I SAW THE Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.
2Though they dig down to the depths of the grave,
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down.
3Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword to slay them.
I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
5The Lord, the LORD Almighty,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it mourn—
the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt—
6he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens
and sets its foundation on the earth,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the LORD is his name.
7“Are not you Israelites
the same to me as the Cushites?”
declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor
and the Arameans from Kir?
8“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD
are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it
from the face of the earth—
Yet I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob,”
declares the LORD.
9“For I will give the command,
and I will shake the house of Israel
among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,
all those who say,
‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ ”
Original Meaning
THE THREE PARAGRAPHS in this section remove any remaining false hopes that Amos’s audience may still have. His final persuasive arguments are contained in a vision emphasizing that no one can escape God’s judgment (9:1–4), in a hymnic fragment about the overwhelming power of God (9:5–6), and in a disputation against Israel’s false belief that its special status will prevent it from being overcome by any enemy (9:7–10).
This fifth and final vision has no paired element, unlike the previous four visions, but is balanced by the dispute in 9:7–10 (similar to the dispute in 7:10–17, which comes after the vision in 7:7–9). One reason why there is no parallel vision is because God actually executes his final judgment in this vision, and no one is allowed to escape. Thus, there is nothing left to warn the people about.
The hymn that follows the vision (9:5–6) emphasizes the power of the God who will bring an end to the nation of Israel. Parts of the hymn are identical to the hymnic fragments in 5:8 and 8:8; thus, the prophet reemphasizes the unavoidable and overpowering strength of God’s controlling hand. God’s sovereignty is legitimated by claims that he is the One who has control over the heavens, the land, and the sea.
The dispute (9:7–10) further undermines the audience’s confidence by attacking the theological basis of their false hopes. Does their elect status and their past Exodus experience guarantee God’s favor forever? No, God relates to people primarily on the basis of either their sins against him or their love for him.
The Vision: No One Can Escape (9:1–4)
THIS VISION HAS a shortened version of the introductory formula found in the earlier visions, a description of the visionary action, and an application of the vision to the audience. The introductory “I saw” may be brief because Amos sees the Lord himself rather than something else (like the locusts or a plumb line). The Lord is standing by an altar in the temple, an association that fits with Israelite tradition. Although the temple is not identified and one would usually connect God with the Most Holy Place in the temple in Jerusalem, almost everyone agrees that the temple being destroyed in this vision is the one with the golden calf at Bethel.1 In other words, Amos is not primarily interested in getting his audience to accept a Judean theological construction of orthodox theology (it would limit God’s presence to the temple in Jerusalem) but communicates the truth in Israelite theological categories that are more acceptable to his audience.
The action within the vision involves an unknown power (some suggest an angel)2 shattering the columns that hold the roof of the temple. If this structural damage to the columns and the shaking of the foundations of the building are connected to Amos’s other predictions of an earthquake, then it is unnecessary to hypothesize any other power at work. God himself is behind this enormous earthquake, which happened about two years after Amos spoke (1:1).
Once the earthquake begins, the building crumbles on the heads of those gathered for worship. Instead of providing security and hope, this temple will bring deadly panic. Its destruction is a direct sign of divine disapproval. These events lead to the divine determination to kill the remaining Israelites “with the sword” of an enemy army (9:1; cf. 2:14–16; 3:11–12; 4:2–3; 5:2–3, 27; 6:7–11; 7:17). No one will escape God’s judgment. This vision removes all hope and security;3 no exceptions are noted until we get to 9:8.
This message of total annihilation is probably rejected by many of Amos’s listeners because Israel has a strong military at this time and feels secure (cf. Amos 6:1). To convince the audience of the impossibility of any hope of survival, a series of five conditional clauses are presented (9:2–4). Each gives a possible way one might try to escape from God’s mighty hand of judgment, but each is a useless waste of effort because there are no limits to the power of God’s eyes or hands. The extreme effort of digging down to Sheol (NIV “the grave”) to hide in the inaccessible abode of the dead is as useless as the attempt to climb up into heaven and dwell in God’s place. God will find anyone who tries this and will deal with those who attempt to escape. No matter what the distance, God is present (cf. Ps. 139:7–9), for neither height nor depth can separate us from his love (Rom. 8:38–39) or hide us from his justice.
