For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Amos 9:1-10

1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,
    from there I will bring them down.
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent to bite them.
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm and not for good.”

5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;
6 he builds his lofty palace in the heavens
    and sets its foundation on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.

7 “Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites?”
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines from Caphtor]
    and the Arameans from Kir?

8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’

A. Find Out

1. How complete will be the coming judgement? v.1
2. What will people try to do, to no avail? v.2-4
3. How is the power and might of the Lord described? v.5,6
4. How is the past about to be repeated? v.7
5. Yet what is the bad news AND good news? v.8
6. What will He do to Israel? v.9
7. Who (and only who) will perish? v.10

B. Think:

1. How is this judgment shown to be inescapable?
2. Yet how extensive (or limited) will it be?
3. What does this teach us about the Lord’s judgment and plans for His people?

C. Comment:

This chapter comes with terror (hopelessness) and possibilities (hope).  At first sight it is hopeless as it appears that there will be widespread death (v.1). Indeed many will try to do everything they can to escape the coming destruction (v.2,3) but they will fail (v.4).

This people need to remember they are dealing with the all-powerful God who is the Creator of the earth and so if He decrees destruction, destruction across the whole land there will be! (v.5,6). Reread the words of these two verses and see the incredible power attributed to the Lord, the power that will be demonstrated in all that is coming.

This God, they should remember as they look back on history, is a God who can displace peoples and move them around as He wills (v.7), not only Israel but all nations. (Is not the first part of this book filled with warnings to other people groups of His impending hand coming upon them?).

But then comes the clarity again – He will destroy this people (v.8a) utterly; ‘as a nation’ they will be completely removed. But now notice something that must bring hope – they will not be totally destroyed (v.8b). Israel will be sieved (v.9) and all ‘the sinners’, all those who deny what is happening (v.10) will be the ones taken. Others will live.

D. Application:

1. God’s judgment is on sin and sinners. The faithful will be saved.
2. Failure to truly repent guarantees destruction.

Amos 9:11-15

11 “In that day

“I will restore David’s fallen shelter—
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins—
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and all the nations that bear my name,[j]”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.

13 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
    and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,
14     and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.[k]

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant Israel in their own land,
    never again to be uprooted
    from the land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

A. Find Out

1. What will the Lord yet do? v.11
2. With what outcome? v.12
3. What unusual order will occur? v.13
4. What will He do with Israel? v.14a
5. What will they do? v.14b
6. What will He do with Israel and for how long? v.15

B. Think:

1. What is the meaning of v.13?
2. What are these verses generally about?
3. What does that say about the Lord’s plans?

C. Comment:

The ‘in that day’ of v.11 must refer back to the previous verses where the Lord speaks of sifting Israel to bring about a faithful remnant and so all that follows, now follows those events and must be the outworking of them.

First of all it speaks of what must be the rebuilding of Jerusalem (v.11) and the rebuilding of them as a nation so that they will reclaim the lands that they had once reigned over (v.12).

But then comes a strange analogy, of a change in the natural order of harvest preparation which must simply mean everything will take place so fast that the natural order will be supplanted by the Lord’s speedy activity (v.13a) bringing abundance (v.13b).

Then the overall picture is clarified – Israel will be returned from exile, and re-establish their land, rebuilding the cities, replanting vineyards and re-establishing their gardens (v.14).

Then comes His overall goal – to re-establish Israel in their land which can be theirs for evermore (v.15). Now we use the word ‘can’ because although it is clearly God’s intent here for His people to live in this land for evermore, that is dependent on them remaining faithful and obedient. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 and the diaspora (dispersion) of the Jews for nearly two thousand years until last century, seems to suggest their failure to keep those two requirements. Yet He has restored them!

D. Application:

1. God’s continued intent is to bless and preserve Israel.
2. He does that despite their failings, and likewise with us.