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The Sifting

Introduction

In Amos 8, God gave Amos a fourth vision, that of a basket of ripe summer fruit. Through that vision, He wanted Amos to understand and tell the people of Israel their sins amassed one upon the other and were now ripe. No further delays of their judgment by God would occur. What God told them through other prophets and Amos would happen soon. His mercy for them ended. His great love for them required discipline to lead them to turn back to a right relationship with Him.

The sin God highlighted and of which Amos told the Israelites regarded the corrupt merchants. They considered time away from their stalls and shops to worship and rest as a waste of time when they could make money instead. These merchants used two sets of weights in their business dealings. They stole from the poor by giving them less than a full bushel or half-bushel. The merchants stole from other merchants, too, by not giving them the full measure of silver or gold their purchase required. God included the southern kingdom of Judah in this judgment, too. He said the earth would quake and lamentations and mourning would arise from everyone in the nation. God’s judgment would affect all segments of the Israelite population. The festivals of the Israelites would turn to mourning and gloom. A famine for bread and water was only one area of drought. The people would thirst for the word of the LORD and would not find it; no prophet or priest for the LORD would live among them. The entire socio-political base of Israel would fall.

With Amos 9, God gave a fifth and final vision to Amos. This vision was of Him destroying the temple at Bethel and killing the escapees from that destruction by the sword. God said in verse one, “They will not have a fugitive who will flee, or a refugee who will escape.” (NASB) All people of Israel would experience God’s judgment.

As we have studied this book of the Bible, we realize this prophecy is not mainly about the Israelites. It is, and it isn’t. Yes, the Israelites sinned repeatedly. God gave them their due punishment. We should learn we each deserve punishment and then repent and return to a right relationship with Him. Yet, what we should notice most of all is this book of the Bible, this prophecy, is about God. This book recalls to the Israelites who God has been from creation. It reminds them of His mighty hand to create and then to protect His chosen people. Amos recollects for the Israelites their covenant with Yehovah and their covenant unfaithfulness. It recalls for them the goodness and provision of the LORD. This book reminds them of God’s power and might alongside His love and mercy. With the final chapter, the people of Israel received a reminder they can have hope in I AM, the existing One who was, is, and will be. Throughout the whole of Amos, God’s covenant faithfulness, His righteousness, and His justice are the focus. Each of the prophets and priests who walked with God before Amos, stated these things, too. In the New Testament, Jesus explained this as well. When Lazarus died and Martha questioned Jesus why He waited so long to come to them, He said it was so people would realize God’s glory (John 11:38-44). Making God known is the biggest purpose of Amos and any priest, prophet, or believer. Just as Lazarus’ death was not about Lazarus or his sisters, but about God and His glory, so these prophecies by Amos were to highlight God and bring Him glory while teaching the Israelites and us about ourselves and our relationship with Him.

With that understanding, we can study and look for how Amos made God known. Of what characteristics of God did he reveal or remind the Israelites? What personae of God did Amos relay to them? What imagery did he use to relay God’s message to the Israelites? These are very clear in Amos 9.

This final Bible study from the book of Amos, chapter nine, breaks into four segments with two each in a section. Each of the sections show characteristics of God and His personae and use an image to convey the message. The first seven verses form the first section and break into two segments: verses one through four and verses five through six. Verses eight through fifteen comprise the second section of this chapter. The two segments of this section are verses seven through ten and verses eleven through fifteen. Let’s study these verses to understand what God said through Amos and consider God’s characteristics, personae, and imagery.

God’s Omniscience and Omnipotence

All-Knowing and Powerful Judge

In Amos 9:1, we read of the fifth and final vision God gave to Amos to relay His judgment upon Israel. Earlier God gave Amos visions of locusts, plumb lines, fires, and summer fruit. God used an image of destruction, death, and captivity in the vision in chapter nine. The visual part of this vision shows God stood by the altar. The aural part of the vision is Amos hearing the LORD’s voice in verse 1a. Amos experienced God like Jacob when he met Him at Bethel in Genesis 28:13. This vision is similar to Isaiah’s when he saw God in the Jerusalem temple in Isaiah 6:1 and to Ezekiel’s when he saw Him by the River Chebar in Ezekiel 1:26-28. Amos said in verses one through four,

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, ‘Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; they will not have a fugitive who will flee, or a refugee who will escape. Though they dig into Sheol, from there shall My hand take them; and though they ascend to heaven, from there will I bring them down. And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; and though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword that it slay them, and I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.’ (NASB)

In the first verse, Amos saw, looked at, perceived, and considered the Lord, Adonay, as He spoke to him. He recognized this Person who revealed Himself and spoke to him. It was Adonay, the awesome and revered Lord of all. When God reveals Himself to humanity that is a theophany. The definition of theophany is the appearing of God to people, generally to bless them. Moses, Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and others in the Bible experienced theophanies. The unusual thing about this theophany is that in most theophanies God proclaims His blessings on people. This one announced His destruction of Israel. We recognize this when God said in verse 4b, He “set His eyes on them for evil and not for good.”

How did God appear to Amos and what did He say to Him? God appeared by the altar. We assume it was the altar in Bethel since Amos received his other visions in Israel and his prophecies were for the northern kingdom of Israel. Remember, too, in Amos 3:14, God said He would punish the altars of Bethe in 9:l. He said, “Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake.” Here God said He would strike and destroy the capitals, the tops of the pillars in the temple so the temple would fall. The pillars held the weight of the roof. When pillars crumble and fall, the roof falls cracking, shattering, and destroying everything under it. Zephaniah 2:14 prophesied even animals would lie down in the destroyed temples. God’s destruction would come suddenly with no warming, once again like a thief in the night. This destruction of the temple would break it on "the heads of them all.” The all in this verse were the people inside the temple-the priests and the people inside who worshiped the false gods. God’s presence at that time would be like an earthquake. The Israelites would remember the devastation from the quake around 762 BC. God’s destruction of a place is an oft-used metaphor for an enemy invading and destroying a nation. This vision speaks of a judgment against the people outside the temple, too. God said no refugee would escape Him. He emphasized this by calling them fugitives and refugees. God would surely make His judgment fall on each person in Israel. As Jeremiah 11:11 says, no one would escape this disaster.

With verse two, God gave a conditional statement. If the people should go to Sheol, He would find and take them. He gave five conditional statements: two matched pairs and a single. The first matched pair spoke about cosmic extremes: Sheol and heaven. Though the people dig to the depths of Sheol or go to the heights of heaven, God would reach them. He knows where all people are and He would find them. God is omniscient, all-knowing.

Next, in verse three, God used earthly limits and said, “Though they (the Israelites) hide on the summit of Carmel” or “conceal themselves from My (God’s) sight on the floor of the sea,” He would find and punish them. Mount Carmel was the highest point of Canaan and was in the northeast of the Promised Land on the Mediterranean coast. God said He would command the serpent to bite them. He would find them at the lowest depths of earth, too. God would know where they went and He has command of all things–water, sea, serpent, earthquakes, land, heavens, rains, enemy armies, etc. The serpent spoken of in this verse is the servant of God. David said in Psalm 139:9 that no one can hide in the deepest part of the sea from God. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. His punishment is absolute; it will happen.

The final conditional statement of this part of the vision says, “And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword that it slay them, and I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.” (NASB) The Israelites believed Yehovah God held no power outside the borders of the Promised Land. This implied opposite stated for the Israelites God’s power and knowledge expanded to all parts of the earth, not just within their territory. God is the God of all places, people, and things. Even if the Israelites willingly went into captivity and thought themselves safe from God’s punishment, He would find them and command a sword to slay them. He has charge-power-over manmade things like swords, and those who wield them.

Finally, said with undeniable meaning, God reminded them of what He said in Amos 5:14. He would “set His eyes against them for evil and not for good.” No one would escape His knowledge or evade Him and His judgment. Instead of the LORD bringing good upon them-goodness defined by His character-and keeping evil away, He would remove His goodness from them and allow evil to happen. God made a promise with Abraham in Genesis 44:21. He said He would set His eye upon him. It meant God blessed Abraham. God used this same phrasing in Jeremiah 24:6, 39:12, and 40:4 to mean He blessed the people of Israel. With Amos 9:4, having God’s eyes upon them meant the opposite; it was for evil and not for good, to curse them. God cherished the Israelites and blessed them even when they broke their covenant with Him. Their sins were many and God had given His mercy to them for hundreds of years. Now, He had to be faithful to the unpleasant side of the covenant with the people of Israel. God had to remove His hand of blessing from them and allow evil to occur. He even caused some of the distress, injury, and trouble. Leviticus 17:10, 20:3 & 6, and Deuteronomy 28:15-68 each speak about why God would “turn His face away from Israel” and cause or allow curses to come upon them. The people of Israel understood and agreed to this. They covenanted with Yehovah before they entered the Promised Land. Amos urged the Israelites to seek good and not evil, but they refused so God’s judgment came upon them (Amos 5:14). Their actions were conditional. Whatever they chose to do, it brought a consequence. They chose evil, so curses would come upon them; God’s judgment would come upon them.

