Amos: a pre-Assyrian invasion prophet writing to the northern kingdom 763 BC to 755 BC.
Amos was a contemporary of Jonah, writing shortly before Hosea. Amos was writing to the northern Kingdom in the last few decades before the Assyrian invasion. Chapter 1 verse 1 gives the timing of his writing. It was during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, and the reign of Jeroboam the Second, King of Israel.
Amos was in fact a Judean, from Tekoa, a town on the edge of the Judean desert about 5 miles southeast of Bethlehem. For a living, he kept sheep and tended sycamore trees. We can therefore assume that he was not particularly rich.
His prophetic activity was possibly very short-lived. He went from Tekoa to Bethel in the northern kingdom, delivered his prophetic oracle and returned home after a few days.
The main theme of the Book of Amos is justice. At the time when Amos was living, there was renewed prosperity in the northern kingdom under Jeroboam the Second. But this only benefitted the upper classes. Through God’s provision in the Mosaic covenant, the landed peasantry had been the foundation of Israel’s society. But under Jerobaom’s rule, that class virtually disappeared. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer and more numerous.
Amos warned the leaders of the society that if they did not heed his call, their injustice against the poor and the weak would destroy the nation. God would not allow them to continue in their unrighteous and unjust course. Repentance or retribution were the only alternatives.
We can divide the Bood of Amos into four sections: Chapter 1 v3 – Chapter 2 v5 (the oracles against the nations); Chapter 2 v6 – Chapter 6 v14(the guilt and punishment of Israel); Chapter 7 v1 – Chapter 9 v10 (the symbols of approaching judgment); and Chapter 9 v11 – Chapter 9 v15 (the restoration of Israel).
Introduction Chapter 1 vv. 1 and 2.
The Lord sent Amos, a Judean to Bethel. Because of the history between the two kingdoms, he faced a hostile audience.
When the land split into two kingdoms on the death of Solomon (930 BC), Israel’s first king, Jeroboam the First, had encouraged the Israelites to worship in Bethel instead of travelling to Jerusalem. He made Bethel a centre of pagan worship.
Thus, the people of Bethel would regard Amos, a Judean, with suspicion. Yet Amos bravely condemns the sins of Israel’s neighbours – the Syrians, Philistia, the Phoenicians, the Edomites, the Ammonites and the Moabites. Then he went on to point out the iniquity of Judah and Israel. They had rejected the God who had covenanted with them. They too stood before God condemned by their own ways. Amos called on them to return to the living God.
Verse 2. “The Lord roars from Zion”. The temple was on Mount Zion, the oldest part of Jerusalem. When the Lord roared from it, the nation dried up from the heat of the fiery blast (even the normally lush area of Carmel). That “Carmel withers” is a clear message of destructive judgment.
Chapter 1: 3 – Chapter 2: 5. The Oracles against the Nations.
Chapter 1: 3 – 5. Judgment against Damascus, the capital city of Syria.
Verse 3 opens with confirmation of the divine authority for the messages that are coming up. These words are from God Himself.
The Syrians had continued to sin, exhausting God’s patience. They had warred against God’s people in the east of Judah (Gilead). The Syrians had been extremely barbarous and cruel (suggested by the term “implements of iron”). The punishment for the people of Syria was that they would be carried away “captive to Kir” (no one seems sure exactly where Kir was).
God would send “fire”. Fire in ancient cities was particularly threatening as the houses were very close together and the cities crowded. Also, they had little in the way of firefighting capability. “Hazael” and “Ben-Hadad” were kings of Syria who had been particularly harsh in their treatment of Israel.
“The gate bar” was the large timber that barred the city gate. If it was broken the city would lose its security and could not keep the enemy out.
Thus, God would punish Damascus for its wickedness.
Chapter 1; 6 – 8. Judgment against Gaza.
“Gaza” was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, the traditional enemies of Israel who lived in the southeast coast of Canaan.
“They took captive the whole captivity and delivered them up to Edom”. The principal method of acquiring foreign slaves in the ancient Middle East was to capture them in war. They deported an entire population in the reign of Jerobaom the First to the cruel Edomites.
God will take action against four of the cities of the Philistines (the fifth, Gath, had been destroyed by King Uzziah). The remnant of the Philistines would perish.
Chapter 1: 9 and 10. The judgment on Phoenicia.
