BOOK OF AMOS - CHAPTER 9
Israel to Be Destroyed
1 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.
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,
from there I will bring them down.
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword to slay them.
“I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good.”
COMMENTARY
VERSES 1-4
Amos sees a picture of God standing by the altar. Nothing will stop God's anger against Israel. He describes how the people would die. He will even chase them with a sword, and keeps His eye on them to make sure harm comes to them. It is impossible to hide from Him. Even the grave is not safe. Even exile would not be a protection.
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he 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;
6 he builds his lofty palace in the heavens
and sets its foundation on the earth;
he 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 descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 5-6
These two verses tell what God is powerful enough to do. Amos refers to the Nile again. He did this in 8:8. God has power over the rivers. He can shake the earth, too. The people in Israel deserved all of God's anger.
VERSE 7
There are rhetorical questions about nations that were special to God.
VERSE 8
The Lord continued to look very closely at Israel. He did not like what he saw. Israel would no longer be a nation. However, there would be a few people left, so there was some hope.
9 “For I will give the command,
and I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,
all those who say,
‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’
COMMENTARY
VERSES 9-10
This verse is similar to 9:1 when God describe in detail exactly what He would do to Israel. God compares Israel to good grain mixed with small stones. The small stones are the bad parts of Israel. God will not allow any small stone to fall through the sieve with lots of holes in it. All the sinners will certainly die.
Israel’s Restoration
11 “In that day
“I will restore David’s fallen shelter—
I will repair its broken walls
and restore its ruins—
and will rebuild it as it used to be,
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that bear my name,”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.
13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills,
14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 11-12
In the final verses of Amos, there is a change and the reasons for it.
VERSE 13
Amos now gives two pictures. In this future time, there would be a lot of food. As soon as a person had harvested a crop, someone else would sow the next crop. In the future, there would be a huge amount of wine because of the bountiful crop of grapes. There would be more wine than the people could drink.
VERSE 14
Again, Amos looks to the future. He looks beyond the exile. The Jews would be able to return to their land. They would be able to do normal things. They would be able to grow plenty of food for themselves. There would be enough to eat. There would be security.
VERSE 15
Amos finishes this chapter and the book with a promise. The Israelites would have their own land. They would not have to worry about exile again. They would be like a crop that God himself has planted. This is like another promise from God. God said that there would be no second flood. He would not kill all people again.
NOTICE
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