With these four verses, we recognize God’s power and omniscience. He knows where each person is who tries to hide from Him. God told them He would find them and His judgment of them would occur. There was nowhere the Israelites could hide from Him because He is all-knowing. God’s personae of omnipotent and omniscient Judge showed in these verses. He used the image of a conquering army-the Israelites’ enemies-to give the Israelites a vivid sense of the devastation that would fall on them because of their stubborn unfaithfulness.

How does this fit with the next two verses? Why do these six verses form a section of this chapter? Let’s look closer at verses five and six to understand better.

All-Powerful Creator - A Doxology

With verses five and six, a third doxology occurs in Amos. Remember, a doxology is a hymn of praise to God giving Him glory and honor. In these two verses, Amos did that, but began with an ominous tone reminding the Israelites of God’s power. He followed that with a standard praise of God about His power in a positive sense. Amos relayed in verses five and six,

The Lord GOD of hosts, the One who touches the land so it melts, and all those who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises up like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt, the One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the LORD is His name. (NASB)

Amos wrote doxologies in 4:14 and 5:8. In the first, he praised God as the Creator of the universe. In the second, he began with creation and referred to Yehovah’s control of the rain. With 9:5-6, Yehovah is the One who touches, builds, and calls. In this doxology, He is Creator, too. GOD’s creative power turned into destructive might. Notice, too, each of the verbs describing God’s actions are in present tense. God touches, builds, and calls, and keeps on touching, building, and calling. Because He was, is, and always will be, He continues to create.

The revered Yehovah-the existing, all-powerful GOD of hosts-of all creation touches the land He made. He remakes it by destroying and rebuilding. This same GOD would destroy and rebuild His chosen people and nation. This part of verse five shows GOD has power over all the earth. He didn’t just create, then let it go and become. GOD has control of the earth-one part of creation-just as He does other parts of creation. His touch melted the earth. It caused it to soften, melt, and/or flow like an earthquake or like lava. GOD softened it to remold it for His purpose, just as His judgment on Israel was remaking Israel for His glory and purpose. Psalm 104:32 and 144:5 speak of the Lord touching the mountains and they smoking. Isaiah 64:1 says the mountains quaked at God’s presence. Micah 1:4 says the mountains melt under God. Remember, the earthquake could be a literal earthquake or it could relate to destruction by another means like a subjugating enemy army. Either way, God’s great might that causes the earth to move and change would cause the people who lived there to mourn because of the devastation and loss. His creative hand and His power to create can cause mourning and destruction.

Amos further stated in verse six GOD builds. GOD builds the upper chambers in the heavens. He established and causes to continue the ascent or stories of heaven. GOD made and keeps making and maintaining all in the heavenly realm. Amos explained what those areas in the heavenly realm were in the Hebrew mind. He said, GOD founded-He established and fixed-His vaulted dome over the earth. For the Hebrews, the vaulted dome was the sky (Genesis 1:6-8) and it fit together as an arch that rested on the earth at its extremities (Job 26:11). This arch banded to the earth. The English word, “dome,” comes from the Hebrew word, ‘aguddah, which means banding to earth the heavens. Within the vault, heavenly beings moved and birds flew (Genesis 1:20). Above the arch was the storehouse where GOD kept His rain (Job 38:22 & 37), and above that was where GOD sat on His throne. Psalm 104:3 & 13 says this similarly. David said God laid the beams of His upper chamber in the waters. The earth would shake and the bands that tied God to the earth in human minds would break, Amos implied. God’s presence over their world would seem to end. His power to touch and to build overlap and show how great the devastation would be when He removed His hand and presence from them.

With the second half of verse six, Amos said the LORD is the same GOD who commanded the waters of the sea-the waters He poured out on them when creating. This GOD is Yehovah. The One who touches and builds, calls, too. Amos 5:8 said He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth. Baal, one of the gods the Israelites worshiped, supposedly gave them rain. When God caused it to stop pouring on the earth, the Israelites would realize Who calls the water. Yehovah is greater than Baal, an idol. The Israelites recalled this from Elijah’s encounter with the 400 prophets of Baal. Baal’s prophets could not call down any water from it. GOD can bring a blessing at the right time with rain or a curse of too much rain or not enough.

God’s creative hand could keep watering the earth or restrain it and allow drought and famine. Figuratively, He could restrain Himself from giving the bread of life-His words-to the people of Israel so they would seek to and fro for the word of the LORD (Amos 8:12). Having no word from the LORD was the second kind of famine God said would occur to the Israelites. God would withhold His power to create and provide. He would create a desire for Him and His Word among the Israelites.

When God touches, He creates. His creating never ends. He continues to build and calls out for His creation to form. This creation can be for the good of people or a curse upon them. God’s omniscience and omnipotence show Him as Creator and Judge. His judgment can create for good or cause devastation. How Israel related to Him, He said, caused mourning when His re-forming and remaking of the earth and the Israelites included pain and destruction. It did not cause the rejoicing of a doxology for God’s positive creation. The Israelites would know Yehovah is the great GOD from whom they could not hide. Amos made sure the Israelites knew this GOD of whom he spoke is the LORD. He iterated it here and in Amos 4:13.

·         Do we take God for granted? Do we do whatever we want assuming He would always bless us?

·         Have you done something that God detests, didn’t repent, and then felt God’s punishment?

·         Did you realize before that God’s creative hand also remakes and reforms all things to bring Him glory, even you? When you do things against Him, He will remake you.

God’s Justice and Wisdom

Just and Wise Judge

Some theologians believe verses five and six should have been after verse ten or before verse one, not after verse four. However, in understanding that the doxology praises God as the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator, it goes well with the first half of this chapter. Just as well does verses eleven through fifteen, the redemption, fit well with the second half of the judgment about wisdom and justice. The personae spoken of God in these verses is of a judge. The imagery is of a farmer, like the imagery above was of a conquering army. GOD’s judgment could bring renewal, but it also separates the faithful from the unfaithful. Let’s consider each segment of this section together and individually.

Amos began this second section reminding the Israelites Whose they were. He said in verse seven,

‘Are you not the sons of Ethiopia to Me, O sons of Israel?’ declares the LORD. ‘Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?’ (NASB)

On first look, we should recognize these people other than the Israelites of whom God spoke were descendants of Ham, the son Noah cursed for seeing him naked in his drunkenness (Genesis 9:20-25). Ethiopians came from Cush, Ham’s son. The Egyptians and Philistines came from Ham’s son, Egypt. The Arameans/Syrians came through Cush’s son, Nimrod. When God said the Israelites were like the sons of Ethiopia, Egypt, Philistia, and Aram, He meant they were the same as them. God loves all people. He also meant some of the Israelites’ descendants came from these other nations, like Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, and her father, Laban, who came from Aram. Moses called Jacob a “wandering Aramean” in Deuteronomy 26:5. The Israelites came from out of Egypt as their other ancestors came from Aram and Kir. They were no better than these nations. The only difference between Israel and these other nations, any other nations, was God chose them and covenanted with them to be His people. The Israelites took their covenant with God for granted. Since God called them His people, they assumed they could do whatever they wanted and not be hurt. The Israelites did not live by their covenant with Him, but only by the convenient parts. They lived the way they wanted, sinfully. God’s creative, powerful, just, and wise hand would bring the punishment upon the Israelites they deserved. They would be no better than Ham’s cursed family line. The people of Israel would receive judgment and punishment like the Philistines and Arameans in Amos 1. Remember, God gave the Philistines and Arameans land in the Sinai Peninsula just as He did the Israelites. He could take it away, too. The Israelites’ special relationship with God would end. He would treat them like any other nation that deserved punishment. God would not have mercy toward them anymore. He is sovereign over each of these nations and He would judge them all because He loves all people. God wants all people to come into a right relationship with Him. The only difference between Israel and the other nations is the Israelites had a covenant relationship with Him. His mercy kept Him from acting on the judgment part of the covenant because of His love. Yehovah waited to give them one more chance to be faithful to Him. His love and justice determined that time was the right time to enact the punishment, the curses of their covenant recorded in Deuteronomy 28.

With this understanding, Israel was no more special than any other nation. God said in verse eight,

‘Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,’ declares the LORD. (NASB)

This statement begins with “behold” meaning because or since. Since the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, something will happen. The Israelites had a choice. They could follow the LORD or they could go their own way. Because of their covenant with GOD, they realized the results for each, either blessings or curses. What would happen to the Israelites? “How would the LORD know anyway?” they may have thought. GOD explained. He said, “The eyes of the Lord God” see the sinful kingdom. This is like verse four. No one can hide anything from GOD or hide from Him. Just as GOD watched over the Israelites so no enemy could harm them, now His eyes watched over them because they did not do right. Because they chose to do evil, and not good, as Amos spoke of in chapter 5 and Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 44:27, God kept His eye on them. The Israelites were sinful and deserved His judgment.

Remember, Yehovah’s policy was to destroy every sinful kingdom (see Amos 1-2). His judgment on Philistia, Edom, Aram, and Israel notes this. Just as God destroyed the Amorites in Amos 2:9, He would destroy these nations. The Israelites could not get away from their just judgment especially since they agreed to it in their covenant with GOD when He chose them to be His people. Their destruction would remove them from the face of the earth. The sinful Israel, of whom Amos estimated to be ninety percent of the kingdom, God would destroy (annihilate) from the surface of the earth, from their territory, their nation. He said this in 6:10 and 7:17, and would say it again in 9:10.

