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Amos Chapter 8
Bitterness and Mourning to Come
- Amos 8:1 Thus hath the
Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
- 2 And he said, Amos, what
seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the
LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will
not again pass by them any more.
The Lord doesn't stay where He isn't wanted.
This opens the door to those that reject God to eventually destroy
themselves. Sometimes He doesn't have to send judgment, when we lose
that hand of protection, anything goes. Departing from God's word
brings this. Their biggest sin here was neglecting the poor.
- Amos 8:3 And the songs of
the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD:
there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast
them forth with silence.
Instead of joyful songs of praise there was
to be songs of mourning and misery. Oh this never has to be. How
much every nation needs God.
- Amos 8:4 Hear this, O ye
that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to
fail,
- 5 Saying, When will the
new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that
we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel
great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
- 6 That we may buy the
poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and
sell the refuse of the wheat?
God made the Sabbath so the hard working
poor could get rest but here we see the rich hating the Sabbaths,
they wanted their businesses to prosper and not take time off. Their
hearts were not on the laborers but on their own increase. This is
one reason God originally made the Sabbath.
- Mark 2:23 And it came
to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath
day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of
corn.
- 24 And the Pharisees
said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which
is not lawful?
- 25 And he said unto
them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and
was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
- 26 How he went into
the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and
did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the
priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
- 27 And he said unto
them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
sabbath:
- 28 Therefore the Son
of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
God, in His foreknowledge could see that if
a day of rest was not given, the poor would be exploited and get no
relief.
- Amos 8:7 The LORD 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? and
it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and
drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
The Nile overflowed it's banks at times,
flooding everything within it's path or along it's banks. In some
places this is needed to grow crops but it other places it was
disaster.
- Amos 8:9 And it shall
come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause
the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the
clear day:
This is why some believe eclipses of the sun
are signs of some kind. There was darkness in Egypt once for 3 days
upon the Egyptians. This is recorded for us to read in Exodus chapter 10. Darkness will
also take place in the future tribulation.
- Amos 8:10 And I will turn
your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation;
and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon
every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son,
and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Feasts were given for remembrance,
rejoicing, resting and worship but if a nation turns away from
righteous living, they may become times of mourning
instead.
- Amos 8:11 Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the
land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the LORD:
This to me would be awful. If we went for
years without hearing from God or having His presence or not hearing
anyone speak God's word, it would be terrible to me. Oh my what they
did to the children back in the 60s when they cast out the reading
of God's word in public schools. WE NEED GOD's WORD continually.
- Amos 8:12 And they shall
wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,
they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and
shall not find it.
- 13 In that day shall the
fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
- 14 They that swear by the
sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner
of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up
again.
Hell will be like that. They will never have
God's presence or His word. I think that would be worst than the
fire that burns.
Dan was a place of worship for idols instead
of God. Jeroboam made an altar there. He made a calf and told the
people that it was the god that delivered them out of Egypt. This
led to the downfall of the northern kingdom later after prophets
were sent first to warn. Idolatry is a huge insult against our
creator. Satanic influences accompany that kind of worship. It is so
dangerous. It actually led to child sacrifices. DC
Amos Chapter 9
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