Lesson: Amos 8:1-6, 9-10
Golden Text: “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” (Amos 8:2).
I. INTRODUCTION. God had been threatening judgment because of all the injustice in Israel. He had not been blind. He had seen their attitude toward the poor and toward Him. All He saw was injustice and religious hypocrisy. Using the imagery of a basket of ripe fruit, God told the people of Israel that His judgment of them was now ripe---it was due. In this week’s lesson, the prophet Amos used two illustrations to explain that judgment was about to fall upon Israel.
II. BACKGROUND FOR THE LESSON. Up to this point in the book of Amos, the prophet had preached a series of sermons to Israel concerning their treatment of the poor, widows and orphans. He also preached against their idolatry, selfishness and pride. In chapter 7, God gave Amos some visions of what He planned to do to Israel to punish them. In the first vision (see Amos 7:1-3), Amos saw a swarm of locusts devouring the land, but he intervened on behalf of the people and God heard him and held back on that judgment. Next Amos had a vision of fire (Amos 7:4-6) that dried up the waters and covered the land. Again, Amos pleaded for the people and God held back once more. Then the Lord showed Amos a vision of a plumb line (see Amos 7:7-9) which was normally used to make sure a wall was straight. Here it was meant to show whether Israel was crooked or not. If God found that they were, He would punish them. But this time before Amos could intervene for Israel, God declared that He would not withhold judgment any longer. Then in Amos 7:10-17, Amaziah the priest in Bethel is seen complaining to king Jeroboam about Amos’s preaching of destruction. This didn’t stop Amos from continuing God’s message. Amos proceeded to declare that because Amaziah wanted him to stop preaching, his wife would become a prostitute and his sons would be killed. In addition, Amaziah’s land would be divided up and he would die in a pagan land and Israel would surely be carried into captivity. This is where our lesson begins.
III. EXPOSING GREED AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE (Amos 8:1-6)
A. Amos’s vision and God’s explanation (Amos 8:1-3).
1. (vs. 1). In our first verse Amos said “Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.” In a vision, God showed Amos a “basket of summer fruit.” The basket probably included such fruit as grapes, figs, pomegranates, and maybe other fruit that was normally harvested at the end of the summer. Since this fruit had already been harvested, this would indicate that the fruit was ripe. This also described Israel’s spiritual condition regarding judgment. They were ripe for it.
2. (vs. 2). The prophet continued to say in this verse “And he (God) 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.” In order to get Amos to focus on what He was about to say, God asked him “what seest thou?” or “what do you see?” Amos answered that he saw “A basket of summer fruit.” Just as this summer fruit indicated the end of the harvest season, God declared that “The end is come upon my people of Israel.” In other words, Israel’s existence in the land was about to end. With the words “I will not again pass by them any more” God indicated that He had been very patient with them, but He couldn’t overlook their behavior any longer. Note: This should remind us of Paul’s words to the pagans in Athens as they worshipped idols and particularly “the Unknown God” (see Acts 17:22-23). Paul made it clear that “the times of this ignorance (worshipping idol gods) God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (see Acts 17:30). In the same sense, God was no longer going to “wink” at Israel’s sin. The end for His people was near. Any nation that’s more interested in personal power and political position than in obeying God will soon realize that He can declare “time’s up” for any people, even a world power. This should be a lesson for our own nation. America has been the most powerful nation in the world for many years, but that does not mean that we will continue to exist if we openly disobey God. Among other wrongs, we are seeing the rapid acceptance of same-sex marriage, and Romans chapter 1indicates that such acceptance will lead to God’s discipline. There’s no doubt about it, with the way we treat one another in this country, America is no longer a Christian nation, if it ever was one. As a result, God’s displeasure with us is growing.
3. (vs. 3). In this verse, Amos went on to say “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 stated that “the Lord God” declared that the “songs” the people sang in the temple at Jerusalem as well as their idol-temples in Bethel and Gilgal, will turn into “howlings in that day.” In other words, instead of singing songs in their places of worship the people would be wailing loudly. This wailing will be caused by the “many dead bodies in every place.” When the Assyrians invaded Israel they would leave “dead bodies” lying around everywhere. These dead bodies, slain by sword or pestilence, won’t be buried with the usual pomp and solemnity of funerals, but anyone who survives the destruction “shall cast them forth with silence.” The burials would probably be done at night to avoid being noticed by the enemy.
