Amos 8 (1)

Pray Psalm 37.1-3.
Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Sing Psalm 37.1-3.
(Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
Let not the wicked make you worry; envy not those who break God’s Word.
Like dying grass will they be sorry, and fade like every dying herb.
Trust in the Lord and do His will; dwell in His grace, be faithful still.

Read and meditate on Amos 8.1-3.

Preparation
1. What did God show Amos?

2. How did God interpret this to Amos? 

Meditation
Following two dire threats of which the Lord relented comes this vision of a basket of summer fruit. All is harvested; all will be consumed. And that will be the end of that.

Israel’s final harvest was upon them. God would put His sickle in and reap Israel for the threshing. He had passed by them for many years, but His longsuffering was at an end. Now He would pass through them, leaving death and destruction in His wake. The Assyrians would be God’s weapon of choice; yet in bringing destruction to Israel, the Assyrians were only setting themselves up for the same from “the glance of the Lord” (Byron).

What a contrast in this vision! A basket full of summer fruit should be an occasion of rejoicing and celebration. Instead, bodies are being buried in silence. Wailing pervades the houses of worship. And a mood of darkness and gloom pervades the land (as we shall see).

Yet to the very end—as, like Amaziah, their families were being destroyed before their eyes and they themselves were being queued up for the long march into captivity—no signs of repentance were in evidence. No calling on the Lord for mercy. No weeping for their sins. Israel remained hard-hearted to the very end. Even when prophets like Amos warned of judgment and pled with them to repent, they silenced them.

And so it will be as well when Jesus returns to judge the world. Those who scorn His Word, reject His offer of forgiveness, and refuse to follow in His Kingdom, and who continue thus to the end of their days, will be the same even beyond the end of history. Even as they are marched off to eternal separation from God, they will curse and blame Him for their plight, sorry for their misery but shaking their fists at the Lord.

Thus, let us pray for mercy now, repenting of our sins and calling our world to repent before the final harvest and the end of all things arrives.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the LORD” (Prov. 19.3).
“A man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness and then blame it on the LORD” (Prov. 19.3 TLB).

Isn’t this what the foolish do?
They: disobey God, punishment ensues, then blame God.
That is the history of man in a nutshell.
Our longsuffering God: continues to warn.
We: ignore Him, are then punished, then we blame Him.
Isn’t this the very thing Amaziah and his lot were doing?

However, “Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool” (Prov. 17.10).

“Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you” (Prov. 9.8).

How grateful we are, or should be, for the Amos’ in our lives. Those who throughout the years have been used by the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and to point us in the right direction onto the Jesus Path.

Strawberries are beautiful—red, shiny, luscious smelling, juicy, sweet—for a short time. They are from the rose family and can be served in a variety of ways. But oh my, let them get a little over-ripe and a tad rotten and they become furry, squishy, and inedible.

For the second time, God asks Amos, “What do you see?” (Amos 8.2; 7.8)
This time Amos answered, “A basket of summer fruit.” (vs. 2)
Just about to go bad.

John warned those who were coming to him for baptism, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 3.8-10). God was still warning His people through yet another prophet. Longsuffering.

After Paul, the apostle-prophet, listed the litany of rotten fruit things that will keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God, he lists the attributes that should characterize us as good fruit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5.21-23). All the characteristics of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. Whom we are to be like (1 Cor. 11.1).

To us “God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Col. 1.27-29).

The end will come. Just as surely as strawberries are lovely, then they are not.
And we can either be found on that Day disobediently fretting against the LORD, or wisely and obediently following Him—a basket of good fruit or rotten. For God “will not pass by them anymore” (Amos 8.2).

Reflection
1. In what ways have you noticed the fruit of the Spirit coming out in your life?

2. What could you do to cultivate more of the fruit of the Spirit?

3. How can believers encourage one another to bear holy spiritual fruit?

Amos saw a basket of summer fruit gathered, and ready to be eaten; which signified, that the people were ripe for destruction, that the year of God’s patience was drawing towards a conclusion…Sinners put off repentance from day to day, because they think the Lord thus delays his judgments. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Amos 8.1-3

Pray Psalm 37.4-9, 34-40.
Rejoice in the salvation God has given you in Jesus. Commit yourself to follow Him and to be a light to everyone in your Personal Mission Field. Rest in the Lord for the strength you will need.

Sing Psalm 37.4-9, 34-40.
(Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
Delight yourself in God’s salvation; He’ll give you all your heart’s desire.
Commit to Him your every station, and His good purpose will transpire.
Your righteousness a blazing light He will bring forth against the night.

Rest in the LORD and wait on Jesus; fret not at those who practice sin.
Forsake all wrath till anger ceases; let anxious fears not enter in.
The wicked perish from the LORD, but they are blessed who heed His Word!

Wait on the LORD, His way observing, and He will lift you up on high.
Those prone to wicked ways preserving, your eyes shall see cast down to die.
The blameless man shall stand upright, for God preserves him by His might!

Salvation comes from Christ our Savior; He is our strength in time of need.
On us does He bestow His favor, who all His holy judgments heed.
He is our help in troubled times; our refuge He, in Him we hide.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.