Amos hoped because he experienced God’s mercy, not all the Israelites would face extermination. He expressed this in Amos 3:12, 4:11, 5:3 & 15, 6:10, 7:17, and 9:10. Amos spoke of the divine judgment with the possibility of future salvation and redemption. Jonah and Joel, also prophets, added this same hope in Jonah 3:9 and Joel 2:14. Amos loved his brother and sister Israelites and had hope God would not destroy every one of them. In Amos 5:15, he said, “It may be that the LORD…will be gracious with the remnant of Joseph.” (NASB) Because of this hope, Amos included in 9:8, “‘Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,’ declares the LORD.” (NASB). He believed God would leave a remnant. Amos believed and trusted in the wise and just Judge Yehovah had always been.

With verse nine, Amos showed the personae of the wise Yehovah. He said in this verse,

[GOD said] For behold, I am commanding and I will shake the house of Israel among all nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, but not a kernel will fall to the ground. (NASB)

God used the imagery of a farmer in this verse. He carried it over through the rest of the chapter. GOD’s judgment of the Israelites had been merciful for hundreds of years. Now He would apply wisdom even more. Yehovah loved these people, the Israelites, whom He chose as His people from among all the people of the world. He had a covenant relationship with them and did not want their utter destruction. Wisdom was necessary to sift the kernel from the pebble. John the Baptist used a similar metaphor when he spoke of the wheat and chaff in Matthew 3:12. Both metaphors meant the separating of God’s faithful people from unfaithful people. During the time of the divided kingdoms and after, farmers used a sieve with holes small enough to allow kernels of corn and wheat to go through, but not pebbles. The kernels represented the remnant of Israel, God’s faithful few, and the pebbles represented the sinners. God’s judgment, the exile, was the sifting process, the separation of grain from pebbles. Yehovah would destroy the political kingdom of Israel and sift the people. His remnant few would survive. Isaiah used a sifting metaphor in a similar way when he said God shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction in Isaiah 30:28. Luke reminds us Jesus told Simon Peter “Satan demanded to sift him like wheat” in Luke 22:31. Jesus told Simon He would pray Simon’s faith would not fail. 

The sifting metaphor was common for the Israelites and the neighboring nations of the time. Wise farmers knew not to throw out good kernels just because rocks hid among them. They also understood not to accept everything without sifting because when they ate the kernels a tooth could break, a person could choke on the pebble, or it could cause an internal injury of the person who swallowed it. If God left the pebbles in His kernels, it could cause more injury to His people. His wisdom required judgment occur.

With verse ten, Amos completed this segment of section two. God said,

All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’ (NASB)

Though the people could not hide from Yehovah, they would be brazen enough to think GOD would not cause them harm. They would petulantly and proudly state the distress of which Amos prophesied would not harm them. The arrogance and blind hearts of the Israelites would make them stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the inevitable and, thereby, make them unrepentant. These people would each “fall by the sword.” Amos asked the Israelites in 6:3, “Do you put off the day of calamity, and would you bring near the seat of violence?” (NASB) Nothing the Israelites could do would stop GOD’s imminent and certain judgment from coming upon them. This attitude reminds us of belligerent children who refuse to recognize and obey a parent’s  authority. The Israelites, though knowing about God and hearing His judgment from several prophets by now, refused to acknowledge God’s authority, power, and judgement. They thought they were immune to His judgment because they were the chosen people of Yehovah. By denying His authority, they put themselves equal to God or above Him, though they were not. These Israelites were not exempt from Yehovah’s judgment. God, just like a loving parent, had wisdom not to destroy the faithful Israelites, but had to act justly to correct and punish the belligerent unfaithful who put themselves above Him in their daily lives. God was like the wise farmer who knew how to sift out the good from the bad.

This sifting process showed GOD not only as wise Judge, but as Savior. He would redeem the faithful Israelites from the destruction of the whole nation so that the remnant could re-establish the nation of Yehovah. This would bring glory to GOD again so the nations would see His wisdom and justice as Judge, and also as Savior and Redeemer. Amos expressed the actions of God as Savior and Redeemer in verses eleven through fifteen. In these verses, once again he used the image of a wise farmer who reaps abundant produce, contentment, and love/faithfulness. The saving and redeeming of the remnant showed again God’s creating hand.

Just Savior and Redeemer

This part of section two in Amos 9 gives us a peek of the New Covenant through Jesus Christ that would come in the Israelites’ future. In verses eleven through fifteen, God gave hope that a remnant would survive captivity and/or destruction and He would bless them. He would renew His covenant with the Israelites. Let’s consider the hope that a remnant would return as a nation of God.

In Amos 9:11-12, Amos said,

‘In that day, I will raise up the fallen booth and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name,’ declares the LORD who does this. (NASB)

When Amos said, “in that day,” he referred to “the day of the Lord” when God would come to defeat the Israelites' enemies. Remember in Amos 5, Amos told the Israelites when the “day of the Lord” came everyone would receive God’s judgment, not just their enemies. All His enemies, everyone who sinned against Him, would receive His judgment. Contrary to Amos 5, in Amos 9, “the day of the Lord” would be a positive experience. It would bring restoration of the nation of Israel. Amos said, God would “raise up (quwm) the fallen booth of David.” The Hebrew word quwm means to make rise, to establish, and to fix. “Fallen” comes from the Hebrew word naphal, meaning overthrown and the word “booth” comes from cukkah, meaning shelter, hut, or canopy. The LORD would re-establish the overthrown kingdom of David. Peter used this same terminology in Acts 15:16-18 when he reminded the people the prophets said God would return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Isaiah 16:5 was more explicit than Amos. He spoke of the Messiah who was from the line of David who would establish in love a throne from the house of David. Not only is God the Savior of the fallen nation of Israel, He foreshadowed about the Messiah who would bring a new covenant.

Besides re-establishing the throne of David, the throne from which the Messiah would come, God said He would fix the earthly structures of the nation. In verse 11b, He said He would wall up the breaches. God would close off the gaps in the broken wall around the nation speaking of the wall around Jerusalem and the temple. He said He would raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old. God would rebuild the temple to the specifications He gave David and Solomon. The nation, palace, capital, and temple would be like it was during it grandest days of David’s and Solomon’s reigns. Yehovah specified exactly what lands this would entail. He said in verse twelve, “That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name.” Does that mean God would take the land He had given to Edom and give it to Israel or any other nation to whom He gave land? No. Most commentators believe this means Israel will repossess its territory and the remnant who believed in Yehovah. No matter which nationality they were, God would call them His children. This strong evidence shows God intended all people who believe in Him would receive salvation, not just the Israelites. It adds weight to Paul’s argument that Jew and Gentile are part of Abraham’s descendants.

Amos next grabbed Israel’s attention with the word “behold.” With this word, he said, wait…see, something more would occur. For what did Amos want their attention? He said, “The days are coming,” that is the day of the LORD, a future time of hope and restoration. Amos then described those days. He said in verses thirteen and fourteen,

‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved. Also, I will restore the captivity of My people Israel and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit.’ (NASB)

The image of the farmer from verses nine and ten returns in these verses. God’s image of the farmer is of the wise Savior, too. He would provide for His people; He does not just restore them. God would renew His covenant with Israel, which means He would continue to bless them. These blessings would be like the blessings Moses spoke of in Leviticus 26:5 and Deuteronomy 28. God would provide enough food for the people of Israel and would make them prosperous. He would keep His covenant with the people. God would show He is greater than all the gods they feared and worshiped before His judgment came upon them, the gods they hoped would provide fertility, prosperity, and protection. Amos said the land would be so fertile that all the fruit-the grapes-would not be harvested before it was time to sow more seed. The treader of grapes would still be at work when the sower and plowman were ready to start the next season of planting. Amos said it would be so prosperous it would look like the mountains dripped sweet wine and the hills dissolved. Joel 3:18 spoke of this when he said God would restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. This Savior and Messiah showed wisdom and creativity like the farmer of verses seven through ten and the Judge of verses one through four.

Verse fourteen might confuse you unless you look at the original Hebrew text. God did not say He would put Israel back into captivity. The word translated in the NASB as “restore” comes from the Hebrew word shuwb. Shuwb means to repair or turn back. This means God said he would repair or turn back the captivity of the Israelites. He would restore them to their lands. This restoration means two things. The literal interpretation of this passage means God would allow and help the Israelites to rebuild their cities and to live in them. Additionally, because God would not restore an unrepentant Israel, this passage means the hearts and attitudes of the people would change and He would rebuild them as a nation for His own. These interpretations mean God’s wrath returned to mercy. He never stopped loving Israel, but He stopped His mercy toward them because of their sin compounded upon sin.