B. Amos’s warning (Amos 8:4). Now, in this verse Amos said “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail.” With the words “Hear this,” the prophet was calling Israel to pay close attention to his message from God. The people are identified as “ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail.” The emphasis here is on how the poor and needy of the land were being mistreated. This is the meaning of the words “to fail.” God was describing those who were making themselves rich at the expense of those who had little or nothing (see Amos 2:6-8). The word “swallow” translates a Hebrew word that means “to inhale eagerly.” It has the idea of coveting and hurrying to act on ones desires. The rich in Israel did whatever it took to get more and didn’t care that they were trampling on the needy and poor of the land to do it. Amos had previously spoke of how the rich took advantage of the poor and mistreated them with affliction and bribery (see Amos 5:11-12). This was a very common sin in Israel. The heinousness of the sin they were guilty of had the character of the unjust judge who Luke described as one who neither “feared God nor regarded man” (see Luke 18:2).
C. The people’s greed (Amos 8:5-6).
1. (vs. 5). In this verse, Amos begins to tell the people what the message from God was. The prophet said that those who swallow up the poor were “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?” The merchants were so hypocritical that they still continued to be religious while breaking God’s law in dealing with the poor. The merchants recognized the “new moon” and “the Sabbath” but their hearts weren’t in it. Note: We too need to determine is the worship we give to God really comes from our hearts. When attending church becomes nothing more than a ritual, God is not pleased. When we reluctantly give our tithes and offerings, God is not pleased. Singing songs and hymns with no thought about the words doesn’t please Him. The question is, are we really worshipping or just going to church? Both of these holy days, “the new moon” and “the Sabbath” called for rest from normal daily activities including buying and selling. But the merchants couldn’t wait for these holy days to be over so they could go back to making money. This is why they asked among themselves, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? In essence they were saying, “I’ll be glad when this day is over so I can make so more money.” They wanted the “new moon” holiday to hurry up and be over so that they could buy and sell “corn” or grain. The merchants also wanted the “Sabbath” to be over quickly so that “we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?” The “ephah” was a form of measurement and the “shekel” was the coinage used for buying and selling. They were in a hurry to “set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?” These oppressors of the poor couldn’t wait for the monthly festivals and weekly Sabbath to end so they could get back to cheating their fellow countrymen in order to make big profits. They would use “balances” or scales that were rigged in order to deceive the poor. The scales were rigged to give false weights for an “ephah” allowing merchants to boost the price. The merchants in Israel on the one hand were recognizing the feast days and Sabbath days while at the same time getting rich by very unscrupulous business practices. They were insensitive to the basic needs of the poor and showed them no mercy. Note: Just before the Jews entered Canaan, God made it clear that His desire was that “there be no poor among you” (see Deuteronomy 15:4). While the Lord desired that Israel have no poor in their land, Deuteronomy chapter 15 continues to say that this will only happen if the Jews obeyed God’s commands (see Deuteronomy 15:5). However, they disobeyed God and as a result the poor in the land didn’t get any relief. Since God knew the poor would always be in the land because Israel wouldn’t obey Him, He established certain rights and protections for them. The poor could glean from the fields, the orchards, and the vineyards. They could collect any sheaf that was left in the field and partake of all that grew by itself during the Sabbatical Years (see Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 19:10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19). The Old Testament is clear that the poor are equal with the rich in their standing before God “for the Lord is the maker of them all” (see Proverbs 22:2). The price of atonement was the same for both the rich and poor (see Exodus 30:15), but the poor could bring and offer less costly sacrifices (see Leviticus 14:21).
2. (vs. 6). In this verse Amos said that the rich continued to say “That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?” The statement “That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes” is attributed to the upper class and leaders in Israel, and repeats an indictment that God brought against them in Amos 2:6 that had to do with wrongs done against the poor. First, the people “buy the poor for silver.” This no doubt refers to the corruption in the court system. Judges were bribed into condemning innocent people after hearing false testimony (see I Kings 21:8-14) which was against God’s law (see Deuteronomy 16:19). The phrase “and the needy for a pair of shoes” does not mean that a judge was bribed for the trivial or small price of a pair of sandals, but that the poor were being enslaved for a trivial amount---the cost of sandals (see Exodus 23:6). Very often a rich creditor would not allow a poor person time to pay off even the smallest loan. To get what was owed at once, the debtor was forced to sell himself into slavery which was also against God’s law (see Leviticus 25:39-41). To further show the greed of the people, they cheated the poor by selling “the refuse of the wheat?” This refers to the “chaff” or the useless part of the wheat (see Psalms 1:4; Matthew 3:12). It was normally thrown away when the wheat was threshed, because it was worthless like the husks on corn. But the merchants were selling it to the poor at full price. Note: The wicked will always take advantage of the honest. They will always use religious observance for their gain if they can, if not, they will find a way to set it aside or find a more convenient time. There was a time here in America, not long ago when all businesses were closed on Sunday. Today, accept for Chick-fil-a, you would be hard pressed to find a business closed on the Lord’s Day. The wicked will always find a way to get around righteousness, justice, and fairness. We may have no way to prevent this or even correct it, but God does! And He will in His own time.