The second set of comparisons contrasts the many good hiding spots in the thick forests and caves of Mount Carmel4 and the unexplored coral reefs in the dark, uninhabitable depths of the ocean. Those who imagine that they can hide from God in these places will not escape either, for God will hunt them down or send a divinely controlled sea serpent to find them. Even if a few remain alive and go into exile after the nation is conquered, God will intently fix his gaze on them so that they do not escape (Amos 9:4). There is simply no geographical place in heaven or on earth in which to hide from God or escape his power.
The Hymn: God Has All Power over the Heavens and the Earth (9:5–6)
SINCE AMOS HAS inserted hymnic fragments at key points in other sermons to emphasize the power of God, who will judge Israel (4:13; 5:8–9; 8:8), the abrupt change here to hymnic words of praise is not unexpected.5 Amos probably uses the words of a familiar hymn because the audience knows it well and accepts its theological picture of God. The hymn celebrates the power of God over the heavens and the earth (the theological key to the vision in 9:1–4) and supports the conclusion that one cannot escape from the power of this kind of God. This good news about God’s power becomes a terrifying and fearful truth in this context.
The hymn is a picture of a theophany appearance of the majestic glory of God on earth, of his glorious dwelling place in the heavens, and of his powerful deeds of judgment on the earth. His name is appropriate; he is “the LORD Almighty,” Lord of the hosts of heaven, the heavenly warrior. The power of his touch dissolves nature and makes the earth shake. The hard and solid land rises and falls like the unstable water in the Nile River. The people who see this awesome demonstration of his power will “mourn” in fear and grief.
Yes, this is the God who lives in a lofty and exalted “palace in the heavens” (9:6), who formed and established the very foundations on which the land rests. He is able to set limits on the sea and to remove those limits and let the waters flood the land (Gen. 6–9). Truly, Yahweh, the God of Israel, is all-powerful. Amos uses this hymn of praise to God, which probably celebrates God’s power over Israel’s enemies, to support his claim that this omnipotent God will judge Israel. There is no way to avoid him or escape his wrath.
The Dispute: Does Israel Have a Special Protected Status? (9:7–10)
THE FINAL PARAGRAPH refutes an implied or real objection by the audience. They question Amos’s conclusion that Israel will actually be destroyed by God. They argue instead that “disaster will not overtake . . . us” (9:10), basing their confidence in God on what he has done in the past and the promises he made to their forefathers. God’s promise to Abraham gives them eternal possession of the land (Gen. 13:14–18), his election of them out of all the families of the earth gives them special status as his chosen people (Deut. 7:6–7), and his great act of deliverance from Egypt at the Exodus proves what he will do to fulfill his promises and deliver his people from their enemies (Ex. 14–15). How can God now reject his own people?
Amos does not dispute any of these facts of history but raises questions about how the Israelites have theologically interpreted these events. They have reified these ideas into absolute guarantees (focusing only on God’s promises in his covenant relationship), thus disconnecting the nation’s future from their daily covenantal relationship with him. They have not connected God’s blessings to their righteous behavior; they think he will care for them no matter what. But the covenant conditions state that if God’s people do not follow him or maintain their covenant relationship with him, he will not automatically bless them. Blessings are not a right to be claimed, but the fruitful outworking of a godly life.
Amos wisely approaches this subject by inviting his listeners to consider the broader aspects of God’s behavior in order to discover what principles direct his activity. This questioning method of persuasion invites dialogue and avoids the defensive response of people who are accused of misunderstanding what God will do. When Amos asks if the Israelites are not the same to God as the Cushites in Ethiopia (Amos 9:7), many would have wondered what Amos is talking about. What does God have to do with this black African tribe in the God-forsaken fringes of a distant continent?