David spoke of this re-establishment of Israel in Psalm 53:6. He said, “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice; let Israel be glad.” (NASB) Isaiah 60:4 speaks about this restoration and says, “Lift your eyes round about and see; they all gather together. They come to You. Your sons will come from afar and your daughters will be carried in arms.” (NASB) Jeremiah 30:3 speaks of it, too, and says, “’For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’” (NASB) Jeremiah continued in verse eighteen by saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, and the palace will stand on its rightful place.’” (NASB) Amos said in verse fourteen, “they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.” We should note a difference here from earlier. The word “rebuild” here means more than cause to establish. It comes from the Hebrew word banah and means to cause to continue. God would cause the repentant remnant to return and establish Israel. He meant this not to be for a short time, but forever. God’s promise to Israel was for eternity because God is eternal and faithful to His promises.

For the repentant, faithful, remnant people of Israel, God would shine His favor on them. He would be true to His covenant with their ancestors and the renewed covenant with the current Israelites. God would restore their fortunes. Whereas in Amos 5:11b He said the people would not live in their houses of hewn stone, in 9:14 He said they shall rebuild. Joel 2:24-27 says what they lost they would regain because of God’s wrath turning to mercy for the Israelites. God wanted a love relationship with His people. He kept His wrath of judgment from them for hundreds of years. Eventually the LORD had to judge the people of Israel, but He promised for the faithful remnant, He would restore them to His promised land and their covenant with Him. He went further than this in verse fifteen.

With the final verse of Amos 9, the Lord said again, using a farmer image, He would plant them on their land. He stated what His intentions were so no doubt would arise. Amos said in verse fifteen,

‘I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,’ says the LORD your God. (NASB)

The LORD (Yehovah) God (‘Elohiym-ruler and judge) promised to plant the Israelites on their land so they would never be removed again. He used another image of farming, “plant,” which also means to establish, to emphasize God’s promise to the Israelites. He then said they would not be rooted out. “Rooted out” comes from the Hebrew word nathash and means to be pulled up, plucked out, or rooted out. God equates Himself as the Master Gardener and the Savior. These remnant few people of GOD would be planted so no enemy ever could pluck them out again. The LORD renewed His promise to them and alluded to the future promise of the Messiah. Just as the LORD purposed to plant them for all time, the people could rely on His promise and so could trust to sow vineyards and crops. They could plant themselves, their lives and futures, in the land God gave them, unlike when they were slaves in Egypt or captives in Babylon (Judah) and Assyria (Israel). Yehovah had an eternal promise/covenant with the people of Israel. Jeremiah spoke of this, too, in Jeremiah 24:6 and 31:28. The LORD said He would build them up and not tear them down. He said He would watch over them to build and to plant them. The LORD God, Yehovah ‘Elohiym, said their judgment would be complete and the faithful remnant would return to their Promised Land never to be rooted out again.

The change for the captive Israelites would be permanent. God’s blessing would not leave them. God is a God of hope where He was a God of judgment before. The lives of the Israelites displayed absolute rejection of the LORD and required His faithfulness to their covenant through judgment. Still, Amos wanted the Israelites to realize and we to understand, too, in the end, the purposes of God will occur. Just like God’s love, righteousness, goodness, and justice will occur, His promises will occur. Added to this, just as God’s hope to the Israelites brought the promise of the Messiah and a new, better, and lasting covenant with all descendants of Abraham, they and we now can know God’s purposed restoration between Himself and humankind will happen.

·         Do you feel like God’s favor has not been on you for some time? Remember, God is faithful to His promise to you. Turn to Him with your whole heart.

·         Do you feel like God is not listening to you? Don’t give up. He hears you and His promise that you will find Him when you seek Him with all your being is true. He will be found by you.

Recap

With Amos 9, Amos declared God’s final vision to him for the people of Israel to understand His judgment of them for turning their backs on Him and His laws. The Israelites oppressed the poor, subjugated the righteous, and worshiped false gods. They lived lavish lifestyles praising themselves for gaining great wealth or “getting one over” on another person. God would not forever turn a “blind eye” to their sins. The time had come for His judgment of them and their sins. With the final vision of the destruction of the temple at Bethel, the killing of the Israelites, and the captivity of others, God declared emphatically His judgment upon the people of Israel would most definitely happen, and soon. He had to lay aside mercy and, with His love, institute punishment to re-create His people into a holy nation set apart for Himself.

The Creator who formed the mountains and poured out the waters from His storehouses, also re-forms His world by touching and calling to it. He called to Israel to return to Him, and they did not willingly return. This time, in this vision, the LORD said He would touch the capitals of the temple like He touches the mountains and waters. The LORD said the capitals would break on the heads of all who were in the temple. The Israelites would not escape judgment should they go to the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven. They would not evade God should they go to the heights of Carmel or the depths of the ocean. Should the Israelites think God is only God of their territory, they could know He would reach into their captivity and exact His judgment on them. The Israelites could not get away from God and His certain judgment.

Amos reminded the Israelites of the power of the LORD with a doxology. He reminded them of His power to create and destroy, of His omnipotence. Amos reminded the people of Israel of God’s omniscience who knows where to pour out His waters whether in blessing or judgment. This great LORD God, Yehovah ‘Elohiym, deserved all praise, glory, and honor, Amos said with this doxology.

Next, Amos reminded the Israelites the LORD is not just Judge and Creator, but He is Savior and Messiah, too. As the wise God of all creation and judge of all people, His wisdom shows when He recognizes the faithful people of Israel. To these faithful, the remnant, He promised a return to their land because of their faithfulness to Him and their repentant hearts. The LORD promised to replant them within the land and make them prosperous. All people of the lands who were descendants of Abraham through faith would receive this promise. The LORD alluded to the Messianic promise of a new and better covenant. For the Israelites, it was a promise never to uproot them again. They would forever hold land from the LORD and He would protect them and provide for them.

Relevance and Conclusion

These prophecies and sermons by Amos to the Israelites of the northern kingdom specifically, and sometimes to all Israelites, remind us we humans are sinful. We want to go our own way and turn away from God. For some of us, that means we assume “God’s got our back” even when we choose our own way, go against Him, love ourselves more than other people, and sin. We must realize, as we studied through Amos, we cannot assume God will always bless us. The Israelites of the northern kingdom did and God eventually withdrew His mercy and applied justice and judgment to them. We notice from Amos, God’s judgment did not mean He withdrew His covenant from the people or that He did not love them anymore. Contrary to this, God is love and is faithful to His covenant.

A major point we learn from the book of Amos is no matter how much we read about Amos confronting the sins of Israel and other nations, this book is not primarily about the people of Israel. The Israelites thought it was about the sins of the other nations and patted themselves on the back. Yet, the book of Amos shows us Damascus persecuted them. Gaza harassed the Israelites. Tyre stabbed them in the back. Edom harbored anger against the Israelites. Ammon’s greed and jealousy for the land of the Israelites made them discontent. Moab disrespected the leaders of the nations. Judah rejected the Lord. The prophet Amos told the Israelites their sins were like all these and more. Amos’ prophecies, more importantly, highlighted God-Who He is, His character, and His love. From the beginning of the Bible, God shows Himself as Creator and lover of all He made. As people interact with God, they and we recognize His mercy and justice, His care and provision, His protection and righteousness, and His holiness and calling of others to be holy as He is holy. God reveals Himself in His interactions with humanity and in creation. He revealed Himself in calling a nation to be His holy people and covenanting with them. God revealed Himself with His promise of a Messiah and a new covenant. He then revealed Himself as the keeper of that promise and the lover of our souls.

So What?

Amos’ prophecies take the reader and took Israel through all these facets of God. He strove to remind, reacquaint, and reveal God to the Israelites and to later readers and hearers of this writing. The purpose of Israel in this story is to lead readers and hearers to God. Yehovah is the main point of this writing. Israel was not the main point and we are not most important in the world. God is. Just as the LORD purposed and promised the Messiah’s arrival, so He fulfilled it and brought salvation for all people. Just as God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations, so the Israelites by birth were not the only ones for whom God promised a nation, protection, and provision. The LORD made all who believe in Jesus as Messiah the descendants of Abraham. He made each believer an inheritor of the promise of the Messiah.

The Messiah is not just a promise now; He is a reality. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah) fulfill Yehovah’s promise for a better covenant. Jesus was born a human baby of God’s miraculous conception in a woman, Mary. Jesus lived as a man in a sinful world, but did not succumb to temptation. He was sinless. Jesus died a painful death of criminals though He did not sin. He did this to take the sin-penalty each person deserves for his or her wrongdoing. Jesus died one time for all humankind because of His love for us. He arose from death fully alive to hundreds of people who could testify to His resurrection and life. Jesus later ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. He left His Spirit within each believer to guide, guard, teach, and correct us, and to empower us while we live on earth physically separate from Him.

Jesus died for each person for all time. He died on the cross a painful death not because He wanted to feel the pain of three nails pounded into His body or to experience suffocation as His lungs filled with fluid. Jesus died because He loves each of us so much He does not want us separated from God for all eternity. You see, our sins separate us from God because since He is holy and will not be in the presence of sin, we cannot be in His presence without the cleansing of sin from us. Jesus’ death gives that cleansing, the atonement, the at-one-ment, with God.

