The Day of the Lord in the Prophets
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:1 Superscription. The first verse identifies the book’s speaker, audience, and time frame. Amos addresses Israel during the time covered in 2 Kings 14:23–15:7. This is the period between the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam II (796 B.C.) and the death of Uzziah (739). More specifically, it is two years before the earthquake (Amos 1:1). Zechariah, like Amos, mentions an earthquake “in the days of Uzziah king of Judah” (Zech. 14:5). This statement is significant because it emphasizes the historical reliability of the book and its message. Shepherds were near the bottom of the social order, and yet God chose Amos to prophesy against Israel’s wealthy, unbelieving leaders. (See, however, the esv footnote. If Amos was in fact a “sheep breeder,” he may have been a prosperous businessman.) Tekoa was a small village southeast of Bethlehem in Judah.
Earthquakes were a very real danger in ancient Palestine, as is true around much of the earth today. The Jordan River Valley runs along the northern end of the famous Great Rift Valley, which extends all the way to the southernmost part of Africa. Earthquakes occur all along this valley. The findings of archaeologists suggest that the earthquake mentioned in 1:1 was one that the Israelites would not have soon forgotten.
1:2–6:14 Oracles of Judgment. Amos delivers a series of messages from God showing that neither Israel’s neighbors (1:2–2:5) nor Israel herself (2:6–6:14) can escape the consequences of their actions.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:2–2:5 At this time the area now called Palestine was inhabited by seven other small nations besides Israel. All of them were in danger because of Assyria’s push toward Egypt. But Amos showed that what was about to befall them would not come from Assyria but from the Creator of all the earth. These judgments on Israel’s Gentile neighbors are a reminder that God’s moral standards are not merely for Jewish or Christian people but for all people, whether they have them in written form or simply written in their hearts and consciences (see Rom. 1:18–32; 2:14–15).
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:2 Despite Israel’s rejection of Jerusalem as the only appropriate place of worship, that was still the place from which God’s voice of judgment issued to all the earth. Carmel. Perhaps an allusion to the encounter between the Lord and Baal, when the Lord struck the top of Mount Carmel with fire, demonstrating that he alone is God (1 Kings 18:36–39).
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:3 three transgressions . . . four. This poetic device expresses totality (compare Prov. 30:15, 18, 21). It introduces the judgment on all seven neighboring nations (Amos 1:6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4), and upon Israel as well (2:6). One way of separating grain kernels from their hulls was to put all the grain in a pile and then have oxen pull threshing sledges of iron around on the pile. Amos says Syria has treated the people of Gilead as though they were nothing but a pile of grain, crushing them into the ground.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:4 Ben-hadad, son of Hazael, was king of Syria at the beginning of the eighth century B.C. (see 2 Kings 13:24). Fire is the means of judgment on these seven nations.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:5 The wooden city gates were fastened shut with a heavy wooden gate-bar across them. If that bar were broken, an invading army could enter the city. Kir is the ancestral home of the Syrians (9:7). It is probably somewhere to the northeast of Mesopotamia. Thus they were being sent back as a conquered people to where they started.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:6–8 All the five cities of the Philistines except Gath are named in this judgment oracle. Rule of the region went back and forth among the five cities depending on which ruler happened to be strongest at the time. Philistia was southwest of Jerusalem, on the Mediterranean coast.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:6 they carried . . . to Edom. It is not known precisely what event this refers to. It may be a prediction of Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon in 586 B.C., when Edom actively helped the Babylonians subdue Judah (see Obad. 12–14). This would then mean that the Philistines were the Edomites’ partners in that. But more probably it refers to something that had taken place in Amos’s lifetime in the continuing struggles between the Judeans and the Philistines (see 2 Chron. 26:6–7).