Tyre was the principal city of Phoenicia, situated on the northwest coast of Canaan. The Phoenicians were master seafarers. Tyre and Israel had forged an alliance that was profitable to both. But Tyre ignored the long-standing “covenant of brotherhood” and sought commercial gain by selling Israelite slaves to Edom.
The positive relationship between Phoenicia and Israel had started with King Hiram’s assistance to David to build his house, and to Solomon with materials to build the temple. The relationship was later solidified through the marriage of Jezebel to Ahaz. No king of Israel had ever made war against Phoenicia.
But fire would be used against Tyre for her wickedness.
Chapter 1: 11 and 12. Judgment against Edom.
The nation of Edom, located southeast of the Dead Sea, controlled important trade routes and was deeply involved in commerce.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. The Book of Obadiah shows that several times in history, Edom had taken advantage of Israel or Judah’s misfortune to help others attack them.
Destruction is Edom’s fate.
Chapter 1: 13 – 15. Judgment on Ammon.
The Ammonites were descendants of Lot and his younger daughter (Lot being the nephew of Abraham). The nation of Ammon, lived east of Gilead on the edge of the desert. The capital city was Rabbah.
The Ammonites killed pregnant women in order to prevent the increase of the Israelite population in Gilead which they were trying to wrest from Israel.
“The King shall go into captivity”. The Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser the Third, carried out the destruction of Ammon in 734 BC.
Chapter 2: 1 – 3. Judgment on Moab.
Like Ammon, the Moabites were descendants of one of Lot’s daughters. The nation of Moab was located southeast of Israel. Kerioth was the major city of Moab, and it was the site of a temple to Chemosh, the national god of Moab.
Among Moab’s sin was that they “burned the bones of the king of Edom in lime”. This act was designed to desecrate the remains of the deceased person. To do so was considered to be a heinous act in ancient times. It prevented a decent burial and was a great dishonour to the person’s memory.
The king and prince will be killed when Moab is destroyed.
Chapter 2: 4 and 5. Judgment on Judah.
Both kingdoms shared a common covenant with the Lord, but Judah had despised the covenant with God. Having received God’s special revelation, they would receive a different judgment from other nations. They bore a higher standard of accountability. God’s “fire upon Judah” was delivered by the Babylonians from 605 BC till 586 BC.
For Israel and Judah to be listed among the Gentile nations, would have been most degrading to the Jews of Amos’s time. But God points out that because of their sin, Israel and Judah have forfeited any special recognition by Jehovah. Judah was to be punished because they had “despised the law of the Lord”. They did not keep “His commandments” and they followed “lies” (i.e., idols).
Chapter 2: 6 – 6:14. The Guilt and Punishment of Israel.
Chapter 2: 6 – 2: 16. Judgment against Israel.
Up to this point the people of Israel could have applauded Amos’s condemnation of their neighbours. But now he turns to Israel.
Verse 6 of Chapter 2. This verse indicates the reasons for God’s judgment against Israel. God was calling them to account, “they sell the righteous for silver”. In His law, God had instructed the Israelites to allow debtors to work off their debts by indentured service, administered humanely and for a strictly limited time. But by Amos’s day, those in power in Israel were taking advantage of the courts system to sell debtors as slaves. These debtors are termed “the righteous” here because they were the innocent victims of the corruption of the courts. “For a pair of sandals”, meaning for little or nothing. Greed was abounding.
Verse 7. They “pant after dust”. Amos was deliberately exaggerating to portray the greed of those oppressing the poor. Not satisfied with gaining their farms and selling the people into slavery for money, the greedy rich would not let the poor go until they had shaken the very “dust” from their heads.
The “humble”, those without power or influence should have been able to depend on the justice system. Instead, justice was denied them. As a result, their lives were turned into poverty, oppression and insecurity. Verse 7 also describes sexual exploitation replacing sexual purity. The “girl” involved may have been a slave.
Verse 8 of Chapter 2 describes “clothes taken in pledge” as security for a loan. Garments were supposed to be returned in the evening; for clothes were bedding to the poor. But the rich of Israel, instead of returning garments were using them as bedding to engage in idolatrous worship under the influence of wine bought at the expense of the poor. Thus, sinning twice against God.
Verse 9 and 10 of Chapter 2. God had been Israel’s champion and the nation’s success had been His doing. The “Amorite” were of course the previous inhabitants of Canaan. They were defeated despite their height and strength, destroyed by God after He had brought Israel through the desert.
