Amos 8

Amos 8:1–14 (NASB)

1 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer. 3 “The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord God. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.” 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, 6 So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?” 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 “Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight. 10 “Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day. 11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord. 12 “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, But they will not find it. 13 “In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst. 14 “As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.”

(v . 1-3) Their time was short.

1 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer. 3 “The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord God. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.”

There is a progression in the timeline:

Amos 7:1 (NASB)

1 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing.

1 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

The word for summer:

The Hebrew word translated “summer” or “ripe” in verse 1 (qayis) it comes from root word for “end” in verse 2 (qes). It was the end of the harvest for the farmers, and it would be the end for Israel when the harvest judgment came .

2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

Jeremiah 8:20 (NASB)

20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.”

Joel 3:13 (NASB)

13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

Revelation 14:15 (NASB)

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

And the end will be brutal!

3 “The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord God. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.”

Psalm 110:1–7 (NASB)

1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. 7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.

Revelation 14:17–20 (NASB)

17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.

Our response…

Psalm 90:7–12 (NASB)

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. 8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. 10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

(v. 4-6) The big problem…a lack of love.

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, 6 So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

They broke the two greatest commandments:

Matthew 22:36–40 (NASB)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

They didn’t love God:

5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market…

Exodus 20:8–11 (NASB)

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Numbers 28:11–15 (NASB)

11 ‘Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; 12 and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 14 ‘Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 ‘And one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.

They didn’t love other people, the only loved themselves:

5 s…to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, and to cheat with dishonest scales, 6 So as to buy the helpless for money and the needy for a pair of sandals, and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

Amos 2:6–7 (NASB)

6 Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for money And the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 “These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the helpless Also turn aside the way of the humble…

Amos 4:1 (NASB)

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy…

Amos 5:11–12 (NASB)

11 Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes And turn aside the poor in the gate.

Leviticus 19:35–36 (NASB)

35 ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. 36 ‘You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 25:13–16 (NASB)

13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14 “You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 “You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 16 “For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Proverbs 11:1 (NASB)

1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.

Proverbs 20:10 (NASB)

10 Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord.

(v. 7-14)

7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 “Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight. 10 “Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day. 11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord. 12 “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, But they will not find it. 13 “In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst. 14 “As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.”

Be Concerned (2. The Prophet Declares (Amos 8:1–14))

How the end is coming (vv. Amos 8:7–14). The prophet used four pictures to describe the terror of the coming judgment.

1. The first was that of an earthquake (v. 8) with the land heaving like the rising waters of the Nile River. (The Nile rose about twenty-five feet during its annual flooding stage.) Even the land would shudder because of the people’s sins. Earlier Amos referred to an earthquake (1:1), but we aren’t sure whether it was the fulfillment of this prophecy.

8 “Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

Amos 1:1 - “…two years before the earthquake…”

2. God would also visit them with darkness (Amos 8:9), perhaps an eclipse. (There was one in 763 B.C.) The Day of the Lord will be a day of darkness (Isa. 13:9–10; Joel 2:30–31).

9 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight.

3. The third picture is that of a funeral (Amos 8:10), with all their joyful feasts turned into mourning and wailing. Instead of being dressed elegantly and going to banquets or concerts, the people would wear sackcloth and join in mourning. Parents would mourn greatly if an only son died because that would mean the end of the family name and line. But God’s judgment would mean the end of a nation.

10 “Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

4. Finally, the judgment would be like a famine (vv. 11–14), not only of literal food but also of spiritual nourishment. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV; see Deut. 8:3). In times of crisis, people turn to the Lord for some word of guidance or encouragement; but for Israel, no word would come.

“We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be” (Ps. 74:9 NIV).

The 400 years of silence between Malachi and John the Baptist.

What a tragedy to have plenty of “religion” but no Word from the Lord! That means no light in the darkness, no nourishment for the soul, no direction for making decisions, no protection from the lies of the Enemy. The people would stagger like drunks from place to place, always hoping to find food and drink for their bodies and spiritual sustenance for their souls.