Amos 8:1-14
Q.1. What did the bowl of summer fruit signify? How great will Israel’s reversals be? What attitude of His people was God about to judge? – (Amos 8:1-10)
Fruit is at its best in its seasonal time. It goes rotten quicker in other times – He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer (Amos 8:2). Israel’s festivals would turn from celebration to mourning, and there would be endless destruction. Israel had crushed the helpless, poor and needy, while keeping up her religious show. So – The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds (Amos 8:7).
Q.2. What judgment would bring even greater disillusionment? Why is this the most severe of judgments on any person? – (Amos 8:10-14)
A more bitter drought would come – 11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. 12 “People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it (Amos 8:11-12). The worst part of any trial is not understanding why it is happening. Israel had silenced its prophets like a person blaspheming against the Holy Spirit that Jesus described as the unpardonable sin (see Mk.3:22-30). Therefore, the voice of God giving an explanation would no longer be heard (see Amos 8:10-13).