Verses 11 and 12 of Chapter 2. God had provided Israel with the prophets; specially privileged men through whom God spoke and gave messages.
The “Nazirites” dedicated themselves to God with a vow that entailed specific responsibilities either for life or for a specific period. Abstinence from alcohol was a prominent feature of the Nazarite vow. But clearly, they were being corrupted as attempts were made to silence the prophets.
Verse 13 of Chapter 2. The all-powerful God was “weighed down” (wearied) by Israel’s sin.
Verse 14 – 16 of Chapter 2. No resources of personal strength, no skill with weapons of war, not even the help of other mighty men, nor horses would suffice for the “most courageous men of might”, when God brings His judgment upon them. If the strong could not save themselves, what would become of the rest of the people?
Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC.
Chapter 3: 1 – 5: 27. Israel’s imminent judgment and its wilful stubbornness in sins of idolatry.
Verse 1 and 2 of Chapter 3. This is Israel’s first summons to “hear”. They are to hear the word which the Lord has spoken to Israel, but it is spoken “against Israel”. It is a threat of judgment. Because Israel occupied a uniquely close relationship with Jehovah, their punishment would be even more severe for all “iniquities”.
That close personal relationship is seen in the phases “the whole family which I brought out of Egypt” and “you only have I known”. These demonstrate an intimate and exclusive relationship. He had been faithful to Israel, but the nation had not been faithful. This is why they will be judged.
Verses 3 – 6 of chapter 3. God poses a series of rhetorical questions illustrating the seriousness and inevitability of His impending judgment on Israel. Each question is framed in such a way so as to require a resounding “no” as its answer. The message for Israel is that certain actions have predictable consequences. Can God ignore Israel’s faithlessness?
Verses 7 and 8 of Chapter 3. God is sovereign and has revealed His intent through the prophets. It would do Israel no good to forbid prophecy. Judgment must come!
Verses 9 and 10 of Chapter 3. For God to call Philistia and Egypt to witness judgment on Israel implies that these pagan nations were more righteous than Israel. This would be particularly humiliating for Israel. These nations had not received God’s revelation at this time. Yet, Israel having received it, had violated it grossly and repeatedly.
Verse 11 of chapter 3. This verse pictures the formal sentencing of Israel in the presence of the witnesses whom God had called. Sapping Israel’s strength was exactly what Assyria did in the years following Amos’s prophecy, finally putting an end to the northern kingdom in 722 BC.
Verse 12 of chapter 3. The analogy of the shepherd. The hired shepherd was responsible to the owner for the safety of the sheep. He had to make good any loss, unless he could prove that it was unavoidable. If a lion took a sheep that was an unavoidable loss. But the shepherd had to prove that the animal had been lost to a lion. A couple of small bones and an ear were sufficient to prove that a lion had taken it. As complete as the destruction which a lion would bring on a sheep, so would be God’s destruction of Israel. Only a small remnant would be left.
Verse 13 of chapter 3. The heathen nations are called upon to testify to God’s righteous judgment on Israel.
Verse 14 of chapter 3. The “altars of Bethel” are to be destroyed. Jeroboam the First had created sanctuaries in Bethel and Dan to prevent people from the northern kingdom travelling to Jerusalem for festivals and whilst there, possibly returning their political allegiance to the house of David. These sanctuaries of false worship had tempted many Israelites to be unfaithful to God.
“The horns of the altar shall be cut off”. Horns represented strength. If the horns of the altar were cut off, it would symbolise the altar’s weakness and assign it to destruction.
Verse 15 of chapter 3. Four houses are mentioned here. They are all symbols of oppression. Many small inheritances had been stolen to form large estates for the wealthy and powerful with their opulent houses. The great houses will be destroyed.
Verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 4. “Bashan” is the region east and northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It is prime grassland for the raising of cattle. The “cows of Bashan” refers to the arrogant and pampered women of Samaria whose conduct is oppressive and self-indulgent. But these women are heading for a fall and will be taken into captivity.
Verse 3 of Chapter 4. The fact that there will be “broken walls” is a symbol of the thoroughness of the destruction of the city and the houses which the people held so dear. In an undamaged city the usual way in and out was through the main gate. But Samaria would be so ruined that the deportees would be driven straight out through the broken-down walls of their homes and the city.
