Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. And He said, "Amos, what seest thou?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then said the Lord unto me ...
"The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day," saith the Lord God, "there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Hear this -- O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, "When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?"
"The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day," saith the Lord God, "there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Hear this -- O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, "When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?"
[In today's world, ephah is a dry measure (i.e. associated with grain) and shekel is the monetary currency of Israel. But if we look at Zechariah 5, we also see the ephah -- as proclaimed by the Lord as wickedness -- the woman that sits in the woman in the middle of the ephah --the sinful church, and its relation to the nation of Israel.]
Continuing in Amos 8: "The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwells therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
And it shall come to pass in that day," saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Behold, the days come," saith the Lord God, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, "Thy god, O Dan, liveth," and, "The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again." (Amos 8:1-14)
Continuing in Amos 8: "The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwells therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
And it shall come to pass in that day," saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Behold, the days come," saith the Lord God, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, "Thy god, O Dan, liveth," and, "The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again." (Amos 8:1-14)
Herein, the Lord God showed unto Amos concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And He said, "The Lord will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn and the top of Carmel shall wither." (Amos 1:1-2)
Why will the Lord roar? Because we have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. Indeed, as the Lord saith, our lies (traditions of men?) have caused us to err, "after the which their fathers have walked." (Amos 2:4) We have adhered to the religious formalities, and not searched the scriptures for truth -- this same truth wherein we can be sanctified. (John 17:17)
Moreover, we are called out because we have continually profaned the Lord's holy Name and commanded the prophets to prophesy not. The Lord hath spoken His Word so that we who believe would know what is right and just and true. The question is this -- are we listening?
Throughout the scriptures, the Lord desires that we draw unto Him. "Seek ye Me, and ye shall live." (Amos 5:4, 6, 8) He has made a way for us -- when there was literally no way! The veil was torn from heaven to earth so that we could be reconciled to God our Saviour. He paid the ultimate price for our salvation -- so that we might find abundant life in Him.
Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes unto the Father but by Me!" (John 14:6)
It is for this reason that we are to seek the One and Same Lord who has, from the beginning of time turned the shadow of darkness into morning.
The Lord Jesus is His Name!
The time has come to repent of our sins and come unto the Lord Jesus -- allowing Jesus to become both Lord and Christ in our hearts. (Acts 2:36-47) The time has come to hate the evil and love the good and to establish judgment in the gate. The time has come for us to heed the Lord instruction -- to seek good, and not evil, that we may live, and so the Lord -- the God of hosts shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Today is the day of salvation! Let those who would hear, hear, and see, see.
Stand in the offering plate.
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