Section III Visions and an Epilogue
Amos 7:1—9:15
The account of Amos' visions is found in cc. 7—9. There are five of them clearly identified. The first is found in 7:1-3, and the second in 7:4-6. The third and fourth visions are to be distinguished sharply from the “fragmentary messages” which are attached to them; the visions themselves are recorded in 7:7-9 and 8:1-3. The fifth vision is decidedly different in form and character and probably should be viewed as including 9:1-4.1
Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me (1) is an introduction common to the first four of the five visions. The fifth begins with “I saw the Lord” (9:1). Another common element of each of the first four visions is the word behold, followed by the content of the visions.
1. Locusts (7:1-3)
The first vision describes a “brood of locusts” in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth (1). This would be just as the rains were preparing the crops for final growth and harvest. They could not have come at a more disastrous time. The latter growth after the king's mowings seems to imply that the tribute (tax) paid to the state came from the first mowings. Failure of the second growth would destroy the farmer's personal income,2
Amos saw the expected famine as a judgment on Israel. When the locusts had made an end of eating the grass of the land (2), they would leave it stripped, bare of fruit, produce, and crop.
The description of the plague is followed by the dialogue between Amos and the Lord. I beseech thee is a “participle of entreaty,” the equivalent of “please!” Thus Amos speaks for Israel, not as they saw themselves, a “proud, self-sufficient nation, but as God saw them, a little, helpless people.”3 “How can Jacob stand? For he is so small” (Smith-Goodspeed).
The answer to Amos' plea is evident in the assurance that the disaster could be avoided. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord (3).4
2. Fire (7:4-6)
The devouring fire (4) represents the second and more severe judgment of God against Israel. To contend by fire means “the Lord God was calling for a trial by fire” (Berk.). While fire is one of the figurative symbols of the wrath of God, the prophet possibly saw the judgment as a continuing hot wind sweeping across the land from the desert. It was so intense as to devour the great deep, “the underground reservoir of waters, from which the springs were supplied (cf. Genesis 49:25, ‘the deep that coucheth beneath’).”5
Again Amos intercedes in the same words found in v. 2 and the Lord alters His threatened action: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God (6).
3. Plumbline (7:7-9)
In the third vision God asked the question, Amos, what seest thou? (8) The plumbline was used for testing the straight-ness of a mold, and the figure thus describes God's righteous demands upon His people. Sidney Lovett observes succinctly that famine and drought are seasonal occurrences beyond the power of man to control; therefore Amos' intercession was to the only One who could intervene. However, “A wall is the labor of man's hands. If it buckles, for whatever reason, its deviation is inexorably marked by the plumbline. And from that verdict there is no appeal.”6 One can vision Amos standing silent before the judgment of God. There was nothing more to say. Judgment was inevitable because the building was of man's own doing. God declares, I will not again pass by them any more (8). Verse 9 describes the judgment to come as including the high places of Isaac (the shrines of the hills), the sanctuaries of Israel (sacred buildings), and the house (dynasty and family) of Jeroboam.
4. The Conflict with Amaziah (7:10-17)
In the visions Amos has been speaking in the first person. In this passage, however, we have an account of the conflict between Amos and Amaziah. Amaziah was the high priest of the sanctuary of the golden calf in Bethel. This shrine had been set up to keep the worshippers from going to Jerusalem to worship.
The daring announcement of judgment upon both priest and king caused Amaziah (10) to advise Jeroboam II of Amos' supposed conspiracy. His judgment was that the land is not able to bear all his words. Amaziah's charge indicated that he associated Amos with subversion and that his preaching was having a marked effect on the nation. It is clear that Amos was a prophet to be feared because of the influence of his message.
The dramatic confrontation between prophet and priest (vv. 11-17) brought the career of Amos to a crisis. His “stern unpalatable prophecies of national doom” now faced ecclesiastical and royal rebuke. The acrid clash in Bethel “is a landmark in the great debate between priest and prophet, the fierce conflict between state and church, whose bitter entail infests all subsequent history.”7 There was not only the conflict between two strong personalities, but a conflict of vocation and institution. As a result, Amaziah presented a formal charge of treason, Amos hath conspired against thee (Jeroboam, 10), having said that the king shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land (11).