Verses 4 and 5 of Chapter 4. Here we have a bitterly sarcastic call on Israel to worship. It is an ironic invitation from God to carry on their idolatrous worship. They loved the feasting that went with the festivals but not God’s call for justice. Bethel was of course the site of the most important shrine in southern Samaria. Gilgal refers to a site in the Jordan valley where Israel gathered before the taking of Jericho. Thus, Gilgal had historical connection with Israel’s early faith and early life in the land. But now, their worship was empty.
Verses 6 – 11 of chapter 4. This passage describes a series of five calamities which God had already sent upon Israel in an effort to draw them to repentance (famine, drought, blight and locusts, sickness and warfare). But a striking feature of the narrative is God’s emphatic claim that Israel had brought these disasters upon themselves, “yet you have not returned to me” (repeated five times).
Verse 12 of Chapter 4. Because Israel had not returned to God through these five calamities, it would have to meet God Himself. They would be confronted inescapably by the God they had rejected. This would be a fate more terrible than Israel could imagine.
Verse 13 of Chapter 4. Amos confirms God’s right to exercise judgment over Israel as Creator and Sustainer of the earth. God is sovereign over all the earth, and, on that basis, He can call Israel (or whosoever He chooses), to account.
Verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 5. A lament for Israel. The prophet laments over Israel’s downfall. The term “virgin of Israel” depicts the nation as a young maiden, cut off from her life before it had really started. “She lies forsaken on her land” is a reminder that the land had been God’s gift to Israel. But because of their faithlessness, the people had turned it into a place of death and burial.
Verses 3 – 7 of Chapter 5. Israel’s army would be decimated; only one soldier in ten would be spared. Even yet, however, the people should “not seek” the cities where the idolatrous shrines were (Bethel and Gilgal). They should “seek the Lord and live” (not just by going to Bethsheba in Judah, but by earnestly seeking the Lord!)
The people of Israel had turned “justice into wormwood” (verse 7). Wormwood is a plant of the aster family with a very bitter taste. The term is used on a number of occasions in scripture to denote sorrow and bitterness.
Verses 8 and 9 of Chapter 5. The heavens show God’s power and wisdom. “Pleiades” refers to a cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus. “Orion” is a prominent constellation in the southern sky in the shape of a hunter.
God designed and He sustains the daily cycle of light and darkness. The sun, which some worshipped as a god, is in fact God’s servant. Jehovah, not Baal nor Tammuz nor any other god, created the water cycle by which the earth receives its necessary rainfall. The God who created and sustains all the universe can surely bring His judgment to bear, even upon the strong of the earth and their fortresses.
Verses 10 – 13 of Chapter 5. The people of Israel had come to lack justice and righteousness. The sinners of Israel hated a righteous man who reproved them and abhorred an honest man. Because they had grown rich through dishonesty, they would not be allowed to enjoy their wealth.
In verse 10, “the gate” refers to the location of the town’s courts where justice should be upheld whether in criminal or civil matters.
Verse 11 notes that taxes were collected in kind from those with few resources of gold or silver. To “take grain taxes” from the poor put them at risk of starvation if the harvest had not been bountiful.
Yet the rich and powerful had sufficient resources to build luxurious houses (“houses of hewn stone”) for themselves. God promised that the rich would not enjoy their luxury stolen from the lifeblood of the poor and powerless.
Verse 12. Israel’s leaders did not sin incidentally or furtively. They sinned largely and habitually, as though God had never revealed Himself and His standard of justice and mercy.
Verses 14 – 17 of Chapter 5. Here we have a call to righteousness and social justice; a plea to Israel to return to God and avoid the judgment He would otherwise bring upon them, “seek good and not evil, that you may live”. But “there shall be wailing in the streets”; the people will not listen and so are doomed to punishment.
Verse 18 of Chapter 5. “Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord”. The popular theology of Amos’s day apparently looked forward to “the day of the Lord” as a time of Israel’s restoration to the military, political and economic greatness they had enjoyed under King David and King Solomon. However, Amos declared that such hopes were futile and even pitiable. What the people were looking forward to as a day of light and triumph, would come upon them as a day of darkness and ruin.
Verses 19 and 20 of Chapter 5. The images of the “bear” and the “lion” evokes the terror that follows when a person escapes a terrible danger and is exhausted and relieved, only to find a worse danger so close to home that it is inescapable. Such for Israel will be “the day of the Lord”.
Verses 21 – 23 of Chapter 5. God states that He will no longer accept Israel’s worship as it is hypocritical, dishonest and meaningless because of their corrupt hearts. God would much rather have righteousness than ritual.