What do we have to do to get this atonement, this pardon from death? Nothing! Paul explained in Romans 10:9-10 how we receive this atonement, this forgiveness of sin. He said,

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, a person believes resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth, he confesses resulting in salvation. (NASB)

A person must “do” nothing to receive forgiveness. Receiving salvation and forgiveness requires believing Jesus is the Son of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and confessing Him as your Lord. When you make someone lord of your life, you promise to do what that person says and when you do not, you ask forgiveness. To do these things, you keep in daily contact, relationship, with the person. When you make Jesus Lord of your life, you do the same thing, except it goes deeper. Because you know Jesus died for you since He loves you, you want to love Him back. The relationship you have with Him is a love relationship and you want to work to grow it and be closer to Him. Your relationship with the Lord Jesus is greater than any relationship you might have on earth to anyone or thing who could claim lordship over you-your boss, spouse, hobbies, etc. In addition, with Jesus as Lord, you will have all things you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). You have forgiveness of sins and daily life provisions with a relationship with God through Jesus, the Son, the mediator of the greater covenant.

With your confession of Jesus as your Lord, you show your heart belief. With this comes righteousness and salvation. Righteousness is being made right with God. You never need wonder or worry again if you are good enough or if you have done enough right things to get to heaven. With Jesus as your Lord, God promises eternal life with Him. Sin and death will never separate His children from Him. We will always be in relationship with Him and experience the hope, joy, and love that brings.

“So what.” you might say. So, what will you do? Amos showed us the Israelites and their sins against God and other people. He, more importantly, showed us God in His glory, righteousness, justice, mercy, and love. Whether we admit it or not, we will not be the shining light in our own lives. What we do will reflect God’s glory. We can let His glory show by our love and obedience to Him or it can show through His righteousness that passes right judgments on us for our sinfulness. The Israelites were a nation set apart for God. He called them to be His own people. God wanted them to shine a light that showed His glory and love so all people would come to know Him through them. That did not always happen and the Israelites eventually walked so far away from Him, He had to render justice. In Amos 3:9, God called Egypt and Philistia to be witnesses to His justice, righteousness, and might. The Israelites would not be a light for Yehovah, but God ensured He had witnesses who would return to their countries and spread stories about His might, justice, and righteousness. God received glory even while the Israelites endured justice.

None of us is worthy of honor and glory. No matter what we do, our story will eventually give glory to God. I am sure none of us want it to be as the Israelites experienced in 722 BC when the Assyrians overthrew them, destroyed everything, killed people, carried people into captivity, and dispersed them throughout their empire. Not one of us wants to experience hardship. We each get to decide in what way God receives His glory. I would rather be a child of God who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes He is the saving Son of God. I would rather experience this kind of love that comes with a promise and hope than hardship, judgment, and misery.

Did God cause the deaths and destruction of Israel? He removed His hand of protection from them. The LORD caused famine, drought, plagues of locusts, and passed through them. So, yes, He, in essence, caused it. But truthfully, the Israelites caused it. They covenanted, made a promise, with Yehovah that carried conditional statements. If they were faithful to the covenant, God would bless them. If they were not, He would allow curses to fall on them. It was their choice.

Today we have a choice to make.

Will you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

You have read about Him and possibly heard testimony about Him. You know who He is and from Whom He came. You understand why He came and what He offers because of His love. Because you know this, you are accountable to decide. Just like the Israelites, you can choose to keep walking the way you want, not accept Jesus as your Savior, sin, and have no atonement for your sins. This choice by you will lead you to eternal death, separation from God. Alternatively, you can choose to confess Jesus as Lord and believe He is the Son of God receiving forgiveness and remission of sins, which brings with it an eternal relationship with God.

What choice will you make?

You have no excuses now. You know like the Israelites knew.

As for me, I will choose to serve the LORD.

Recall what Joshua said in Joshua 24:15,

If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (NASB)

Summer Fruit: Ripe for the Picking

Introduction

Earlier, in Amos 7, Amos received three visions from the LORD. GOD showed him what Israel had become and what judgment would befall them because of His righteousness and their covenant unfaithfulness to Him. With the first two visions-locust swarm and fire, Amos intervened for Israel asking GOD’s pardon for them. With the third vision of chapter seven, that of the plumb line, Amos did not mediate to GOD for the Israelites. He realized the extreme extent of their sins and the rightness of GOD’s charge and judgment on them.

In chapter seven, the chief priest of the northern kingdom, Amaziah, interrupted Amos charging him with wanting to overthrow the government. This priest cried out when Amos deigned to speak GOD’s judgment on the religion of Israel. Amaziah prohibited Amos from prophesying in Israel. He tried to censor him. Amos retorted he was a shepherd not a prophet trained or by birth. GOD called him to the task. With the last exclamation by Amaziah, Amos prophesied GOD’s words against Amaziah and the priesthood. Amaziah and his line would die by the sword. The captors would dishonor them. Amaziah would remain unclean on unclean soil.

With chapter eight of Amos, Amos revealed another vision the LORD gave him. This vision, like the first three, aimed directly at a sub-group of Israel’s population, the merchants. With this vision, GOD’s charge of the people and His judgment resound along with the feared removal of GOD’s protection of them and the resultant gloom and mourning.

Vision of Summer Fruit

In Amos 8:1-3, the LORD gave a vision to Amos of ripe summer fruit, explained the vision to him, and told him how it related to the Israelites. Amos said in verses one through three,

¹ “Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. ² And 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.’” (NASB)

This fourth vision spoke about Israel’s theological trouble. They worshiped false gods, and did not keep Yehovah’s laws. That showed lack of love for the LORD and lack of care for the poor. The gods the Israelites worshiped would not raise them above GOD’s judgment. What GOD says will happen will most surely occur.

At the beginning of this warning/sermon, Amos ensured people knew from whom his vision came. He said the Lord GOD showed him. This Lord GOD is Adonay, the revered mighty God, and Yehovah, the existing One who always was, is, and will be. He is the I AM who spoke to Moses and of whom Moses taught the Israelites. This Lord GOD showed Amos a basket of summer fruit. The vision appears mild until put into perspective with GOD’s judgment of Israel throughout the chapter. The Hebrew word from which “fruit” comes is qayits. The fruit represents harvest time, the ripening of time and produce for plucking, cutting, and reaping. It tells the readers the time of which GOD spoke to Amos was harvest time, the time in which to celebrate the bounty from GOD’s hands. Humans sometimes perceive this time as the harvest festival or fall festival of what we have produced from our land. For GOD and Amos, this basket of summer fruit represented Israel. They were ripe and ready for plucking. Their sins were great/complete (“for three transgressions and for four” as Amos said in Amos 2). They had not turned away from their sins to return to GOD, so this harvest would be a harvest of judgment. GOD would not let them sin anymore before His judgment came upon them. We understand this better with verse two when GOD explains the vision to Amos.

In verse two, GOD told Amos, “The end has come for My people Israel.” The English word “end” comes from the Hebrew word qets. Qets and qayits of verse one sound similar and so are a play on words. This play on words re-enforces GOD’s judgment by saying just as the fruit is ripe at the end of summer and ready for picking, so Israel is ripe for plucking from her land because of her sin and GOD’s judgment on them. Israel’s sin upon sin made her ripe for GOD’s picking, His judgment. Amos was not the only prophet to say the Israelites’ end had come. Ezekiel 7:2 & 6 say the same thing. He recorded GOD said, “The end has come upon the four corners of the Land! I will unleash My anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.” (NASB) Besides ensuring the Israelites understood the LORD spoke this judgment against them and that their end was near, Amos made sure they knew GOD still considered them-the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-as His people. He chose them and they covenanted with Him. GOD judged them because of His love for them and His covenant faithfulness toward them. The LORD said He would not spare them again. His Father’s heart gave them mercy and grace for many sins, but His love for them required no sparing of discipline anymore.

Yehovah explained to Amos the extent of His judgment on Israel. He said the songs of the palace, and the songs of praise for the harvest the Israelites sang in their temples and homes would become dirges. Earlier in Amos 5:23, Amos said GOD would not listen to their music. The Israelites should have sung songs to Yehovah, not to their idols and themselves. The priests should have shouted and sung about the judgments coming upon them-the anguish, death, and destruction. GOD said their songs of the harvest would turn to wailing when His judgment occurred. Why? His judgment on them meant many people would die. In every place, they would cast forth corpses. Remember in Amos 6:8-10 Amos told the Israelites their relatives would come to carry out the bodies and burn them. There would be so many bodies, they had to throw them into a fire together or into a mass grave. It's important to understand, GOD said they would do this in silence. Too many dead people makes a town, city, and nation overwhelmed. The paid mourners and wailers would be too busy finding and casting out the dead to give their professional services for all the dead of Israel. Israel would be silent as they cast forth the corpses. They would be silent recognizing the justice of GOD’s judgment. The people of Israel had no defense for GOD’s charge and kept silent in the face of His judgment. The terror and enormity of what happened would make them silent. GOD’s charges and judgments against Israel were just. The people of Israel would receive His judgment and recognize the justice of it for themselves. GOD’s justice comes from His righteousness. His righteousness is the absolute by which to compare the righteousness of humanity. With this vision and its explanation given to Amos, Amos could do nothing but proclaim it to Israel. He loved them because they were family and because GOD loved them.