Amaziah turned from his charge of treason to direct a command to Amos: Flee thee away into the land of Judah (12). In other words, “Go back where you belong and prophesy professionally there to earn your bread.” Then the priest continued with a prohibition, But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king's chapel (13), a sanctuary founded by the king (I Kings 12:28). The king's court (beth mamlakhah) is the house of the kingdom, i.e., the principal seat of the worship which the king had established for his kingdom. Thus no one could be allowed to prophesy against the king there.8 The fact that the high priest gave these orders to Amos probably indicates that Jeroboam did not take the charge seriously and left the matter in the hands of Amaziah.
Amos immediately replied to the insinuation that he was a professional prophet (nabi). He declared: I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son (14, a member of the prophet's guild), but an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit (“a dresser of sycamore trees,” RSV). He continued by appealing to his call by the Lord, who took him from his flock and said, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel (15).
Dramatically Amos confronted Amaziah with his own words and proceeded to prophesy even as the Lord had commanded: Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord (16). Amaziah's tragic punishment was then described: Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city (17); i.e., when Bethel was taken by invasion, she would be raped, his children slain, and his land given to new settlers. What was to happen to Amaziah would also befall the whole of the nation, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
An exposition from chapter 7 might be entitled “When God Can Use Man”: (1) Though from humble circumstances, he hears and follows God, 14-15; (2) He is willing to proclaim the word of the Lord in the face of opposition, 12-13; (3) He is not afraid to prophesy of judgment to come, 17.
5. Basket of Summer Fruit (8:1-3)
The fourth vision is like the others in form and points back to the preceding three (7:1-9). Its message is similar and confirms the former judgments. The What seest thou? (2) of the Lord is followed by the vision of the basket of summer fruit. This would be fruit that ripened in the summer and was gathered in the fall. In Hebrew there is an alliteration where ripe fruit (qayits) is followed by the end (qets). The figure points to a nation that is ripe for judgment and destruction—the end is come upon my people.
Evidently these visions appeared over a period of a year; the locusts associated with the spring, the devouring fire with the summer, and the fruit with the autumn. Their repetition and growing severity must have impressed upon Amos the immediacy of judgment and the urgency of his prophecy.
Amos represents the Lord once more as stating, “I will not defer their punishment again” (2, Living Prophecies; cf. 7:9). All the joy shall be turned into howlings (3; mourning or wailing). There shall be many dead bodies in every place. Keil translates the final phrase, in “every place hath He cast them forth; Hush!” The interjection “Hush!” is not a sign of despair, but “an admonition to bow beneath the overwhelming severity of the judgment of God, as in Zeph. 1:7 (cf. Hab. 2:20 and Zech. 2:17).”9
Amos 8:4 begins a group of oracles which are rather obscure in their relations to each other, but reiterate the prophet's concern over Israel. They deal in general with the sins of the nation and the judgments to come.
1. Oppression of the Poor (8:4-7)
The oppression of the poor is denounced in an address to the greedy. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy (4). Both the day of the new moon (5)10 and the sabbath were days of rest from business, days prized by the workman but begrudged by the merchants. “The interests of the Sabbath are the interests of the poor; the enemies of the Sabbath are the enemies of the poor. And all this illustrates our Saviour's saying that the ‘sabbath was made for man.’” Making the ephah small was to give less than full measure. Making the shekel great was overcharging the buyers. The balances were made deceitful by using false weights.
It was the purpose of the wealthy to make the poor poorer, so that they would be forced to sell themselves into slavery for silver (6) or be handed over to their creditors because of inability to pay debts no greater than the price of a pair of shoes. The greedy merchants would sell for a profit even the refuse of the wheat (“mouldy wheat,” Living Prophecies).
Verse 7 represents a burning sense of indignation over the character of these crimes. God is God of the poor as well as the wealthy, and hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
God swears by the excellency or “pride” (RSV) of Jacob as He does by His own holiness. As surely as He is what He is, He will bring judgment on the greedy.
2. Earthquake, Darkness, and Mourning (8:8-10)
The feeling of God's anger is shared by Nature herself. Shall not the land tremble? (8) refers to earthquakes. On all sides there will be mourning. It shall rise up refers to the destruction which is also likened to the flood of Egypt, or the Nile when it rises to flood stage. Though the action is not as sudden as the shock of an earthquake, yet the flood is just as devastating and as irresistible. The same type of judgment is described in 9:5-6.
