Amos
Chapter 8
Fourth Vision
Fourth Vision
The Lord showed me a basket of ripe fruit
and asked: “Amos, what do you see?” I replied: “A basket of ripe fruit.”Then the Lord said to me: “My people Israel is ripe for destruction; I will no longer forgive them.
The songs of the palace will become wailings on that day, says the Lord; heaps of corpses everywhere, all cast out, in silence.”
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and push aside the weak of the land.
You say, “When will the new moon or the Sabbath feast be over so we can open the store and sell our grain? Let us lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the scales,
and even sell the refuse along with the grain. We will buy the poor with money and the needy for a pair of sandals.”
The Lord, the pride of Jacob, has sworn by himself, “I shall never forget their deeds.”
Shouldn’t the land tremble because of this, and all who live in it mourn, as it rises and heaves like the Nile and then settles back down like the river of Egypt?
Day of Restoration
The Lord says: “On that day, I will cause the sun to set at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your singing into crying. Everyone will mourn, dressed in sackcloth, and every head will be shaved. I will cause them to mourn, as for an only son, and bring their day to a painful end.”
The Lord says: “Days are coming when I will send famine upon the land; not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the Lord.
Men will stagger from sea to sea, wander back and forth, from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord; but they will not find it.
On that day, innocent virgins and vigorous young men will faint from thirst.
All the young people who swore by the god of Samaria, and said: Long life to the god of Dan, long life to the god of Beersheba! They shall fall, never to rise again.”
Commentaries
Visions.
The final part of this book includes five visions and oracles, mixed with the encounter between Amos and Amaziah, the high priest of the Temple of Bethel. The main message of the first four visions is clear: Amos does not enjoy predicting misfortune, nor does the Lord take pleasure in destroying his people; however, Israel’s stubbornness in resisting repentance leaves no room for the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.
Fourth Vision.
Like figs, the people are ready for harvest and punishment. The scene is terrifying: not even the lamentations of the singers in the royal palace will be permitted (cf. Jr 9:16-20). The height of Israel’s sin is the greed of merchants eager to sell their wares, deceiving the poor to the point of selling them as slaves for a pair of sandals (6).
Day of Judgment.
The most bitter mourning is that of the only son (cf. Zec 12:10). Too late, the people will seek words of comfort from God, when they are already wandering aimlessly (12). The stubbornness of living in an illusion causes young people to lose their ability to discern, ultimately leading them to turn to idols that cannot save them (13-14).