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:9–10 Tyre was northwest of Israel, on the Mediterranean coast. With its fine harbor and easily defended island fortress, it dominated the sea trade of the eastern Mediterranean (see Isaiah 23; Ezekiel 26–28). Tyre is accused of the same act as the Philistines (Amos 1:6), but it was more terrible in their case because it involved the betrayal of a covenant of brotherhood. This may refer to the covenant between Solomon and Hiram (1 Kings 5:12), or perhaps to that between Ahab and Eshbaal of Sidon (1 Kings 16:31).
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:11–12 Edom was southeast of Judah, around the southern end of the Dead Sea. Descended from Esau, the Edomites were longtime enemies of Israel (Num. 20:14–21). Here Edom is judged for its mercilessness and anger.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:13–15 The Ammonites lived east of the Jordan River between Syria to the north and Moab to the south. Their territory did not extend all the way west to the Jordan, so they were in constant conflict with the tribes of Reuben and Gad in an effort to extend their border westward to gain control of the desirable region of Gilead where the two Israelite tribes lived. The sin of the Ammonites was the viciousness and brutality of their attacks, without pity even for pregnant women. Ammon’s capital city of Rabbah (see Deut. 3:11) is present-day Amman, Jordan.
AMOS—NOTE ON 1:15 exile. When Assyria conquered a nation, they deported the leadership and imported people from elsewhere into the area. This was done to discourage rebellion by the conquered people and to minimize the differences throughout their diverse empire.
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:1–3 Moab was Ammon’s neighbor to the south, perhaps included here because Moab and Ammon were both descended from Lot through his daughters (Gen. 19:37–38). Moab’s sin was against neither Israel nor Judah but its southern neighbor Edom. This shows that these judgments are based not on ethnicity but on the universal justice of God.
Amos begins with judgments from the Lord on Israel’s neighboring nations: Damascus (Syria), Gaza (Philistia), Tyre (Phoenicia), Edom, Ammon, and Moab (1:2–2:5). God holds all nations accountable for their actions.
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:4–5 Unlike the other nations, Judah is not judged for inhumanity to others. It is judged according to the law of the LORD (Ex. 24:8).
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:6–6:14 In the introduction to this section (2:6–16), Amos shows that Israel, far from being better than its neighbors, is even more worthy of condemnation. This is followed by four extended addresses: 3:1–15; 4:1–13; 5:1–17; and 5:18–6:14.
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:6–7a They sell the righteous perhaps refers to giving false witness for money, but it might also refer to selling into slavery someone who was in debt for something as insignificant as a pair of sandals (compare Lev. 25:39–43). Instead of helping the afflicted as the law commanded (Ex. 23:6–8), the wealthy Israelites were crushing them (see also Amos 8:6).
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:7b–8 Sexual immorality is an insult to God the Creator (my holy name is profaned). Garments taken in pledge refers to a poor person’s cloak that was given to a money-lender as security for a loan. It was to be returned to the poor person at night, since he or she probably had no other covering (Ex. 22:26).
AMOS—NOTE ON 2:14–15 The swift will not be able to run away from coming destruction, and the strong and mighty warrior will not be able to withstand it.
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:1–2 Hear this word introduces the first three messages against Israel (3:1; 4:1; 5:1). Israel and Judah believed that their role as God’s chosen people would protect them from harm (see note on 5:18–20). Amos says the very opposite is true. Precisely because God has known Israel as he has known no other nation, he judges Israelites by a higher standard (see Luke 12:48).
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:3–8 With a series of questions, Amos shows that disaster is coming for Israel. In nature, certain sequences of events lead to predictable outcomes. If a lion roars (vv. 4, 8), then it has probably taken, or is about to take, its prey. Likewise, since the Lord GOD has announced judgment, then judgment will surely come.
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:9–11 Israel’s capital city Samaria was a powerful stronghold. It was on a high hill (mountains), in a place that was easy to defend. But it was also just off the great highway that connected Egypt with Assyria. If Samaria fell to the Assyrians, there was nothing to prevent the destruction of the Philistine cities (represented by Ashdod) and of Egypt itself.
