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Amos 8:1–14 In powerful word-pictures, Amos describes the final end of Israel.
Amos 8:1–2 The Hebrew terms for summer fruit and end sound alike, so this is probably a wordplay. “Summer fruit” signified the last of the harvest. The long summer of God’s patience has finally come to an end, and there has been no harvest of repentance.
Amos 8:5–6 Real worship of God in the new moon and Sabbath festivals would have resulted in compassion for the poor and the needy. Throughout the OT, the false balances used by dishonest merchants are a symbol of injustice (e.g., Lev. 19:35–36; Prov. 20:10; Mic. 6:10–11).
Amos 8:9–10 Israel’s destruction will be so terrible that even nature will go into mourning, with the sun hiding its face. This is similar to the darkness that covered the earth when God’s only Son died on the cross (Mark 15:33). Darkening can serve as a symbol of judgment (Joel 3:15; see also Rev. 6:12; 8:12).
Amos 8:11–12 Israel had rejected the words of the Lord from Amos. They will go into exile, where there will be no word from the Lord at all. In its absence they will find that the revelation from God had been their most precious possession. they shall not find it. People who have repeatedly rejected God’s words will suddenly be unable to find clarity as to what God is saying.
Amos 8:13–14 Israel had depended on their paganized ideas of Yahweh, represented by the idols at Samaria and Dan, or on the ancestral tradition of Yahweh at Beersheba (see 5:5 and note on 5:5–6), but they would find that these pseudo-Yahwehs were no good at all. Jeroboam had established one of his improper worship sites at Dan (1 Kings 12:29–30). Since Beersheba was in Judah, it is not clear what its significance was for the northern tribes. Perhaps they made pilgrimages there, remembering its association with the patriarchs (Gen. 21:14–19; 31; 26:23; 33; 46:1–5); perhaps they felt that there was a special power available there. the Guilt of Samaria. Those who worship anything other than God will be judged for their unfaithfulness.
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