·         Are you basking in the summer sun?

·         Are you enjoying the fresh fruit and taking the credit for it?

·         Are you thanking and praising God for His gifts and seeking His word and will for your life?

A Final Warning

GOD’s Charge

With verses four through fourteen, Amos gives a final warning, a sermon, to the Israelites. Like in earlier chapters where he spoke to the rich, the leaders, the priests, the kings, and the judges, in this chapter he relayed GOD’s judgment to a group of Israelites, the merchants. What did GOD charge against the merchants of Israel? Amos told them in verses four through six. Amos said,

“Hear this, you who trample the needy to do away with the humble of the land saying, ‘When will the new moon be over so that we may buy 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, 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.?’” (NASB)

Just as he did in each of his other sermons/proclamations, Amos began with the word shama. Remember, shama means to hear, listen, and obey. He used a word familiar to them from priests and from the past when the Israelites walked with Moses during the exodus. This word would catch their attention. What came next the Israelites would not expect. Amos spoke a reproof. Their priests seldom corrected the Israelites about their way of living. They encouraged greediness as long as the people appeased their gods, paid the priests well, and gave them an important place in society. To whom did Amos speak GOD’s words? He spoke to the people “who trampled the needy” and did away with the “humble of the land.” The Hebrew word from which “trample” comes is sha’aph. It means to crush, tread on, and pant after what another person has so much you would get it by deceit and trickery. David spoke of these people in Psalm 14:4 as evil doers who devoured his people like bread. Proverbs 30:14 said the people had jaws set with knives to devour the poor and needy. These people would do whatever it took to get richer from the people who had the least in their nation. Besides this, GOD said through Amos these people did away with the humble of the land. They destroyed the poor, weak, and needy just because they could since they were wealthy.

Amos explained the minds of these merchants who cared for riches instead of humanity in verse five. He said they “chomped at the bit” for the completion of the religious festivals so they could sell more and make more money. They asked when the new moon festival, the first day of the lunar month, would be over so they could sell grain. Whether these merchants served Yehovah or their idols, they did not want to give a day for worshiping and celebrating. Greed was their influence, not their god. GOD told the Israelites in Numbers 28:11 that the first of every month, the lunar month, they were to offer burnt offerings to Him. In Exodus 21:13-17, GOD set aside the Sabbath as holy and for a day of rest. Whether the new moon celebration and the keeping of the Sabbath came from their history of worship of the LORD or from their own minds in worship of their idols, the merchants of Israel did not want to set aside that time away from their shops. Israel and Judah both received judgment for this. Nehemiah 13:15 records Judah trod winepresses on the Sabbath. The merchants did not want to go through the ritual, much less the intent for the festivals. They did not care about their people or their religious celebrations. They cared about wealth.

These merchants wanted to sell grain, open the wheat market, and make money. GOD said even in doing that, they showed themselves as unrighteous. In the second half of verse five, we read of them shorting the buyers of wheat and shorting the sellers of gold or silver. The merchants made the bushel smaller, possibly by putting a false bottom in it. They then charged the person the price for a full bushel. This action is like what food manufacturers today do when they make a package bigger than the product to make it look like a person is buying more than they are. These merchants of Amos' time did not steal only from their buyers. They stole from people from whom they bought products. A common occurrence among unscrupulous merchants was to have two sets of weights, one small and one large, to put on the balance scale. When a person bought from him, the merchant would put the large weight on the balance to show how much money the person owed him. When the merchant bought products, he would put the token of lighter weight on the balance and owe the seller less. Archeologists have found two sizes of weights in their digs in Samaria that show this was a common practice. GOD forbade this practice in Deuteronomy 25:13-16, and Leviticus 19:35-36. The LORD told Amos He saw these merchants cheating with dishonest scales. They chose to pervert the law and defraud people in the market, including the poor. The poor had no one who would stand up for them in court. The merchant had nothing to fear from them. He would have to be very sneaky to defraud another merchant because the buying merchant might have the funds to bribe a judge. Besides Amos speaking against dishonest merchants, Hosea 12:7 and Micah 6:11 speak against someone who measured with false weights and dishonest scales.

This dishonesty affected the poor most. They had little money by which to live. The needy had to take a loan to pay for new tree bark sandals and then the lender took them to court for the price of those sandals when they did not repay, which was equal to about fifty cents today. Verse six speaks about this as does Amos 2:6. The helpless had no one in power who would stand up for him or her and his or her rights as a child of GOD and a fellow human being. These merchants cared little for the poor. Amos went further and stated they stooped so low as to sell the refuse of the wheat, the chaff that came out of the sieve, to the poor. The merchants knew no one else would buy the chaff, but the poor were so desperate that eating chaff, even if it had no nutrients, was better than nothing. For the cost of the sandals or the price of wheat chaff, the merchants would enslave their fellow Israelites though that person was a child of GOD and a member of their Israelite family. GOD gave a law against it in Leviticus 25:39 that said a countryman should not enslave another countryman. It would bring GOD’s judgment, according to Amos 2:6. GOD forbade slavery in Amos 1:6 & 9, too.

The rich were so greedy they could barely wait one day even if it was a religious festival or a Sabbath to get back to pursuing the humble, poor, and needy, and making more money. The holy day was a hindrance to them and their greed. These merchants loved market days more than Sabbath days. They liked cheating people more than being honest. Though GOD made the Sabbath and festival days to be days of rest and ceasing work, the merchants grudgingly obeyed that. They wanted more money. Money was their god. A dichotomy exists from this occurrence. If they had kept the Sabbath holy, they would not have abused the poor. Keeping the Sabbath was a safeguard against the abuse of the poor because it helped keep a person in a right relationship with the LORD. When in a right relationship with the LORD, a person has a right relationship with people, too. A person does not abuse or exploit people for his or her own gain. It is easier to harm another person when we do not meet with the Lord regularly, which causes our relationship with Him to grow weak.

·         Do you do anything that God would consider trampling the needy or selling the poor for the price of sandals?

·         What would God rather you do when you meet a beggar?

·         What do you do when a person bumps your car or cuts you off in traffic? What is the godly alternative?

GOD’s Oath

GOD could have just spoken His judgment against the Israelites and let it go; however, He had already stated with certainty in chapters four and six that when He says something will happen, it will most assuredly occur. GOD’s oath in verse seven expresses this same thing. Amos said in verse seven,

“The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, ‘Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.’” (NASB)

This verse states, just as Amos said in earlier chapters, the LORD Yehovah, the GOD who was, is, and will be swore an oath. Anyone can swear they will do something, but when a person swears, that person might lie because he or she is sinful. This oath GOD took reminds us of the covenants He made with the Israelite people. GOD sealed and attested to Old Testament covenants with His presence as the tongue of flame that walked between the two halves of the sacrificial animal used to confirm the covenant. GOD’s presence and His being are the statement of certainty that what He says, He will do. It will occur because He is the basis of truth and righteousness. So, when GOD said He swore, He gave an oath of constant faithfulness to what He said He would do. He swore by Himself, by His own name, as Amos said in Amos 6:8, and in Amos 4:2 where He swore on His holiness. God is truthful because of His righteousness. Besides His truthfulness, God said He swore on the pride of Jacob. The “pride of Jacob” of which Amos spoke refers to every descendant of Jacob/Israel, not just the Israelites of the northern kingdom. The northern kingdom tainted the “pride of Jacob” with self-pride that harmed others. The “pride of Jacob” is what Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 33:26 and 29 when he said there is no one like the GOD of Jeshurun. This pride of Jacob is what David spoke of in Psalm 68:34 when he proclaimed the power of GOD. The pride of I AM is who made a promise to Abraham to give him descendants and make of him a nation, and to give them a promised land. The GOD who made this promise and fulfilled it is “the pride of Jacob.” This oath surely got the Israelites’ attention. What GOD stated next would have made them cower.

GOD stated an oath on himself that He would “never forget any of the Israelites’ deeds”. Each of the animals they sacrificed to their idols did not atone-wipe away-their sins. Their sins covered them with darkness. GOD remembered them, He said. He would never forget them. The sins of the Israelites were serious and GOD would remember them and bring judgment on them. Let’s look closer at these words. The English word “forget” comes from the Hebrew word shakach. It means to forget and cease to care. With Yehovah’s statement in this verse, He said He would never forget or cease to care about the sins of the Israelites and the plight of the poor. He would not let it go unpunished. After speaking of the affliction of the poor and humble, David said in Psalm 10:17-18, “O, LORD, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble; Thou wilt strengthen their heart, Thou wilt incline thine ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may cause terror no more.” (NASB) David knew Yehovah was great and faithful to His people. Hosea 7:2 said evil people did not realize GOD remembered all their evil deeds. He said in Hosea 8:13 the LORD will remember their wickedness and punish their sins. People throughout the Old and New Testaments knew, and we know from our experiences with GOD, that He will defend the weak and oppressed and bring judgment on the persecutors. That GOD swore on Himself in verse seven told the Israelites and tells us today, what GOD said He would do would most surely happen.

·         Have your actions or words ever caused a person to wonder if you are a Christian?

