The Vision of Summer Fruit
October 13, 2021
Commentary
Amos saw a basket of summer fruit gathered, and ready to be eaten, which signified, that the people were ripe for judgment, that the year of God’s patience was drawing towards a conclusion (vv. 1-3). Like this fruit Israel was ripe forjudgment (v. 2). God had appointed a day of judgment for Samaria and when that day finally came, the sounds of worship in the temple would turn to wailing and bodies would be flung everywhere (v. 3). The reason for this devastation is given (vv. 4-6). These merchants were keeping the religious festivals, but not in spirit. They couldn’t wait for the holy days to be over so they could go back to making money. They were so interested in becoming rich that they would cheat and short-change the quality, even selling chaff as wheat.
The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry (vv. 7-10). The Lord says He will never forget any of their rebellious deeds (v. 7). He continues by saying, the land shall tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it (v. 8). He will cause the sun to go down at noon and will darken the earth in the broad daylight (v. 9). All of this will take place when He turns their feasts into mourning and all their songs into lamenting (v. 10).
Because God’s people had not listened to the warnings of the prophets, the Lord promised to send “a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (vv. 11-14). While a lack of food can lead to disease and death, a famine of the Word can produce eternal consequences. Just like today, many looked everywhere for answers to life’s problems, except in Scripture.
Application
God’s word is available to us today, so I must do all I can to help people know it before the time comes when it is eternally too late.
Amos 8:1– 14 (NET)
1 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins.
3 The women singing in the temple will wail in that day.” The Sovereign Lord is speaking. “There will be many corpses littered everywhere! Be quiet!”
4 Listen to this, you who trample the needy and do away with the destitute in the land.
5 You say, “When will the new moon festival be over, so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, so we can open up the grain bins? We’re eager to sell less for a higher price, and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales!
6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, a pair of sandals for the needy. We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”
7 The Lord confirms this oath by the arrogance of Jacob: “I swear I will never forget all you have done!
8 Because of this the earth will quake, and all who live in it will mourn. The whole earth will rise like the Nile River, it will surge upward and then grow calm, like the Nile in Egypt.
9 In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.
10 I will turn your festivals into funerals and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.
11 Be certain of this, the time is coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a message from the Lord, but they will not find any.
13 In that day your beautiful young women and your young men will faint from thirst.
14 These are the ones who now take oaths in the name of the sinful idol goddess of Samaria. They vow, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as your beloved one lives, O Beer Sheba!’ But they will fall down and not get up again.”
Illustration: The Sailor Who Said They Couldn’t Take Away His Birthday
Because of a minor infraction, a sailor aboard the USS Reeves, bound for Japan, was busted one rank, fined and given extra duty for three weeks. Looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday on July 22, he consoled himself every night during his extra duty by reciting, “They can bust me, they can fine me – but they can’t take away my birthday.” As July 22 approached, his excitement increased. When he went to bed on July 21, he happily repeated, “They can bust me, they can fine me – but they can’t take away my birthday. “The next morning, he found out that the ship had crossed the international date line – and it was July 23. (Source Unknown, Lou Nicholes – www.Family-Times.Net).