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:13 The term God of hosts was popular among the later prophets. “Hosts” here would ordinarily signify troops of soldiers, so the term expresses God’s unlimited power.
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:14 Bethel was associated with Jacob and his vision (Gen. 28:10–22). It was close to the border between Israel and Judah. Thus, Jeroboam I chose it as a worship site for his new religion (1 Kings 12:25–33). Amos chose this as the place to deliver his prophecies (Amos 7:12–13) because it represented the corruption of the true religion (4:4–5). The horns of the altar were at the four corners on top of the altar (Ex. 27:2). They represented a place where God’s protection was available (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28). Now, however, the horns of Bethel’s altar would provide no protection.
AMOS—NOTE ON 3:15 All of Israel’s social injustice is represented by the sin of accumulating large amounts of property (see also Isa. 5:8). This violated the covenant, which said a family’s land was a permanent gift from God to that family, not to be taken from them. Amos condemns wealth created through mistreating the poor (Amos 4:1). He also condemns unfair business practices (5:7, 11, 12; 8:4–6) and living in luxury without caring for the needy (5:12; 8:4–6). He also notes the lack of concern for sin (6:4–6) and the lack of true faith (5:21–23).
The winter house and summer house. Many wealthy Samarians had two homes. One would be in the warmer, southern regions while the other was built in the cooler north (3:15). This extravagance made it all the more obvious that Amos was justified in his criticism of the wealthy people who ignored the needs of the poor.
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:1–13 This second oracle (see note on 2:6–6:14) is composed of three parts. In 4:1–5, Amos expands somewhat on the points made in 3:14–15: the sins of self-indulgence and oppression (4:1–3) and of false religion (vv. 4–5). In vv. 6–11, the Lord describes all the ways in which he has appealed in vain for the Israelites to return to him. As a result, they will come face to face with the infinite Creator in all his power (vv. 12–13).
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:1 Bashan was rich pastureland northeast of the Sea of Galilee. The cattle there tended to be plump and healthy. Amos compares the women of Samaria to those cattle. Even women oppress the poor and crush the needy.
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:2–3 These verses describe what will happen to the wealthy and self-indulgent women of Samaria (v. 1) when it falls to the Assyrians. They will be dragged out through the broken-down walls (breaches) with fishhooks, like a fisherman dragging a fish out of water. The reference to hooks may be literal. Some Assyrian illustrations seem to show captives being taken away with ropes attached to rings in their noses.
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:4–5 With bitter sarcasm, Amos criticizes religious activity at Bethel and Gilgal (see Josh. 4:20; 10:43). Far from securing forgiveness for transgression, this activity was itself sin! The Israelites might love to engage in such worship, but it only disgusted God (Amos 5:14–15, 21–24). The prophets often seem to dismiss sacrificial worship, but the context of such prophecies shows that they are concerned that all worship be the result of true faith.
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:6 The people had cleanness of teeth because they had no food to cling to their teeth! yet you did not return to me. Even though God had sent various natural and social disasters, the people would not turn back to him.
AMOS—NOTE ON 4:13 Israel is about to come face to face with the Creator of the universe, the LORD, the God of hosts (see note on 3:13).
The blighting of crops (4:9) was a serious problem for farmers because there was no known way at the time to stop it. Dry winds would blow up from the Sahara at hurricane-like speeds. These dusty winds sucked all moisture out of plant life, leaving the plants themselves brown and wilted.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:1–17 Although they face imminent destruction, God still pleads with his people to return to him.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:1 lamentation. Neither the prophet nor God takes delight in these messages of doom. Like mourners at a funeral, they grieve at what lies ahead for the unrepentant people.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:2 Virgin Israel expresses the special value God places on Israel.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:5–6 Israel should seek the LORD in the ways he has commanded, not in the pagan practices found at Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:7 For governments, justice involves a just use of power and maintaining a proper judicial system. For individuals, justice involves honest business dealings and faithfulness in keeping one’s word. Both governments and individual citizens should be especially concerned with protecting the poor and the weak from those with greater wealth and power.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:8–9 Amos contrasts the limitless glory of the Creator with the things worshiped at the pagan-influenced shrines in Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba.