·         Have your words or actions ever caused God grief like Israel’s did?

GOD’s Judgment

In verses eight through fourteen, GOD told the Israelites through Amos what would happen to the northern kingdom because of their sin and His judgment of them. Amos told them six things would occur because of GOD’s judgment-earthquake, unexpected darkness, mourning, famine, LORD’s hiding from them, and the fall of the nation. GOD would directly cause three of these. He states these in verses nine through eleven with “I” statements-unexpected darkness, mourning, and famine.

Amos began this part of the prophecy with two rhetorical questions in verse eight. He asked them “would not the land quake because of the LORD’s judgment”. The second question he asked was “would not the people mourn”. Obviously, the answer to both questions is yes. The Israelites would remember the earthquake that occurred two years after Amos’ ministry began in Israel. They would remember the suddenness of it and not knowing how it would affect and harm them. The earthquake made no place safe. When Amos said GOD would make the land quake, he meant the people of the land would quake, too. Their fear from the earthquake and of GOD would make them tremble. The fear of GOD’s judgment would cause the Israelites to tremble. Isaiah 5:25 speaks of the LORD causing the mountains to shake because of His anger toward His people. As a visual image for the people, Amos said the land would rise up like the Nile River. This provided a sensory reminder for the Israelites of how fearful a natural phenomenon like an earthquake is. On the other hand, they would know the Nile rises slowly over a couple of months, but an earthquake is sudden. People saw the Nile floods as helpful to the land providing rich nutrients for crops, but an earthquake would turn everything over and create chaos and devastation. This was the first devastation GOD said His judgment of them would cause. The Assyrians would overturn the Israelites’ lives in 722 BC. They were like an earthquake. The Assyrians entry to the land came from GOD removing His hand of protection from Israel. This caused chaos and devastation.

GOD as Destroyer

With verse nine, GOD spoke in the first person. He said through Amos that He would make the sun go down at noon and make the earth dark during daylight hours. Before this, GOD said, “In that day.” This day He spoke of was “the day of the LORD” like in Amos 5:18. It would be a day of GOD’s active presence in the midst of the Israelites. The Israelites would not doubt by whose hands these terrible things occurred. The terrible thing is this verse would be darkness instead of light. A solar eclipse is the literal interpretation of this part of GOD’s judgment. Scientists determined a near total eclipse occurred June 15, 763 BC. The people would know about eclipses and the fear they caused because they were unnatural. The figurative meaning is Yehovah would overpower Ra, the sun god. GOD’s power would show the Israelites’ idol had no power.

Another figurative allusion of the darkness in this verse is that the grand lifestyles and luxurious living would fall away and days of gloom and misery would come upon the Israelites. The time of prosperity and sunshine would end and GOD’s calamities would fall on them bringing darkness and distress. The Israelites would have trouble, afflictions, and distress, and experience persecution. That time of darkness would be a period of evil, suffering, and loss for the corrupt and oppressive Israelites. Job 5:14 speaks of a darkness coming during the daytime. Isaiah 13:10 says the rising sun would darken. Jeremiah 15:9 prophesies the sun would set while it was still day. Micah 3:6 explains the sun would set for the prophets of the false gods and the day would go dark for them. Without the sun, literally, and the ways of life the Israelites loved to live, their days would be dark, just as earth would be dark. It would be a time of confusion and GOD would hide His face from them. Isaiah 59:9 says the Israelites looked for light, but all was darkness. Remember, too, Amos 4:13 and 5:8 say GOD turns dawn to darkness, darkens day to night, and turns midnight into dawn. The LORD would show Himself as more powerful than the Israelites’ gods and greater than the wealth they gathered for themselves and about which they boasted.

Verse ten gives another example of GOD speaking in first person of His own hand bringing the judgment upon Israel. He said, “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 a time of mourning like for an only son, and the end of it will be like a bitter day.” (NASB) The word “turn” means to overthrow, overturn, or transform. The festivals of which the LORD spoke were the festivals the people celebrated for their false gods and for themselves because of their business acumen and “getting one over” on other people. GOD said He would overthrow those festivals and transform them back to what He intended, times of praise for His provision. They were again to be times to rejoice together-rich and poor, young and old. Job 20:23 says GOD would vent His anger against them. Amos 5:21 says the LORD despised their religious festivals. GOD does not want action without proper intent, nor does He want improper action forgetting from Whom each person receives any blessings. This “day of the LORD” would bring unending mourning and grief as compared to the days of feasts-religious or secular.

The day of the LORD would end with mournful songs-lamentations and dirges-and not songs of joy in which they sang about themselves and their false gods. Besides the “day of the LORD’ bringing mourning and lamentation, it would cause every person to wear sackcloth and baldness. The rich would understand firsthand the mourning the poor and needy experienced. They, with the poor, would wear sackcloth to show their sorrow and humility before GOD. Wearing sackcloth showed through an outward sign the inward condition of a person. Sackcloth, made of dark goat’s hair, was very uncomfortable against the skin. It reminded them of their sorrow. Isaiah 50:3, Revelation 6:12, 1 Kings 21:27, 2 Kings 6:30, Job 16:15, and Isaiah 32:11 each record people wearing sackcloth. Besides mourning and wearing sackcloth, GOD said the people would be bald. The word “bald” comes from the Hebrew word gorchah, which means baldness, plucked-out scalp, and shaved scalp. As a sign of their mourning, the people would pluck out their hair or would shave it. This sign was a custom GOD banned in Deuteronomy 14:1. Jeremiah 48:37 and Ezekiel 27:31 prophesy the people would put on sackcloth and make themselves bald. Making themselves bald was a grieving custom the Israelites learned from other nations and practiced though GOD forbade it.

GOD said the Israelites’ mourning would be intense because of their guilt, affliction, and recognition of the might and majesty of Yehovah when compared to their false gods. This mourning would be like mourning the death of an only son. Remember, men had property rights and were the leaders of the people, tribes, clans, and families. If a man or woman did not have a son to protect and provide for them in their old age or infirmity that man or woman would become one of the powerless needy of the land. That powerless person would become like the ones they themselves oppressed and of whom they took advantage. So, to say the mourning would be like the mourning for an only son meant their mourning would be of the highest intensity. The Israelites’ mourning would be like Yehovah’s who mourned over His children when they turned away from Him to follow their own ways. They would have no hope that GOD’s judgment would not come against them, just as they had no hope for the family when an only son died. Just as there would be no future for the family when their only son died, Israel would have no future because of their sin and GOD’s judgment on them. This grief would have a bitter end. It would be as bitter as the beginning. The grief would not end.

The worst part of GOD’s judgment on Israel this time is that He would be Israel’s destroyer. Along with that, as we will see in verses eleven through fourteen, GOD would abandon them. He would be the one to inflict damage and He would abandon them. The Israelites would have no hope for a reprieve from GOD’s judgment, or from it ending quickly.

GOD’s Abandonment of Israel

GOD explained His abandonment of the Israelites in verse eleven. With the next three verses, He showed how that would affect the people. In Amos 8:11, Amos said,

“‘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.’” (NASB)

The word “behold” introduces something new and surprising, something the Israelites never experienced. The LORD said He would send a famine. A famine that destroyed Israel’s food supply was not new to them. Amos 4:6 speaks about a famine. GOD spoke in this verse about a famine for His word. The people would seek Him and would not find Him. The word “hearing” in this verse is from a very important word in the Old Testament. It comes from the Hebrew word shama’. Shama’ means to hear, listen, and obey. The people of Israel would thirst and hunger to hear the word of the LORD. The prophets of the Old Testament knew humans could not live by bread along, but needed the words of the LORD. Moses stated this in Deuteronomy 8:3. Isaiah 55:1-7 states when people can find GOD. To find GOD, the Israelites had to do something. They had to forsake their wickedness and return to a right relationship with the LORD. First Samuel 28:6 and Psalm 13:1 attest to times when people could not find GOD and He would not speak. These times occurred when sin remained unconfessed and people chose ways other than the LORD’s. Saul did not repent, but David did. In Amos 8, GOD said the Israelites would experience a famine and thirst for His words and they would not find Him because they did not seek Him with repentance in their hearts to follow Him and His ways. They wanted only His power to rescue them. The Israelites did not want to hear and obey GOD’s words when they trampled on the poor so they would receive no comfort or hope when their days of mourning came. To find the LORD, the Israelites needed to seek Him with a genuine and repentant heart. First Samuel 3:1 records a time when the word of the LORD was rare. Second Chronicles 15:3 states Israel was without the true GOD for a long time, without a priest to teach them, and without the law. Ezekiel 7:26 speaks of a prophecy about when the people would search for a prophet with a vision and for priestly instruction in the law and would not find them. Micah said there would be darkness without visions and divination. The sun would set for the prophets and the day would go dark for them. The absence of the LORD was total abandonment. The Israelites would not find His word by any means-prophet or priest. They would be thirsty for GOD, but GOD’s judgment brought a famine of Him and His word on the people.

