Amos 9 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Amos 9

The Destruction of Israel

9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside¹ the altar, and he said:

  “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
    and shatter them on the heads of all the people;²
  and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
    not one of them shall flee away;
    not one of them shall escape.
2   “If they dig into Sheol,
    from there shall my hand take them;
  if they climb up to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.
3   If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    from there I will search them out and take them;
  and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4   And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
  and I will fix my eyes upon them
    for evil and not for good.”
5   The Lord GOD of hosts,
  he who touches the earth and it melts,
    and all who dwell in it mourn,
  and all of it rises like the Nile,
    and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6   who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
    and founds his vault upon the earth;
  who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
  the LORD is his name.
7   “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
    O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
  “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
    and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
8   Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
    except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
      declares the LORD.
9   “For behold, I will command,
    and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
  as one shakes with a sieve,
    but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10   All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
    who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

The Restoration of Israel

11   “In that day I will raise up
    the booth of David that is fallen
  and repair its breaches,
    and raise up its ruins
    and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12   that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and all the nations who are called by my name,”³
    declares the LORD who does this.
13   “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
    “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
  the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and all the hills shall flow with it.
14   I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
  they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15   I will plant them on their land,
    and they shall never again be uprooted
    out of the land that I have given them,”
      says the LORD your God.

Footnotes

[1] 9:1 Or on
[2] 9:1 Hebrew all of them
[3] 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord

Commentary

v1: Amos' final vision; the Lord Himself, standing by the altar. His words are not comforting, but severe.

v2-4: God's omniscience, for none can hide from Him; see Ps 139. In the Psalm, God's omniscience promises blessing, here it brings judgment.

v5-6: God's greatness; seek Him and live, for "the Lord is His Name." Israel should not have to be reminded of the true nature of the true God. This God is the One they must return to, or the One who would judge them.

v7: Israel, just like the nations; should God not treat them like other nations?

Philistines from Kaphtor, probably Crete, a sea-faring nation. There is some historic evidence of a natural disaster in Crete, from which some escaped, presumably to Philistia.

v8-10: God's mercy and justice; His mercy tempers His justice; later His mercy triumphs over judgment. The sinful kingdom will be judged, but the house of Jacob shaken, and not utterly destroyed. Israel will be sifted among the nations; and we still see this today, as Jews live in almost every nation in the world.

God will judge all the sinners, but the righteous will be preserved, like a stone in a sieve; He will never slay the righteous with the wicked. His eternal promises for Israel remain.

Note too the complacency of the wicked, "Disaster will not overtake or meet us," yet these words give false hope.

v11-15: Clear promises of Israel's final restoration; the tabernacle of David rebuilt. Israel will possess the land, even the land of Edom; Gentile nations will be called by His Name. The people will be restored to the land, and enjoy abundant fruitfulness.

Never again will the people suffer exile from their land.

Part of this section is quoted in Acts 15.16-18; at the Council of Jerusalem, the apostle James teaches that Amos' words prophesy blessing on all nations, as the Gentiles receive the good news of Jesus.

No longer is the blessing restricted to one nation. And no longer oculd that one nation claim any superiority over other nations; see comment on 1.1-2.

It is significant that Amos opens with judgment on all the nations including Judah and Israel; now he closes with blessing on all nations, including Judah and Israel.