Some listeners would no doubt scoff at this ridiculous comparison. Are not the Israelites God’s chosen people? The Cushites mean nothing to God. Others probably wonder what point Amos is trying to make. The point becomes clearer in the second comparisons at the end of 9:7, where Amos refers to the common exodus experiences by the Syrians, Philistines, and Israelites. This comparison clearly puts Israel on the same level as two of her bitterest enemies. Certainly no Israelite would believe that the exodus experiences of the Syrians and Philistines guarantees them eternal protection from God’s judgment.
But this conclusion means that Israel also has no automatic protection based on God’s past grace on them. The Israelite audience cannot argue against Amos to the effect that God is not the sovereign Ruler who has delivered all of these other countries from difficult situations and given them a new land. They can, however, argue that they have a special covenantal relationship with God, which makes their experience unique. That is precisely Amos’s point: Blessings are not based on a person’s identity or past deeds of grace but on a nation’s loving covenant relationship with God now. Thus, if the Israelites do not maintain their relationship with God, their future destruction is just as possible as Philistia’s. Past election (3:1–2) and past acts of divine grace (2:9–10) do not rule out the possibility of future punishment.
God judged Achan when he stole the booty from Jericho (Josh. 7) and Solomon when he began to follow the pagan gods of his wives (1 Kings 11–12). In other words, God’s protection in the future is not simply based on his grace in the past. If anything, God’s grace in the past puts a nation under greater obligations in the future. This broader perception of God’s action with other nations should keep the listeners from jumping to false conclusions based on a limited amount of information and a narrow theological perspective.
One of the keys to understanding God’s sovereign plan is the conclusion that he sees what the people in every nation do and will hold each nation accountable for its sins (Amos 9:8). This has been a consistent emphasis throughout Amos’s sermons: God judges sinful, oppressive people and sinful, oppressive nations. If the Syrians, Philistines, or Israelites sin, all God’s past grace will not prevent his future judgment (see 1:3–2:16).
But this principle is not a blanket condemnation of every person in a sinful nation. It is true that sometimes the innocent suffer as God judges the guilty, but God confirms through Amos that not every person in Israel will be killed (9:8): “I will not totally destroy” is God’s commitment that sin makes a difference in determining who will be destroyed and who will be spared. There is hope for the remnant who seeks God (5:14–15). This clause clarifies the message of no escape in 9:1–4 and maintains God’s mercy in the midst of judgment.6 It also explains how God will finally fulfill his past promises to his people in the distant future, when he establishes his kingdom (9:11–15).
To illustrate what will happen when the righteous are distinguished from the wicked, Amos draws from the harvesting process of separating good grain from the chaff and straw by the use of a sieve (9:8–9). An agricultural society such as Israel readily understands this metaphor of shaking the nation as one shakes grain to separate the good grain from the useless trash.7 The surrounding nations will shake the nation of Israel so that sinners can be punished with the sword. How foolish some people are when they proudly suppose that God will never allow them to be overtaken by any enemy.
Bridging Contexts
THE AWESOME POWER of God. God’s power to rule the world is described with great vividness in this section, and it forms the fundamental theological basis for fearing, loving, and honoring God. Since his power universally reaches to the heights of heaven and the depths of Sheol, and since he has designed the earth and the far reaches of the heavens, there is nothing outside of his frame of influence or knowledge. He not only has complete knowledge about the creation of all the diverse parts of the earth; he also has eyes and hands that control the expanse of the universe.
The magnificence of what God has created relates to its size, its beauty, and the way it works together as a unified whole. The breadth of God’s control far outstretches anything we can imagine or hypothesize, for humankind has never even seen the vast majority of what God has created. Even our ability to control a minor part of this creation is limited. Although we can dig a ditch and change the course of a stream in order to irrigate a field, God has the ability to set boundaries for oceans and then change those boundaries. People can shake a flimsy man-made wagon so that someone cannot stand up in it, but God can move the solid ground up and down so violently that it destroys strong buildings made by human beings. Truly, God is powerful, and his creative ability extends far above what people can imagine. We can only praise him and stand in wonder and amazement at what he has made.