Constellations like the Pleiades and Orion (5:8) were important to pagan cultures, which worshiped them as gods. Images of them could be found on seals and scrolls throughout the ancient Near East. Prophets like Amos believed that these constellations were not gods, but rather were evidence of the scope and majesty of God’s creation.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:10 reproves in the gate. The walled cities of the ancient Near East had covered gatehouses with multiple sets of gates. If the enemy broke through one gate, they were immediately confronted with another. During times of peace, all the gates would be open. The gatehouse would provide a shady place where the old men of the city could observe events, and where they could decide the legal cases brought before them. But in Israel, justice was going to the highest bidder. See also vv. 12, 15.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:14–15 God appeals to his people again (compare vv. 4–7). In that evil time (v. 13), they should seek good for those around them. If they do so, there may be hope for the nation, even at that late hour.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:16–17 Although Israel could have returned to God, they would not. As a result, Amos announces that a great funeral cry of wailing . . . mourning . . . lamentation (see v. 1) will go up all over the land from the streets of the cities to the vineyards in the countryside.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:18–6:14 This fourth message (see note on 2:6–6:14) gives details about the kinds of sins that will provoke Israel’s “funeral” as a nation (see note on 5:16–17). Three times the funeral cry of “Woe” appears: 5:18; 6:1; 6:4. Each woe introduces another category of sin.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:18–20 Historically, this is the earliest known use of the expression the day of the LORD. The phrase also occurs in the prophetic works of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Obadiah, Zephaniah, and Malachi (see diagram). The people of Amos’s day may have used the term to refer to the time when the Lord would intervene and put Israel at the head of the nations (possibly based on Deut. 32:35–37). But Amos, and all the prophets after him, clarify what it will mean for the Lord to visit his people: if they are unfaithful, it will mean judgment. In Amos, “the day of the LORD” points to the coming judgment on the northern kingdom (Amos 5:27). In Zephaniah, it points to judgment on Judah. Other prophets use the term to signal God’s punishment of other nations. In some cases, the prophet uses the term to refer to something farther in the future (Mal. 4:5; and probably in Joel 2:31). All of this indicates that the “day” is not unique but may be repeated as circumstances call for it. New Testament authors apply the term to the return of Christ (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Pet. 3:10).
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:21 God hates Israel’s religious feasts and solemn assemblies, their offerings (v. 22), and songs (v. 23) because of their persistent sinful conduct (see note on 3:15). He rejects their perversion of worship at Bethel (see note on 3:14). He despises the absence of justice and righteousness in their conduct toward one another (5:24).
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:22 I will not accept them. The Israelites may seem to be worshiping God, but he knows they do not love and obey him.
AMOS—NOTE ON 5:27 Exile beyond Damascus is exactly what happened (2 Kings 17:6). This is a startling prediction, since Assyria was comparatively weak in Amos’s time.
Amos was a shepherd from the Judean town of Tekoa, a “herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs” (7:14). He prophesied primarily to the northern kingdom of Israel during a time of political stability and great wealth. As they often did, the people of Israel saw this prosperity as a sign of God’s blessing. But God used Amos to tell them that this was not the case. Much of the nation’s wealth had been acquired by oppressing the poor, and so their insincere worship was disgusting to God. Israel had rejected its calling to be a place where God’s righteousness and justice was demonstrated to the world. Because of their unfaithfulness, the Israelites would be punished severely. God would remain faithful to his people, however, and would restore what had been destroyed. Peace and blessing would come to Israel—and the world—through the coming of the Messiah. (Amos 5:18–24)
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:1 Amos included the Judeans in his warning (see 2:4–5). Both Zion (Jerusalem, the capital of Judah) and Samaria (the capital of Israel) were strong fortresses, easily defended. But God’s people should never be confident in their own power.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:2 Stronger cities than either Jerusalem or Samaria had already fallen. Among these were Calneh, in south-central Mesopotamia (see Gen. 10:10); Hamath, in Syria to the north of Israel; and Gath, a Philistine city southwest of Israel.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:4–7 Instead of grieving over their sins, the wealthy Israelites were treating themselves to the very best of life’s pleasures. It was these people whom the Assyrians would take first into exile (v. 7).