Verses 24 – 27 of Chapter 5. After dismissing Israel’s empty worship as mere noise, He calls for streams of justice and righteousness.
Israel had not worshipped Jehovah exclusively even in the desert. “Sikkuth” and “Chiun” were pagan deities and apparently Israel made images to foreign gods even in the desert. Since Israel insisted on worshipping other gods including astral deities, God would send them into exile to lands where these deities seemed to rule supreme. Israel was to be exiled “beyond Damascus” (Syria’s capital) to the region of Assyria and beyond.
Warnings to Zion and Samaria.
Verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 6. Both Israel and Judah had enjoyed a generation of military might and economic prosperity. It had become natural for officials of both countries to regard themselves as “notable persons”. It was the boast of Israel’s elite that no other nation was greater than their nation. Their boast would come back to bite them!
They are advised to look at other places (Calneh, Hamath and Gath). They had all been great once but had received Judgment and been subjugated by Assyria.
Verses 3 – 7 of Chapter 6. “You who put off the day of doom”, refers to those who insisted that Israel was too strong for destruction to come upon it. These rich people are enjoying their luxurious lifestyle ignoring the fact that they were enjoying wealth stolen from the poor.
The upper classes of Israel were so engrossed in their own privileges and luxury that they cared nothing for the “affliction” of their fellow citizens, even though it was their transgressions which caused the distress. God’s judgment would be fitting and ironic. Those who had favoured themselves the leaders of the nation would lead the nation into exile.
Verse 8 of Chapter 6. “The Lord God has sworn by Himself”. If God takes an oath, He takes “by Himself”, for there is none greater than Him. God vows that luxurious palace strongholds in Israel, which represented the “pride of Jacob”, the pride in their own strength, also represents the oppression of the powerless, would fall. Stolen wealth had financed the construction of these palace and thus they would be destroyed, “I will deliver up the city”.
Verses 9 and 10 of Chapter 6. These verses depict the aftermath of God’s judgment when a relative comes to carry away their dead. People who had not believed that God would come in judgment, would now be afraid of what further disasters He might bring upon them.
Verse 12 of Chapter 6. By citing to obviously impossible actions (horses running over rocks and oxen ploughing over them), Amos hopes to get the people to see the moral impossibility of Israel’s perversion of justice being ignored by God.
Verse 13 and 14 of Chapter 6. Israel’s pride in its military strength would be its downfall. “Lo Debar” was a city east of the Jordan which Jerobaom the Second of Israel had taken from Syria, when Assyria had crippled the strength of Damascus. “Karnaim” was another city east of the Jordan, near the border with Israel, regained when Assyria weakened Syria. Even these successes did not come through the strength of Israel but rather the weakness of Syria.
God’s punishment would be fitting for the pride of sin. Israel reckoned that they had extended their borders through their own military strength. But God would allow them to be harassed and defeated from border to border. “The valley of Arabah” refers to the desert valley which was the southern limit of Israel’s control. God would allow Israel to be defeated in battle, to realize that their strength was puny indeed.
Chapter 7: 1 – 9: 10. The Symbols of Approaching Judgment.
Chapter 7. The vision of the locusts, the vision of fire, the vision of the plumbline.
God provided Amos with a vision of the devastating impact of a swarm of locusts on the land. This filled Amos with horror at what Israel faces and he interceded for the people.
Verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 7. In the vision the locusts take the “late crop” which would leave the people with nothing for winter. If God caried out this threatened punishment, the nation would be destroyed. Amos intervenes and this punishment might be halted. The basis of Amos’s petition lay in the true assessment of Israel’s position; they were ”small” and weak. In response to Amos’s intervention and His own love for Israel, God stays His decree.
Verses 4 – 6 of Chapter 7. The vision of fire. “The Lord God called for conflict by fire.” This means that fire would have been the instrument by which Israel’s guilt would be judged and the instrument by which their punishment would be carried out. The fire in this vision “consumed the great deep and devoured the territory.” This would mean that the landscape would be devastated beyond hope. Again, in response to Amos’s plea, God relents.
Verses 7 – 9 of Chapter 7. The vision of the plumbline. Unlike the first two visions of natural disasters, the vision of the plumbline and the basket of fruit (Chapter 8) are not self-explanatory. This time God does not allow Amos the opportunity to intervene, nor does He relent.
