Posted by Chester Morton / Sunday 9 June 2019 / No comments
The Prophet Amos and the basket of summer fruits
THE PROPHET AMOS SEES THE END OF ISRAEL IN THE VISION OF A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUITS
Introduction
The Prophet Amos, in
the vision of “summer fruits”, actually received a revelation from God about
how the nation of Israel was going to be finally punished. In other words,
just as ripened fruits were ready to be eaten by people, so also Israel was
also ready to be eaten by the enemies God was going to send into their lives.
Amos’ vision
In a vision, Amos saw
a basket full of summer fruits and God asked him to confirm what he had seen.
Amos said he saw a basket of summer fruits. God now explains the picture Amos
had seen as a revelation of the coming end of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Again, God vowed never to forgive them again. He promised to punish them this
time, without fail.
Amos said when the day comes; the songs which were sung in the great temple at Bethel shall be turned into wailings. The events of the day shall make them shout at the top of their voices. Amos prophesied that many people were going to die and their bodies shall be strewn all over the cities and towns where the swords of the enemy shall strike. There shall be total silence in the temple where there used to be singing and merrymaking.
Amos confronted the
oppressors of the people who are only interested in the mega profit they make.
The greed they manifest in awaiting the new moon so they can sell their corn or
the end of the Sabbath so they can start business again. How they decrease the
amount of grain by adjusting the measuring container and increase the price
instead of decreasing it. How they mix the chaff with the wheat and sell to the
people. For these things, according to Amos, the Lord was never going to
forgive them.
The Prophet said the
people shall tremble at the sight of all they were going to behold and the day
shall turn into darkness. He said the Lord shall turn their feasts into
mourning and they shall mourn as if they were mourning the death of an only
son.
The Prophet said God
was going to bring a famine upon the land. A type of famine which was different
from the famine where there is the absence of food and of water. This was a
famine in which the word of God shall be rare. In other words, there shall be no prophet to speak the words of God to the people. He said the people run around
from place to place but shall never find to interpret the word of God to them.
The destruction of
the day shall be so intense that the young men and women, who were expected to
be stronger and be able to withstand and endure, shall faint. Those who
worshipped the gods built for them by Jeroboam I, to rival the temple in
Jerusalem, shall fall, never to rise again.