Whenever we meet any natural force that has overwhelming power (a tornado, a forest fire, or bitter freezing cold), we must quickly recognize our own limited ability in the face of such overpowering forces. We may try to hide to protect ourselves from the brute destructive energy of such experiences, yet nature’s power consistently leaves us surprised and awestruck by the enormous damage that can come in a matter of a few seconds.
Yet nature’s force in these incidences is but a tiny representation of God’s awesome power. His creative ability enables him to make and place in orbit millions of burning stars brighter than our sun. If he wishes, the earth will melt at his touch or be destroyed by water at his command. Hiding from God is the ridiculous thought of proud persons who imagine they have primary control of themselves and their surroundings. Adam could not hide from God (Gen. 3), and we can be sure that our sins will find us out (Num. 32:23). Trying to hide or escape from God is an impossible reality, because he is not deceived by human plans. He knows every place and sees everything that we do. If these theological constructs of reality are understood, there should be no room for creating false conceptions of unrealistic hope based on human wisdom.
How foolish it is to believe that nothing will ever happen to me because I happen to think God will protect me (Amos 9:10). It is a delusion to conclude that I am somehow so special or important to God that he will deal with me in a unique manner different from all others. It is stupid to rest securely on the positive experiences of the past and assume that nothing will ever go wrong in the future.
Yet these are precisely the mistakes that the Israelites in Amos’s audience are making. They believe that God’s grace in the past (the Exodus events) assures them of special treatment in the future and unusual protection from harm. They assume their status as his chosen people is the only basis for their relationship with him. Too often their hope from past experiences is substituted for a present dynamic, living fellowship with God. The elite status of having the title “Israel, the people of God” is of no significance unless these people identify themselves with God, have a relationship with him, and demonstrate their commitment to him in their daily walk.
Sin destroys a person’s relationship with God. Thus, if there is no confession of sin, there is no continuing relationship with God. His protection is not a question of title but of the heart’s love and fear of God and of forgiveness of sins. God cannot overlook sin, for no one can hide from its consequences unless he or she is forgiven by God. God is always gracious and ready to forgive sin, but sin cannot be ignored.
Contemporary Significance
THE DECEPTION OF misunderstanding the seriousness of sin. It is not hard for people today to fall into the same deceptive trap that twisted the thinking of the Israelites. Although they were the special chosen people of God, who had been miraculously and graciously delivered from Egyptian bondage, their response to God’s grace would have a direct effect on their relationship with God. If the people rejected God and sinned against him, he would not bless them but would bring judgment on them.
People who have grown up in the church, been baptized, been approved through confirmation, or been accepted as members have a similar reason to expect God’s approval and blessing. They may think that they have the right to God’s protection and blessing because of their past experience with God. People who go through the church rituals of identification with Christianity can follow up their religious experience either by continually walking closely with God in a dynamic faith relationship or by ignoring their identification with Christ and living self-sufficiently sinful lives, separated from any conscious dependence on God.
Amos 9:7–10 suggests that sin is the poison that keeps people and nations from receiving God’s blessing. The question is not which sins have been committed (they are identified elsewhere in Amos, though not here); rather, the central point is that sin seriously changes and determines a person’s relationship with God. To ignore the presence of sin or its destructive power is to live in a world of delusions, far from God.
Some people tend to look at the good things God has done for them in the past and to assume he is still on their side. They also remember the good things they have done for God in the past and assume that they are still on his side. In both cases, such people make the fatal and deceptive mistake of basing a relationship on past experiences and ignoring present realities. They focus on the good things and assume that a positive relationship continues. In neither of these approaches do people admit failures or deal with the issue of sin. Yet the presence of sin is the key reason why people do not have a living relationship with God. God’s grace makes a relationship with him possible, but sin makes it impossible.