These judgments would be implemented as God’s revelation in the law had been set “in the midst of My people Israel” for many generations. The plumbline speaks of the absolute uprightness of God’s judgment: it would demonstrate how “crooked” the people’s observance of the Commandments had been, leading to their destruction.
Verses 10 – 17 of Chapter 7. Amos comes under attack from Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. Amos answers Amaziah by firstly denying that he was a prophet by profession; he was really a farmer. He had not desired nor sought the task that God had given him.
The second part of Amos’s answer was directed at Amaziah, “Your wife shall be a harlot.” The only way a spouse of an important official could be reduced to prostitution would be if all her family and all her possessions were taken from her. And Amos warns Amaziah that such a disaster will befall his family, “your land shall be divided” and you shall die in “a defiled land” (i.e., a land of pagans).
Chapter 8 The vision of summer fruits.
Verses 1 – 3 of Chapter 8. The basket of summer fruits (grapes, pomegranates, and figs) indicated that Israel was ripe for judgment, “the end has come upon My people Israel”. Most good harvests were a time of rejoicing but not on this occasion. Now “the songs of the temple” would be turned to “wailing” because this harvest would be one of death.
Verses 4 and 5 of Chapter 8. Rather than observing the New Moons and Sabbaths with worship, thanksgiving and rest, the people were impatient to resume their cheating and oppression of the poor; “to make the ephah small” and make “the shekel large”.
Verses 6 – 10 of Chapter 8. Israel’s system of indentured service for members of the covenanted community was to be humane and time limited. But the rich and powerful of Amos’s time were making slaves of Israel’s poor. The people had been dispossessed of their land. God will not forget the work of the arrogant. Judgment would overflow Israel like a Nile flood. God’s judgment would be a great reversal; light to darkness, joy to misery.
Verses 11 – 14 of Chapter 8. Having previously sent a famine, God would now send a famine of “hearing the words of the Lord”. During the time of prosperity, the nation had rejected the prophets. In captivity no word from the Lord would be found. What they had had in abundance and rejected, they now desperately wanted but could not find, no matter how hard they tried.
Even the most vigorous “fair virgins and strong men” will faint from thirst. Men will seek a message from the idols but will receive no help.
Chapter 9. The destruction and the restoration of Israel.
Verses 3 and 4 of Chapter 9. The vision of the altar. In this vision the Lord is standing beside the altar in Bethel, commanding that the temple be torn down and fall on the worshippers, sparing none. The people are desperate to escape but that is impossible. Even in captivity, God “will set My eyes on them for harm”. This is the fulfilment of the curse of the Mosaic covenant.
Verses 5 – 10 of Chapter 9. The Lord is omnipotent as revealed by creation. He has sovereign rulership over the nations. Other nations have also enjoyed His guiding hand; not only Israel. But now God sees Israel as “the sinful kingdom” to be destroyed. The northern kingdom would no longer exist after being destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC
Chapter 9: 11 – 9: 15. The Restoration of Israel.
Verses 11 – 15 of Chapter 9. But Israel will be restored. “The tabernacle of David which had fallen down” will be repaired and rebuilt. In the millennial kingdom the Davidic covenant will be fulfilled. It will be “as in the days of old” (the days of David and Solomon) when they lived in strength, prosperity and security. God would preserve a remnant of Jacob’s offspring to populate a bigger, better kingdom as promised long ago to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Verses 13 and 14 of Chapter 9. In the kingdom “the ploughman” will “overtake the reaper”. This means that there will be such an abundant harvest that it will last all summer. For “the treader of grapes” to overtake “him who sows seeds”, would mean that the grape harvest would be so abundant that it would be extended for several weeks. The promised restoration will be a total reversal of the punishment that God was bringing upon Israel.
Verse 15 of Chapter 9. God will plant the people in the land, and they will not be uprooted. God does not abandon His people, nor does He leave them without hope. His punishment for unfaithfulness is certain, but the restoration of His people is just as certain.
Conclusion.
So, we see in the Book of Amos, God’s demand on nations and on us for justice in our living and the avoidance of idolatry (i.e., the worship of anything other than God the creator).
The first commandment forbids us to have any other god than Jehovah. The second commandment forbids us to worship Him through any emblem or symbol whatsoever.
Amos reminds us that two cannot walk together unless they are in agreement. So, unless we are in agreement with the Lord Yeshua, we cannot attain the sweet communion with Him. We must believe that everything which happens to us, is ordered by the wise and tender will of Him who never fails a friend.
AMEN.