Only the very wealthy could afford to eat the tender meat of calves from the midst of the stall (6:4). These animals were set aside from other livestock and fed a strict diet of the more costly grains like barley in order to fatten them up. This fattening process ensured that the animals would bring a higher price when sold at the market.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:6 Wine in bowls and finest oils are further indications that all restraint was gone. The wealthy cared extravagantly for their own bodies but cared nothing for the needs of others. The two main tribes in Israel were Ephraim and Manasseh, descended from Joseph.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:8 sworn by himself. See Heb. 6:13.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:12 Perverting justice and righteousness is as unnatural as horses choosing to run on rocks or a farmer planting crops on a rock pile.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:13 Lo-debar and Karnaim were two cities on the east side of the Jordan. Both cities were in areas that were in constant dispute with Syria. It is likely that Israel had succeeded in recapturing them from Syria, and that this was a cause for Israelite self-confidence.
AMOS—NOTE ON 6:14 Amos says the little victories of v. 13 will be nothing compared to the destruction that is to come. Lebo-hamath was in the far north, in the valley between the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The Brook of the Arabah is in the valley in the far south between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The Assyrian conquest would cover the whole land, not just a few isolated cities.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:1–9:15 Visions of Judgment. In the final section of the book, Amos turns from speech to sight. He tells of visions he has received from God that confirm the nation’s situation. The first is a vision of inescapable judgment (7:1–9). This vision is frighteningly confirmed by the prophet’s experience with the priest of Bethel (7:10–17). The second vision is of Israel’s terrible end (8:1–14). The last is of the Lord standing at the altar of sacrifice (9:1–15). This vision has two parts. The first continues the theme of judgment (9:1–10), but the second sounds a note of hope (9:11–15).
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:1–9 God reveals to Amos in three pictures that there is no hope for Israel. In response to the first two, Amos pleads for mercy for the nation (vv. 2, 5), and God twice graciously relents (vv. 3, 6). But the third picture is so convincing that Amos sees there is no hope and therefore makes no intercession. God has repeatedly shown mercy to his erring people, only to have them continue in their complacency toward him. Sooner or later, their time will be up.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:2 please forgive. In spite of the severity of all that Amos had said, he took no pleasure in the people’s suffering. He pleaded earnestly that God would show mercy.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:3 The LORD relented. Like Amos, God does not desire to destroy his people. He is very patient (see Ex. 34:6). He has promised to relent in response to repentance (see Jer. 8:5–10; compare Jonah 3:10–4:2).
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:7–9 The third picture that God showed Amos was of a plumb line held against a wall. A plumb line is a string with a weight fastened to its end. When the string is placed beside a wall and the weight is allowed to hang freely, it will show whether or not the wall is perfectly vertical. If the wall is leaning and it is not fixed, it will eventually collapse. Compared to the Mosaic law, the plumb line according to which the wall of Israel was built, it is clear that the nation is so far out of line that the collapse cannot be prevented. Israel is hardened in sin; thus, in this case, Amos does not ask God to relent.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:10–17 If the plumb line according to which Israel was constructed was the Law, then the priesthood should have held Israel accountable to it (Deut. 33:10; Mal. 2:6–7). But the priesthood itself was corrupt (see 1 Kings 12:31 for how the first King Jeroboam had ruined the priesthood for the northern kingdom). Thus, there was no external standard being applied by which Israel’s true condition could be recognized and corrected. The end truly was at hand.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:10 The reference to Amaziah the priest shows that a representative of the established religious leadership opposed Amos’s prophecies. Amaziah’s words to the king (Amos has conspired against you) were a lie.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:12–13 When Amaziah called Amos a seer, his intent may have been to show contempt. The term suggests, what was true, that Amos is not a member of the royal guild of prophets, who, since they were paid by the king, would say only what the king wanted to hear. Thus Amos had no standing in the king’s sanctuary.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:15 the LORD took me . . . the LORD said to me. Amos was prophesying on God’s authority.