The threat of earthquake is followed by the prediction of eclipse (9).11 In the terror of that unnatural night songs shall be turned into mourning and lamentation (10). The wearing of sackcloth and the shaving of the bald place on the head were signs of mourning (cf. Isa. 3:24). The sorrow will be severe, like mourning after the death of an only son (cf. Jer. 6:26; Zech. 12:10). And the end thereof as a bitter day suggests that the judgment was not to be of short duration. Living Prophecies renders it, “Bitter, bitter will be that day.”
3. Famine and Thirst (8:11-14)
The judgment of God becomes progressively more severe. The famine in the land (11) and the thirst were not famine for food and drink, but a famine for the words of the Lord. This word of the Lord (12) is identified as the light of His revelation. Those who do not now cherish His Word will then have a hunger and thirst for that which was formerly ignored and rejected.
Their desire is depicted in v. 12. They shall wander (“reel,” RSV) from one end of the earth to the other. From north to south and from east to west, they shall run … to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Even the fair virgins and young men (13) shall swoon away from their thirst for the Word. These represent the strongest of the nation. What of the weak?
Verse 14 is difficult to interpret. It is now generally agreed that the sin (guilt) of Samaria (ashmath shomeron) was the golden calf of Bethel, the chief idol of Samaria placed at the national sanctuary (cf. 4:4-5).12 Reference to Dan in the extreme north as well as to Beersheba in the far south reveals the widespread infection of idolatry throughout the land.
The manner of Beer-sheba (14) speaks of the pilgrimage for the sake of worship rather than the act of worship itself. This worship was probably an idolatrous worship of Jehovah rather than the worship of pagan idols. Amos declares of all such worshippers, They shall fall, and never rise up again (14). The fulfillment of this prophecy commenced with the exile of the ten tribes. It continues to this day for those who are still looking for the Messiah.
C. THE INEXORABLE JUDGMENT, 9:1-7
1. The Fifth Vision (9:1-4)
Amos declares: I saw the Lord standing upon the altar (1). This fifth vision in Bethel recalls the inauguration of Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-13). God is seen already in the midst of His judgment in which “completeness and inescapableness are emphasized.”13 In Isaiah's vision the Lord was seated upon a throne, but Amos saw Him standing alone with the final word, Smite.
Verses 1-4 are made up of five stanzas of four lines each, with each couplet carrying a thought of its own. But the entire prophecy carries with it the finality of judgment upon the whole of the covenant nation to which Israel still belonged, though now divided from the house of David.14
The Lord appears at the altar before the whole nation gathered at the sanctuary. His judgment will shatter the Temple to its foundations and bury the people. The lintel of the door would be “the capitals” or tops of the pillars, so from top to bottom the place would fall in ruins. (Possibly a severe earthquake was envisioned as an instrument of judgment.) The smiting of the posts until the “threshold” (RSV) shakes rhetorically represents the finality of the destruction of the national life. Living Prophecies says, “Shake the temple until the pillars crumble and the roof crashes down upon the people below.” None shall escape, “and what are left of them I will slay with the sword” (RSV).
Verses 2-4 point out the inexorable completion of God's judgment upon His covenant-breaking people. The language of God's omnipresence is reminiscent of Ps. 139:7-9. Neither hell (2, sheol), the grave, nor heaven (the heavens), nor the top of Carmel (3; a high mountain), nor the bottom of the sea, nor captivity (4; residence in a foreign land) can save them from the omnipresent vengeance of God. The serpent … shall bite them has been interpreted, “I will send the sea-serpent [ ‘Dragon,’ Moffatt] after them to bite and destroy them” (Living Prophecies). Amos summarizes the passage: And I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. “They are more richly blessed than the world, but they are also more severely punished.”15
2. Third Doxology (9:5-6)
The transcendent majesty of Jehovah is again declared (cf. 4:13; 5:8-9) in the third doxology of Amos' prophecy, which is reminiscent and partially repetitive of 8:8. Moffatt renders 5,” 'tis the Eternal, Lord of hosts, at whose touch the earth trembles.” The “earthquake” is once again looked upon as punitive. It shall rise up seems to refer to God's sovereign action of judgment and mercy. And shall be drowned would refer to the effect of God's judgment on the people. Verse 6 declares again the universal power of God over all the nations. The first part of the verse has been paraphrased, “The upper stories of His home are in the heavens, the first floor upon the earth” (Living Prophecies). The waters of the sea represent the nations of the earth which shall pour over Israel in judgment. The Lord (Yahweh) is his name identifies the Lord God of hosts (5) and reemphasizes the One who can bring all this to pass.
