Destruction of Israel
October 8, 2019
Commentary
In today’s passage, Amos has a vision of the Lord standing next to the alter. This is either the alter in Jerusalem or more likely, the alter in Bethel (Amos 7:12). The Lord makes a proclamation of top to bottom destruction upon the religion and the people of Israel (v. 1). The top of the temple (the capital) will be struck, and the thresholds (the foundations) will shake. It will all come crashing down upon the people below. A nation’s false religions and departures from the truth will always result in widespread suffering. Those not killed in the temple collapse will be killed by the sword. None shall escape. Amos 9:2-4 is reminiscent of Psalm 139:7-10. No matter where the people of Israel go, the Lord will find them. It is up to them whether He will find them in Love or in Judgment.
The Lord God of armies is high above our understanding. The earth melts at His touch (v.5). The heavens are his attic, and the seas are his basement (v. 6a). He controls the rivers and the oceans the same way we can pour ourselves a glass of water (vv. 5-6). The Lord is aware of and is in control over all the nations of the world. The Cushites (v. 7) were from Ethiopia, the edge of the known world at that time. The Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt (Exodus), but the Lord had also moved other nations around according to his will (v. 7). The Philistines were originally from Crete (Caphtor), and the Syrians were from Mesopotamia (Kir). The Lord’s eyes were focused on His people for calamity and not for good (vv. 4, 8). But He would not destroy Israel completely. Instead, He would shake them out among the nations, like a man shaking soil through a sieve (v. 9). Only the righteous (the good dirt) make it through the sieve. The unrighteous (the pebbles) are trapped in the sieve and disposed of. The Lord promises that only the righteous will be spared to make new lives for themselves among the nations. The unrighteous will die by the sword just when they think they are safe (v. 10).
Application
Thank the Lord today for his justice and mercy. In His great mercy He poured out His justice upon Jesus, so that we could receive merciful forgiveness and the righteousness of God attributed to us.
Amos 9:1– 10 (NET)
1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the survivors with the sword. No one will be able to run away; no one will be able to escape.
2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, my hand would pull them up from there. Even if they could climb up to heaven, I would drag them down from there.
3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I would hunt them down and take them from there. Even if they tried to hide from me at the bottom of the sea, from there I would command the Sea Serpent to bite them.
4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will not let them out of my sight; they will experience disaster, not prosperity.”
5 The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies will do this. He touches the earth and it dissolves; all who live on it mourn. The whole earth rises like the Nile River, and then grows calm like the Nile in Egypt.
6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace in heaven and sets its foundation supports on the earth. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name.
7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” says the Lord. “Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.
8 Look, the Sovereign Lord is watching the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely destroy the family of Jacob,” says the Lord.
9 “For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword— the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’