Amos 8:1-14

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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

1. Verse 1-3 - In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision of a "basket of summer fruit"; signifying the destruction of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which would quickly come upon them.

2. Verse 4-6 - the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness.

3. Verse 7-10 - for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness

5. Verse 13,14 - the consequence of which would be, a fainting of the young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters [1]

Verse 1-3 - In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision of a "basket of summer fruit"; signifying the destruction of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which would quickly come upon them.

A. This basket is what God showed Amos. It is a sign or symbol that God finished dealing with Israel for the time being.

B. God states it is a basket or container of summer fruit, not spring fruit. God states in verse two that this means the end is come to Israel.

1. God will not again pass by Israel. Compare 7:8 - When God puts the plumbline against Israel, He states He will not pass by her anymore.

c. Lost people may think everything is good for right now, but their end is eternal destruction.

Verse 4-6 - the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness.

2. They swallow up the needy - the overcome the needy, making them more and more dependent upon themselves.

3. They make the poor of the land to fail - by using their wealth and “pull” for their own selfish desires.

4. It is not wrong for the wealthy to make money, it is wrong from them to use the poor of the land to make their money for them.

B. The result of the actions of the externally righteous is the destruction of the poor.

1. Here are rich people who are obeying the external parts of the law, but not obeying any of the law from their hearts.

2. They are waiting on the Sabbath to pass before they continue their buying and selling, but their hearts and minds are not in worshipping and serving God.

1. When will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn? - There was to be no secular activity on this day of worship, which was the first day of every new moon. Once a month it was required that people stop their work and worship God. It was too much for these rebels to worship God one day a month. They thought it took too much out of their profits. There was none selling on this holy day, but not because there was willing worship.

2. And the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat This is the first day of the week. Every person ought to be willing to worship God one day a week, but as seen above, they weren’t willing to worship God one day a month.

3. making the ephah small, and the shekel great The ephah refers to the measuring device used in purchasing grain. The shekel refers to the device used to measure the money used to purchase the grain. As you can see, they used one scale to measure that which they bought, and another scale to measure that which they measured the money.

4. falsifying the balances by deceit? The balances for buying and selling were supposed to be the same. Deut 25:13-15 states, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. 15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

5. Ezekiel 45:10 states, “Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.”

1. That we may buy the poor for silver. The end result of this wicked trading by the rich is the eventual enslavement of the poor. He is too poor to buy proper representation in a court of law, and is cheated out of what he justly deserves for his labor. Leviticus 25:39,40 states, “And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:” This verse clearly states that a Jew shall treat a neighbor who is a Jew one way, but is permitted to treat a neighbor who isn’t a Jew another way.

2. and the needy for a pair of shoes. This refers to the rich doing the poor dirty so they can buy a pair of shoes. The poor may have no shoes, but the rich will have shoes because of the unjust labor of the poor. Amos 2:6 shows that God will judge Israel for these unjust tactics. [2]

Verse 7-10 - for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness

1. As sure as God has blessed Jacob with all these good things, as surely He will take them all away, and send terrible calamities upon them.

3. God would normally forget Israel’s sins when they ask forgiveness, but not this time.

4. They haven’t asked forgiveness, and won’t ask. Therefore, God won’t forgive, nor forget.

B. Verse 8 - The terrible calamities that shall come upon Israel in the day of judgment.

2. It is likely this trembling speaks about the earthquake spoken of in Amos 1:1.

3. There will no escaping like there is no escaping the ravages of a flood that came upon Egypt.

4. As sure as God judged Egypt for what they did to Israel, as surely God will judge Israel for what they have done to Him.

1. As the noon approaches, everything seems fine, but at noon the judgment of God will come.

2. This is very sudden, and unexpected by those that haven’t listened to the prophecies of God.

3. II Kings 7 tells of the judgment of God that came upon Israel, and in the middle of the day, lepers discovered the army encamped outside the gates of Jerusalem had left and all their plenty had been left behind.

4. God is able to change good into bad very quickly, and bad into good very quickly.

1. turn your feasts into mourning Because Israel didn’t use these feast to worship and honor God, God mourned at their willful worship. God will cause Israel to mourn because they didn’t use the feast days as God commanded.

2. all your songs into lamentation There will no longer be songs of happiness and gladness, but songs of wailing, as if there were a funeral going on.

3. bring up sackcloth upon all loins Regardless of present financial situation, rich or poor, all shall mourn. Putting the sackcloth upon the loin speaks of the nakedness of the people before God. Public calamities shall cause this.

4. baldness upon every head The hair will be either pulled out of shaved off - a sign of mourning.

a. Nehemiah 13:25 - When Nehemiah saw certain of the Jews who had married forbidden wives, and their children spoke half in the Jewish language and half in another language, he plucked off the hair of some of them.

b. Ezra 9:3 - When Ezra heard that certain of the Jews had married forbidden wives, he plucked out his own hair.

5. I will make it as the mourning of an only son The most precious person is taken from the parents, and their mourning is greater than any other.

6. the end thereof as a bitter day This day will begin as a good day, but will end as a bad day indeed. An unspeakably bad day!

1. The Israelites have taken the Word of God and God’s presence for granted, but there is coming a day when God will not hear their prayers, nor will He give them that which they desire.

3. Now the Word of God can be freely declared, but there is coming a day when there will be no prophecy from God.

4. Nobody will be able to tell them how long their captivity shall last, or what shall come upon them.

5. Psalms 74:9 states, “We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

8. How easy is it today to find a church that believes, preaches, and practices the truth?

9. There are all kinds of churches in the U. S., but there are many more that teach lies than teach the truth.

1. There may be someone that says they are preaching God’s Word, but none shall really preach it, because God shall not give it.

2. Israel will look all over for word about the coming Messiah, but there shall be none.

Verse 13,14 - the consequence of which would be, a fainting of the young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters

1. Proverbs 13:12 - “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

5. They know they don’t have the necessary righteousness to please God, and cannot receive from God the righteousness they need.

1. The sin of Samaria is when Israel copied the idolatry of Samaria by making golden calves.

2. The sin of Samaria refers to the calf set up in Bethel, which calf the Samaritans worshipped.

4. Those that have stated that the golden calves produced by Jeroboam I are the gods that delivered Israel out of Egypt shall come to nought.

5. Those that trusted that the golden calves were alive will find out they never had life in them.

6. Hosea 8:5,6 - “Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? Ho 8:6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.”

C. The manner of Beersheba refers to the way, or the travels of those living in Beersheba to travel all the way to Dan or Bethel to worship, when it would have been closer for them to worship the true God at Jerusalem.

1. Even though the worshippers at Beersheba were considered to be faithful to worship their false god, they will come to nought.

2. They will finally come to the place of knowing and believing their golden calves are no gods at all. [3]

[1] This chapter division is from John Gill.

[2] Preached to here 10/14/98 IBC Wednesday Evening

[3] Preached to here 10/21/98 IBC Wednesday Evening