IV. WARNING OF IMPENDING JUDGMENT (Amos 8:9-10). Verses 7-8 are not part of our lesson, but in those verses God swore that He would never forget their sinful works (see Amos 8:7). They were greedy and dishonest when dealing with one another. They were hypocritical in their worship and they even worshipped idols. Therefore they would tremble with fear and mourn when God brought judgment upon them (see Amos 8:8).
A. A time of darkness for God’s people (Amos 8:9). Now in this verse, Amos said “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.” The words “that day” no doubt refer to Israel’s immediate future when the people would be taken captive by the Assyrians. God said at that time he would “cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.” Whether this actually took place when the Assyrians invaded Israel, we don’t know. But it was more likely God’s way of saying light and freedom in their lives would suddenly cease when the enemy invaded and destroyed the nation. Note: It’s also possible that the words “that day” speaks of the coming Day of the Lord during the tribulation period. Isaiah’s description of the Day of the Lord is similar to what Amos says here. In Isaiah 13:9-10, the prophet said “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” The prophet Joel also gave a similar description of the Day of the Lord (see Joel 2:1-2; 3:14-15).
B. A time of mourning for God’s people (Amos 8:10). In our final verse, God went on to say “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.” Everything that God said He would do to Israel in this verse are all symbols of extreme sadness. First, God said “I will turn your feasts into mourning.” The feasts recognized by Israel were to be times of celebration and joy, but when judgment came the feasts would bring only “mourning.” Second, God said that He would turn all their “songs into lamentation.” The songs of joy and happiness they sang in worship and celebrations would be replaced with “lamentation” or cries of despair. Third, God said “I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins.” The term “sackcloth” refers to a rough cloth, or baglike garment made of this cloth and worn as a symbol of mourning or repentance (see Genesis 37:34; Joel 1:8; Esther 4:1-4; Job 16:15; I Kings 21:27). Instead of fine clothing that the upper class wore, they would be wearing “sackcloth” to express their sadness. Third, God said that He would also cause “baldness upon every head.” In biblical times people would shave their heads to show their deep grief (see Job 1:20). Fourth, God said “and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.” The word “it” here refers to “that day” mentioned in verse 9, when God brings judgment on Israel. It would be a time of such grief and sadness similar to the mourning one would express over the loss of “an only son.” This situation would be devastating to a family since the “only son” would become the head of the family giving future hope that the family would continue. But when the Assyrians invaded Israel and removed the people from the land, all hope for the future would be gone just as it would be for a family who lost their “only son.” Finally, God said “and the end thereof as a bitter day.” The word “bitter” accurately describes the suffering Israel would experience. It means having a sharp or disagreeable taste; unpleasant to accept; distasteful; painful to the body or mind; harsh or sever. Israel’s judgment will have all of these characteristics. Their end would be “bitter.” Note: The tribulation period, also referred to as a time of wrath (see Isaiah 13:9; Matthew 3:7; Revelation 6:17; 11:18) will also be a time of bitterness. According to the book of Revelation, at that time, the Lord will finish His work with Israel, His chosen people (see Revelation7:4-8). It will be a time of darkness, gloom, mourning, and bitterness (see Matthew 25:15-31; Revelation chapters 11-18). I believe the Scriptures teach that Jesus will come for His church before the tribulation (see Romans 5:8-9; I Thessalonians 1:9-10). Therefore, it’s imperative that each of us is part of the spiritual church through salvation in Jesus Christ.
V. Conclusion. God “winks” at evil for only so long, then He judges it (see Acts 17:30). Because of constant sin and disobedience, Israel eventually came to the point where God had to punish them. Likewise, this world is coming to that point when He will judge it. The question is, are you ready for the rapture, the return of Jesus Christ for His followers? That’s the only way to avoid God’s painful judgment in the Day of the Lord.
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