From End to End (Amos 8)

 Amos 8(ESV)

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 

2. An he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said “A basket of summer fruit .”

The rhe LORD said to me,

“Then end has come upon my people Israel:

I will never again pass by them.

3. The songs of temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord GOD. 

“So many dead bodies!”

“They are thrown everywhere!”

“Silence !”

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment 

4. Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, 

5 saying,

“When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain?

And the Sabbath, that we may off wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,

6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, 

“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 

10 I 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 the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”

A Famine of the Word

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, 

“When I will send a famine on the land- not a famine of bread ,nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

12 The shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east: they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. 

13”In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst. 

14 Those who sear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, 

‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and , ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives; they shall fall, and never rise again.”

Introduction

God shows Amos a basket of summer fruit, not to promise abundance, but to declare judgment. Just as fruit ripens and must be harvested, so Israel’s sin has matured to the point of no return. 

1. Ripened Sin Brings Certain Judgment(vv.1-3)

The summer fruit symbolizes that Israel’s end has come. The songs of the palace will turn into wailing: dead bodies will lie in silence. 

Application: Recognize the sins that are ripening in your life. Repent before the harvest of judgment comes. 

2. Religious Rituals, but Idolatrous Hearts(vv.4-7)

Though they kept the festivals, their hearts craved profit. They used false scales, exploited the poor, and desired money over mercy. 

Application: Don’t let religious routine mask a greedy heart. Worship includes justice and compassion.

3. The Day God Shakes the Earth (vv. 8-10)

God’s judgment will flood the land like a river. Earthquakes, darkness, and mourning will replace celebration. 

Application: God’s justice will overturn false peace. Build your joy on truth, not illusion. 

4. The Famine of the Word(vv. 11-14)

A terrifying famine is coming - not of bread or water, but of God’s Word. People will seek but not find it. 

Application : Treasure the Word while it is still available. Listen while God still speaks.