August 02, 2024 | Be God's Light
A Basket of Ripe Fruit & Silence in the Temple
Scripture: Amos 8(NIV)
1 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?”—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
6 buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
8 “Will not the land tremble for this,
and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt.
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’—
they will fall, never to rise again.”
Devotional
The prophetic words of Amos fell on deaf ears. As he began his ministry, Jeroboam II was a very evil king. When he died, he was succeeded by his son Zechariah, who also did evil. Six months later, Zechariah was assassinated by Shallum who became the new king. But only one month later Shallum was assassinated by Menahem, who ascended to the throne. The era was marked with conspiracy, idolatry, oppression, and heavy taxation.
A decade or so later, Assyria would attack and take captives from Israel. Another decade later, Assyria would complete the conquest, and the northern kingdom would disappear forever. This would fulfill the Lord’s words in verse 2, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” The people would be separated from their homeland.
Perhaps even sadder would be the separation from God. Verse 3 says, “In that day… the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!” Later Amos speaks for God in saying there will be “a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (v. 11). The people had walked away from God so far that they could no longer hear Him.
In John 7:34, Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders who refused to believe in Him when He said, “You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” They thought He was headed for Greece; He was actually talking about going to heaven. Those who do not go to heaven will experience an eternity of silence in the temple.
In yesterday and today’s readings from Amos 7-8, the Lord showed Amos several word pictures to warn the people to get right with God.
A swarm of locusts could strip you clean.
A raging fire could devour the land.
A spiritual plumb line could show your misalignment.
A basket of fruit could demonstrate that the time is ripe for judgment.
What have you learned from these passages in Amos?
Poem
Judgement Is Coming
The pulpits empty
The pews barren
The hearts broken
The land ravished
The family gone
The scriptures abandoned
The praise of God ceased
The eyes blinded
The ears deafened
The tongue mute
The lamps oil-less
The light extinguished
The judgment is coming
The prophets foretell
The judgment is coming
Coming
Coming
Here
