Amos 9:1-10

V1

Incredible vision.

Isaiah 6:1 “1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”

1 Kings 22:19 “19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the angels of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.”

Genesis 28:13 “13 Then behold, the Lord was standing above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants.”

Genesis 32:30 “30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.””

Exodus 24:9–10 “9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.”

Ezekiel and Daniel say visions of God and the Ancient of Days, but no explicit text that says “I saw the Lord”

Because God talks about destroying the pillar capitals, most likely this is the altar at Bethel: Amos 3:14 “14 “For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; The horns of the altar will be cut off, And will fall to the ground.”

Mentioned several times before, but worth repeating here: God directly destroyed Israel.

vv1-6

There is no escape 1) in the supernatural realms 2) in all of livable creation 3) throughout the entire earth

“the serpent” is interesting.

The Bible rarely explicitly says that mythology is wrong.

Rather, the Bible asserts 2 things: There are no Gods beside The Lord, and He is sovereign over all. This reminds me of how the Gospel treats evil spirits: it doesn’t say they don’t exist, it says Jesus is stronger.

Examples are Leviathan in Job, Tannin in Psalms, Rahab in Psalms

Psalm 74:14 “14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.”

Isaiah 27:1 “1 On that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.”

Psalm 74:13 “13 You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.” (Tannin)

Ezekiel 29:3 “3 Speak and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster that lies in the midst of his canals, That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’” (Tannin)

Isaiah 51:9 “9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon?”

Psalm 89:10 “10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.”

This section ends with God’s supremacy over all:

“all those who live in it [the land] mourn.” “all of it rises up like the Nile” “The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth” “He calls the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth”

“The Lord is his name”

vv7-10

These verses show how the plumb line judgment will take place. Remember how the plumb line provides a means of salvation and was Amos’s preferred means of judgment.

God declares his sovereignty over all the nations (he brought up Israel but also the Philistines and Arameans). All nations rise and fall according to God’s will. Amos still asserts Israel’s unique position in a covenant relationship with God Amos 3:2 “2 “You only have I known among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.””

Reminder that Jesus saves us from God’s wrath, so we can say “The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us because Jesus has saved us.”

Themes

Jesus saves us from God’s wrath

Jesus is stronger than superstitions, evil spirits, myths.

God is sovereign over all nations

Applications

Asserting Jesus’ supremacy over myths, evil spirits, superstitions.

Stop sinning.