Is sin more important than grace? No, grace is essential for a relationship with God, but God’s grace is abundantly poured out on all people. God graciously moved the Syrians, the Philistines, and the Israelites to new lands. God’s power and grace are evident in the creation, which richly produces food for all people around the world. Grace is God’s love that draws people to himself. Of course, God’s most precious act of love and grace was given to all people when Christ died for our sins (even for the Cushites or Ethiopians in Amos 9:7). Truly, the abundance of God’s grace is overwhelming.
Nevertheless, earthly and heavenly relationships are not established simply by one party graciously doing something for another party. Relationships involve the mutual response of both parties. We know this is true in friendships and in marriage, but it is also true of a relationship with God. If one spouse, for example, ignores the other partner or does not appreciate what has been done for him or her, no lasting relationship can be established. Even more devastating are those situations where a gracious act brings about an initial positive response, but this is followed by rejection and offensive acts that interrupt normal fellowship.
Can we apply this passage to the church today? What past acts of God’s grace function as deceptions in the church today, and how can we cause people to recognize that the devastating power of sin breaks our relationship with God? It would be inappropriate to suggest that there is one primary deception. For one denomination it may be too much dependence on the significance of baptism; for another it may be a particular gift of the Spirit. The deceptions can even be varied within a church, in that the kind of things that give one person problems may not affect another.
Sensitivity to the way people express their thoughts about their relationship to God should give some clues. Testimonies that always relate to God’s past acts of grace without any reference to a present living, dynamic relationship may indicate a problem. Refusing to confess sin may also be a sign that a person does not see sin as something that destroys one’s relationship with God. A third signal might be an overly optimistic view of God’s protection from danger (see 9:10), or the naive view that believers will always be abundantly blessed by God.
Another serious source of deception is through incomplete teachings of true statements of Christian doctrine. No one should falsely think that all God requires is for us to be baptized or to join the church, though some do believe this because the truth of Scripture has not been adequately explained. Strong Bible teaching is necessary to ground people firmly so that they are not led astray with deceptions.
Removing deceptions. To undermine the false views of the Israelites, Amos emphasizes two themes: No one can escape God’s judgment (9:1–4), and God is the all-powerful One who controls the universe (9:5–6). It is clear from the deceptive statement “Disaster will not overtake . . . us” (9:10) that some Israelites believed they would escape any judgment. To combat those who still hold this falsehood in the church, the messenger of God today must demonstrate that no one has the ability to escape from God. Some may try to reduce him to something that has no relationship to his real character, while others will ignore him. D. Turner describes one kind of escapism as “the general disposition of people . . . is to look straight into the face of God, or else turn away after seeing what is plainly there in His eyes.”8
Anthropologists and historians have found that a high percentage of people believe there is a God, but all too many run their lives as if he does not exist. Even some respected modern sociologists and psychologists assume that God is not important if you want to understand how people think or why they act the way they do. Philosophers like B. Russell have tried to escape from God by saying that “the whole conception of God is quite unworthy of free men,”9 but his philosophical pronouncements do not absolve him of responsibility before God.
Today people may not try to escape from God by going to some distant geographic location (cf. 9:2–4), but many still imagine that they can eliminate the problems God raises in their lives by simply not believing that he exists. Others foolishly believe they will never be held accountable for their beliefs and actions. Some even blindly think that God will ignore their bad deeds because they have done some good things in their lives. They do not understand the terrible consequences of sin against a holy God.
In order to remove deception, one must first find out what subtle false beliefs a friend, relative, or congregation might have. Once they are identified, God’s messenger must use every tool possible to persuade people of the truth. One can make comparisons with other peoples, as Amos does (9:7), develop striking illustrations that make the facts evident (9:9), identify the deceptive beliefs in a clear and succinct way (9:10), and counter the illusion with the unmistakable truth that: (1) God is an all-powerful, holy God; (2) sin separates us from him; and (3) no sinner can escape from his justice. Like Amos, we must state, repeat, and reemphasize these basic principles again and again. The eternal destiny of each person is dependent on accepting these truths.