AMOS—NOTE ON 7:17 All the honor that Amaziah prized so highly would be taken from him. These terrible punishments would happen because he rejected God’s word through Amos.
AMOS—NOTE ON 8:1–14 In powerful word-pictures, Amos describes the final end of Israel.
AMOS—NOTE ON 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—NOTE ON 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—NOTE ON 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).
The annual flooding of the Nile (8:8) took place from the months of June to September. Monsoon rains from the mountains to the south would overflow the banks of the Nile, bringing with it the fertile silt from the river. Crops could then be sown in October and harvested in February. This cycle went on for thousands of years until 1970, when Egypt completed construction on the Aswan High Dam, which captures the floodwaters for hydroelectric power.
AMOS—NOTE ON 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—NOTE ON 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.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:1–15 This final vision has two parts, one negative (vv. 1–10) and the other positive (vv. 11–15). God considers worthless all the sacrifices the Israelites had given in an attempt to manipulate him on their behalf, while bringing reproach upon his name with their sinful lives. Therefore God would demand their own lives as sacrifices (vv. 9–10). But God’s ultimate purpose in judgment is never destruction; it is always restoration. So vv. 11–15 depict a day when Israel, again recognizing David as its true king (v. 11), would be restored to its land.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:1 Capitals are the tops of columns, and thresholds are the bases. Mentioning the two together enfolds the totality of the temple structure. Revelation 20:11–15 uses this image of no escape to describe the last judgment.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:2–3 Two groups of opposites: Sheol (the underworld) vs. heaven; and Carmel (the mountaintop) vs. the bottom of the sea. In short, there is no place between these extremes to escape God.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:7 Cushites (or Nubians), who lived south of Egypt, were considered to be living at the end of the world. All peoples are under God’s care.
The Cushites (9:7) lived in the Sudan region, south of Egypt. As far as the Israelites were concerned, the land of Cush was located at the end of the world. Amos mentions the Cushites here to say that even those who live in faraway places are under the Lord’s providential care.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:11–15 In contrast to the mighty temple of Israel that God would smash to the ground (v. 1), the fragile booth of David (v. 11) would be repaired. The reminder that Israel’s well-being depends on the descendants of David would come with special force to Amos’s northern audience, who had rejected the Davidic king. God has committed himself to bless his people, and eventually the world, through the family of David (2 Sam. 7:15–16; Ps. 72:17).
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:11 In that day reminds the reader of the day of the Lord that the Israelites confidently expected. If there was to be punishment instead of blessing (see 5:18–20 and note), that did not mean it was to be God’s final word. This time, the day will be a blessing to the people.
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:12 The nations . . . called by my name connects with the nations described in vv. 7–8. Israel has a special place among the nations, but it is a place of mission, not simply of privilege. In Acts 15:16–17, James cites Amos 9:11–12. He understands this passage to indicate that “all the nations” (that is, Gentiles) are included in God’s blessings, as God had promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:3).
AMOS—NOTE ON 9:13 When God restores the land, it will be amazingly productive and will not need to rest for a moment. As soon as the reaper has harvested one crop, the plowman comes right behind planting another one, and as soon as someone sows the seed, the grapes grow so rapidly that the treader of grapes comes to pick the ripe grapes and gather them for the winepress. This is a beautiful poetic image of a land like the garden of Eden—with fruitfulness that is free from the curse (Gen. 3:17–19; compare Amos 4:6–10).