Verse twelve continues this idea. Amos said in verse twelve,

“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.” (NASB)

In this verse, we understand Amos told the Israelites no matter where they looked to find GOD and His word, they would not find Him. If they looked from sea to sea or from north to east, they would not find Him. Amos did not say if they looked south because south is where the southern kingdom lay and Israel alienated themselves from Judah. The Israelites would rove about like people who stagger from thirst. They would thirst for GOD’s word, but would not find it. Why? Two reasons give the answer. First, GOD removed His hand and presence from them as punishment. Second, their seeking of the LORD came not from a repentant and sincere heart to obey Him. They recognized the power of Yehovah and just wanted the judgment to end. They feared more punishment. Ezekiel 20:3 records the elders sought Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, but GOD would not let them find him. Ezekiel said in verse thirty-one of this chapter the people could not inquire of the Lord because they continued in sin. He said the same thing in Ezekiel 14:3. The Israelites would die inwardly because they did not have GOD’s word to feed their souls. He would keep His prophets and priests from preaching to the Israelites. This judgment was unlike any Israel had ever before experienced. At one time the merchants thought it was a waste of time to close their shops for Sabbath and sacred times; later they would try to find and hear GOD’s voice. They would seek GOD like a thirsty man seeks water.

GOD’s judgment would affect everyone, even the youth who were the future of Israel. Amos said in verse thirteen,

“In that day, the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst.” (NASB)

The failure by the adults to lead the nation and their families to seek the LORD with their whole being would cause the young girls and men to continue to walk in the ways of their parents. They would turn away from GOD and sin. This would cause the young men and women to faint from a thirst of not hearing the word of the LORD. Their strength was not enough to combat moral and spiritual crises. The unrepentant adults would lead their children to be unrepentant and, thus, to live under the LORD’s judgment in captivity, oppressed and needy. If the young could not survive this judgment, how much less could the weak and old survive. The LORD’s judgment of Israel was so extensive it would affect generations to come. Israel would learn only that by hearing and obeying (shama’) GOD’s word could a nation be strong and avoid GOD’s judgment. Isaiah 41:7 and Hosea 2:3 say GOD would make Israel’s land like a desert and slay her with thirst.

Lest anyone continue to think worshiping and swearing by their gods would allow them to avoid GOD’s judgment, GOD said through Amos in verse fourteen,

“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.” (NASB)

This verse should take us back to verse seven to compare the oaths taken by the LORD to the oath the people took in verse fourteen. Both use the same word shaba’ meaning to take an oath or swear. In verse fourteen, Amos stated the people swore by the guilt of Samaria, the gods of Dan, and the way of Beersheba. Looking closer at this verse, we realize the word “guilt” comes from the Hebrew word ashmah. It is a play on words for one of the gods, Ashimah, of the people of Hamath of Aram who lived in Samaria and of the Hebrew exiles in Egypt during the fourth and fifth centuries BC. Amos said the people swore by the guilt of Samaria, following and worshiping false gods, and swore by a god in Samaria, Ashimah. Second Kings 17:30 tells us about this god. These people swore their faithfulness by the power of idols and GOD’s judgment would fall on them. The Israelites swore by the god of Dan, the golden calf. This calf had no power. Men made it by their hands. This statue could not save the Israelites from GOD’s judgment. Lest the southern kingdom consider themselves better than the northern, Amos highlights their sin, too. He said even those who swear by the way of Beersheba (at the southern end of Judah where the Negev began), by worshiping her false gods, would fall and not rise again. Amos said in Amos 5:2 “Fallen is virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land with no one to lift her up.” (NASB) From the northernmost point of the Promised Land to its southernmost tip, GOD’s judgment would fall on each person who worshiped false gods. Amos’ prophecies were mostly for the northern kingdom, but he included Judah at times. We know  Amos spoke about false gods because he used the Hebrew word Hê that signifies false Gods, not Hâ, which denotes the true GOD. GOD’s judgment of Israel was unstoppable by no one’s god. The Israelites’ trouble was spiritual. They worshiped false gods, gods who would never raise them up from Yehovah’s judgment on them.

·         Have you ever put something you desired over your love and obedience to God? Possibly a promotion, money, or prize?

·         Have you ever been in the same place as Israel, and wondered why life was so hard and where God was?

·         Have you experienced the joy of knowing all your needs are taken care of and recognize God is in control, then praised Him for His love for you? This is where God wants us to be.

Recap

With chapter eight, GOD showed Amos a fourth vision of ripe fruit and relayed to him the time was near, Israel’s sins were complete, and His judgment was imminent. The fruit represented Israel. They were ripe and ready for harvest just as Israel was ripe and ready for GOD’s judgment. GOD explained to Amos who then told Israel GOD’s judgment would most certainly come upon them. He swore on Himself, “the pride of Jacob”. This judgment points to the merchants who cared greatly about making money even if that meant defrauding buyers and sellers, putting the needy into jail or slavery, and wishing the Sabbath and festival days would not happen. The merchants’ intent was to make money, not to care for GOD or His people.

GOD told Amos with this vision, who proclaimed it to the Israelites, His judgment would come soon and would bring gloom and darkness. He said it would be sudden, deadly, and chaotic like an earthquake. GOD’s judgment would take light and joy away. His judgment would cause mourning like for an only son. It would cause everyone to put on sackcloth and remove their hair. Amos explained to the Israelites GOD’s judgment of them including His abandoning them. The Israelites would search for Him after recognizing His supreme might and not be able to find Him because they did not seek Him with their whole being and with repentance. No matter where they went to find the Him, GOD said they would not find Him. Even the young and strong men and women would not find Him, but would lose their strength. Israel would lose their future. Its future, government, and religion would fall and the nation would be no more. Never before had GOD totally abandoned the Israelites. Never had another nation subjugated this theocracy established by Yehovah. The Israelites’ sins were complete. GOD’s judgment was definite.

Conclusion and Relevance

It would be easy to point our fingers at Israel and exclaim how awful they were. They cheated the needy, oppressed the poor, and obstructed justice. The Israelites walked away from Yehovah who called them His people and established them as a nation. Yet, when we take the time to look closely at Israel, we each can and should admit we bear similarities to them. Maybe you call yourself a Christian, a follower of Jesus, but you sometimes do not go to church on the Sabbath. Possibly you “put your thumb on the scale” when you sell products. Perhaps you do not correct someone’s interpretation of another person’s actions and that leads to the other person being disrespected at work and in the community. Perchance you found $100 in front of a store or senior center and pocketed it, not trying to find the person who lost it. Or maybe it was something as simple as the cashier giving you too much change and, when you found out, you did not return it to her. These examples and others happen daily. Each may seem small and of no consequence to you, but they are sins in God’s eyes. They harm and do not help other people. Anything that puts us at an advantage while harming another person is not God’s will. In popular jargon, God’s will brings about a win-win situation where God gets the praise from both sides of the relationship.

God knows us. He knows our hearts, minds, and intentions. The Lord knows we are like sheep easily led away from Him and so He made a way for us to find Him and return to Him. Isaiah said it well in Isaiah 53:6. He said, “All of us like sheep have gone astray (from God and His way), each of us has turned to his own way, but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (NASB) The old covenant led people to GOD to keep them in a relationship with Him. The new covenant brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah leads us to GOD and provides everlasting salvation. The Old Testament laws required twice daily sacrifices for the atonement of sin. Even those did not remove the stain of sin from the person.  With Jesus’ death and resurrection as the perfect sacrifice provided by GOD, no other sacrifice need occur ever. Once Jesus cleanses a person from his or her sins by His blood when the person becomes a believer in Him as GOD’s Son and confesses Him as Lord and Savior, nothing can ever separate that person from GOD again. Paul said it well in Romans 10:9-10 when he said,

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart GOD raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.” (NASB)

Does GOD still discipline His people? Of course! If He didn’t, He would not love us. Because of His love for us, He gives us grace and mercy though we do not deserve it. Yet, when a person continues to sin, like a loving parent, God must discipline His child so he or she returns to his or her relationship with Him and grows more like Christ each day. The difference between now and during the time of Israel’s judgment is believers are saved and nothing can separate them from God’s love. With Israel, He abandoned them. For His children of the new covenant, Jesus reiterated what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 29:13. In Matthew 7, Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. He told the people who followed Him about living as a child of God through the salvation He would give. Jesus taught about the righteous in verses seven and eight,

“Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” (NASB)

He said to crave for righteousness, the way of God, and He will give you a gift because He loves you. Seek with your whole being, with heart, mind, body, and soul, and you will discover and understand more about God and His will. Knock at God’s door, requesting entrance to Him, and He will make Himself open to you. God will refuse no one who asks for His righteousness. Each person who seeks for God with his or her whole being will discover, recognize, and come to know Him. God will admit to His presence any person who actively seeks Him. That person will know His will and grace. The Israelites did not ask for knowledge of God or His way. They did not seek Him with all they were while leaving behind their desires for riches. The Israelites did not actively knock asking admittance to the presence of God and His kingdom. They enjoyed their prosperity and left God behind.

Today we each must decide for ourselves if we want only what life on earth can give us or if we want what the One Holy God can give us now and forevermore.

Will you ask for God and His righteousness,

actively seek Him and His will, and

knock intentionally to know Him and to be in His presence forever?