying up the land of the "poor," and giving them no place to live.

They were anxious to see the "sabbath" end so they could open up for business again (vs 5). At least they were not like some of the Christians of this day, who keep their businesses open on the Holy Day!

The reason they wanted to hurry and get back to selling was because they were cheating on weights and measures (vs 5b). Profiteering is not new to the 20th and 21st centuries!

Times were good for most folk, but the "poor" and "needy" could be "bought" for a little silver, or even a new pair of shoes! In large cities of America today (and in many other countries), We live in very prolific times. But the "poor" and "needy" have no place to live. They stand on corners of streets begging for food, or looking for work.

God would not stand for this focus on prosperity without compassion! He said He would "Not forget their works!" (Vs 7) Further, he would cause the whole nation to be destroyed! (vs 8).

When a nation is so focused on prosperity that it loses sight of compassion, it will not long stand!

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

God uses unnatural means in natural forces to indicate pleasure or displeasure.
God stopped the sun for Joshua (Josh. 10:12-14).
God turned the sun backward in 2Kings 20:11.
Amos 1:1 records an "earthquake" two years after his beginning prophecy.
Isaiah prophesied the same happening to Jerusalem (Is. 29:6).
Zechariah mentions an earthquake "in the days of Uzziah" (Zech. 14:5).

Verse 9 of our text probably refers to an eclipse of the sun. That would make "the sun to go down at noon, and....darken the earth in the clear day..." We must remember that He Who CREATED natural things also CONTROLS natural things!

The darkening of the sun at noon indicates an horrific calamity! The people's "feasts" would be turned into "mourning," and their joyous "songs" would become "lamentation." "Sackcloth" upon the loins indicates extreme sorrow. The sorrow is likened to the loss of an "only son."

What an awful thing was going to happen because they would not listen to the "Word of the Lord!"

11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Because they would not listen to the "Word from the Lord," they would LOSE any "word" from God! There would be a FAMINE of the Word! No prophetic preaching! People would search everywhere for a "word" from God, but there would be NONE!

Today, we have a lot of preaching about worldly subjects, but little prophetic preaching about eternal judgment and eternal hell.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

When God sent his final judgment upon Israel, it was an awful thing! Even the most "fit" of the people were broken! And those who had sworn by their idols, found that there was no help in the wood and stone imagery!!

There will come a day when God stops the idolaters of the world and even the most "fit" of people will "faint" at the sight of God, and "thirst" for His forgiveness!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.