Amos 8

The basket of summer fruit (vs. 1-3)—The Lord shows the prophet another vision—a basket of summer fruit. The idea is that Israel is ripe for punishment. “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore” (v. 2). The joy of godly worship will turn into “wailing,” and there will be “many dead bodies everywhere” (v. 3). Sin robs people of spiritual, and often physical, life.

But keep in mind this "end" would not be for at least another generation.  There was still time for Israel to "seek the Lord and live" (Amos 5:6), but the Lord knew they wouldn't do it.  And, more than likely, the message of chapter 8 was delivered several years after chapter 5.

Oppression is reproved (vs. 4-11)—Given the prosperity of the time in which Amos prophesied, there was no excuse for neglecting the poor. Ancient Israel did not have a government run welfare system; the wealthy were to take care of their less fortunate neighbors by a variety of means. One example is found in Leviticus 19:10: “And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” Debtors were to be released every 50 years (the “year of Jubilee”), slaves freed after six years—things such as this. It was all intended to be voluntary, not forced; there is no righteousness in compelling people to do good, which is why America’s current welfare system really has no true virtue in it. Benevolence has been greatly usurped by the government.

But it wasn’t that way in ancient Israel, and when the rich oppressed the poor, the Lord became very angry. It was, besides idolatry, one of the major reasons for Israel’s punishment. The Lord thundered against “you who swallow up the needy and make the poor of the land fail” (v. 4). The wealthy couldn’t wait for the religious festivals to be over so they could return to their tyrannical ways, cheating at every opportunity (v. 5). If the poor couldn’t pay, they would be sold into slavery (v. 6). The Lord would never forget this (v. 7), the land would tremble, and everyone would mourn (v. 8). Verse 8 also mentions the overflowing of the Nile, so earthquakes (the land trembling) and flooding might presage the coming Assyrian captivity. More than likely, however, those descriptions were figurative. Verse 9 certainly is: “And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight.” A dark and dreary day will soon arrive, and the Lord “will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, And its end like a bitter day” (v. 10).

The famine in the land (vs. 11-14)—But “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (v. 11). When devastation comes, people who have ignored God will often turn back to Him; but for Israel, it will be too late. “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it” (v. 12). We must look to Jehovah while we have time; there will come a day when the door will be shut (Luke 13:25). Even the purest and strongest of Israel “shall faint from thirst” (v. 13), and those who look to Samaria, or the gods of Dan and Bethel “shall fall and never rise again” (v. 14). But, tragically, the preaching of the great prophet fell on deaf ears.