Amos 8:7-10

DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIEDBITTER MOURNING

TEXT: Amos 8:7-10

7

Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

8

Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, is shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

9

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

10

And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sack cloth upon all lions, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

QUERIES

a.

Why speak of the land rising like the River?

b.

Did the Lord actually cause the sun to go down at noon?

c.

Why and how is the Lord to bring baldness upon every head?

PARAPHRASE

Jehovah has sworn that just as surely as He is held up to be the pride and glory of Israel, He must punish Israel's inglorious sin. Every evil work she is guilty of will be punished for the Lord does not forget any sin not repented of. Yes, the whole nation will be shaken and there will be mourning everywhere. The judgment of the Lord will overwhelm the land like the River Nile at flood stage and the nation will rage like a flood with great trouble and destruction and then sink into nothingness. And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that I will cause Israel's sun to go down at noon, that is, I will take away the sunlight of her prosperity and bring suddenly upon her the darkness of destruction right at the midday of her existence. And I will turn this nation upside down by turning your festivals into times of mourning and all your gay, frivolous songs will be turned into wailing, despairing cries of lamentation. I will cause the whole nation to put on their mourning clothes and shave their heads bald in mourning custom. Your mourning will be very great and very bitterlike the mourning of those whose only son has died.

SUMMARY

The Lord's judgment upon the unmitigated sin and rebellion of Israel will be very severe. The Lord is going to overwhelm the land with a flood of judgment. He is going to turn everything upside down.

COMMENT

Amos 8:7-8 JEHOVAH HATH SWORN. THE LAND TREMBLE. IT SHALL RISE UP. LIKE THE RIVER. AND. BE TROUBLED AND SINK AGAIN. The scene changes. The worm is turned. From a description of the sinful state of Israel, we are brought abruptly to a description of the Lord's terrible judgment. Jehovah is the pride of Jacob (Israel), (cf. 1 Samuel 15:29). Jehovah is the One in whom Israel gloried. And, as surely as Jehovah is the glory of Israel He is also her Judge. He must judge her sins. Leaving Israel's sins unpunished would be denying His glory. Amos paints, with figurative language, a terrifying picture of God's judgment. The nation will tremble with fear as the judgment of the Lord floods over it. The nation shall be troubled and rage within like the torrents of the flooding Nile River swelling over her banks, inundating and destroying everything in its path. Then Israel, subdued, will sink down. Some commentators think Amos is likening the behaviour of the earth's surface during earthquakes which God sent in judgment upon Israel to the rising and falling of the Nile. It would seem to us that what is to happen toIsrael here is to cover the entire length and breadth, or the whole population, and thus too extensive for a literal earthquake, We take his language to be figurative.

Amos 8:9-10. I WILL CAUSE THE SUN TO GO DOWN AT NOON. TURN YOUR FEASTS INTO MOURNING. BRING. BALDNESS UPON EVERY HEAD. AS A BITTER DAY. Since this would be such an extraordinary phenomenon if it happened literally, we would expect it to be historically noted by the prophet. Inasmuch as it it not we take it to be figurative. K & D say, ... to any man the sun sets at noon, when he is suddenly snatched away by death, in the very midst of his life. And this also applies to a nation when it is suddenly destroyed in the midst of its earthly prosperity. Jesus said, We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work (John 9:4). Israel, at ease in Samaria and Bethel, riding on a wave of material and political well-being, was at the midday of her existence. It is doubtful that she enjoyed such prosperity even in the days of David and Solomon. But, when Israel thought it was noontime, God knew that her sun had set. God was about to turn this superficial brightness into what it really was, darkness, judgment, bitterness. Indeed, instead of the air of festivity and gaiety Jehovah was about to bring mourning, lamentation and bitterness. Their religious and social festivals would cease and their gay, suggestive, idle songs would be turned into doleful, sorrowful wailing. We have seen this happen in our own generation. The Great Third Reich of Adolph Hitler was turned from the bright sunlight of its midday into the blackness of utter defeat and destruction. The gay, martial songs and festivities of the early days of the Third Reich were turned into wailing and tears. Sackcloth was the dress of mourning. Baldness produced by shaving the head was done as a mark of mourning for the dead (cf. Leviticus 21:5; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; Micah 1:16). Grief and mourning was to be so widespread as to be almost total. It would be very deep grief, like the grief of mother and father mourning the death of an only son. God's judgment would be long and bitter.

QUIZ

1.

Why does the title, the excellency of Jacob, mean that Jehovah must judge Israel for her sins?

2.

Why is the language to be interpreted figuratively which speaks of the land rising like the River. ?

3.

What is the meaning of the figure, the sun to go down at noon. etc.?

4.

What parallel to Amos 8:10 have we witnessed in our own generation?