3. The Lord of All Nations (9:7)
The famous seventh verse climaxes Amos' teachings concerning the universality of God. Once more, but in a more articulate way, he emphasizes the truth of the unity of God (cf. Deut. 6:4). There is no other God. All others so named are false. While Amos insisted that it was Jehovah who had redeemed Israel from Egypt, he was equally insistent that the Lord had also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.16 He even places the Ethiopians on a similar plane as the children of Israel, “Are ye not like the Ethiopians to me?” (RSV) Thus Amos completely undercuts Israel's carnal security in reliance upon its standing as the chosen people.
1. Purging Judgment (9:8-10)
The judgment of God predicted in v. 8 was consummated in the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (see Chart A). This passage may at first seem redundant, but it opens a new vista which is climaxed in the promise of restoration in 14.
The house of Jacob (8) is to be understood not merely as Judah contrasted with the kingdom of Israel. Jacob here represents the whole of Israel. Amos is pointing out that after Israel has been shaken as corn is sifted in a sieve (9), faithful servants of God will be preserved. This remnant will be a “holy seed” from which the kingdom of God shall grow. The distinction is here made between the evil nation and faithful persons, of whom there must have been at least a few. This distinction calls forth in v. 10 a solemn warning to sinners not to deceive themselves by thinking that they shall escape the Lord's judgment.
2. Restoration (9:11-12)
The prophecy closes with the promise of the restoration of the faithful remnant and the establishment of the kingdom of God. In that day, when judgment is meted out, will I raise up the tabernacle of David (11). In this oracle there sounds forth a note of hope in the face of despair. Deep in the hearts of the people lingered “the memory of the golden age of David.”17 That a renewal of that age was possible, even when the strength of David's reign had fallen, revealed the hand of Jehovah in “governing the course of history. ‘He who had smitten could heal.’”18 Verse 12 promises that the surrounding nations, including Edom (see map 2), shall be reconquered. The phrase called by my name indicates only that these nations also are under the power of the Lord. There is no question but that the tabernacle of David refers to the rule of the Messiah. The Jews formed a name from this passage as a designation of the Messiah, Felius cadentium, “He who had sprung from a fallen hut.”19
3. Nature's Blessing (9:13)
The closing oracle is a “pleasant piece of music, as if the birds had come out after the thunderstorm, and the wet hills were glistening in the sun.”20 In the Messianic kingdom the people will enjoy the promises of Moses (Lev. 26:5): The plowman shall overtake the reaper. While one is plowing, the other shall be reaping because of the rapid growth of the grain. The work of the treader of grapes shall overlap with him that soweth seed. This marvelous age will make it seem as though the God of all nations, the Lord God of hosts, is making the mountains to drop sweet wine and the hills to “flow with it” (RSV). Israel will at last enjoy the fruit of her inheritance.
4. Return of the Remnant (9:14-15)
Smith-Goodspeed renders the opening statement of 14, “And I will restore the fortune of my people Israel.” George Adam Smith has it, “I will reverse the captivity of my people Israel.” Thus, because the land shall be blessed with the greatest of fertility (13), the faithful remnant shall enjoy the blessings of continuing peace and prosperity. They shall have again all that was taken from them. They shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them (14).
There is no apparent reason in the text for the appearance of this beautiful Messianic prophecy. It is a vindication of the righteousness of Jehovah that such a Messianic promise comes from a prophet who spent most of his time predicting the absolute and final ruin of a sinful people. Even out of prophetic destruction arises prophetic hope. This hope is as permanent as the preceding judgments. They shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God (15)
Two expositions might be developed from the final chapter of Amos. The first is “The Awesome Presence of God”: (1) His omnipotence, 1; (2) His omniscience, 2; (3) His omnipresence, 4. The second would be God's wonderful restorative powers: (1) The rebuilding of the fallen, 11; (2) Under God, there are better days ahead, 13-14; (3) The eternal promise of God, 15.
It is in this confidence that we are to leave Amos in Tekoa. “The passing days served only to authenticate his prophetic word.” The God who destroys because of sin will in the “wilderness of despair and destruction move to the fulfillment of all that is partial,”21 as long as man's probation lasts. We can expand the words of St. Paul to point out the sovereign and eternal purpose of God, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).22