Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar
1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, c and he said:
Strike the capitals of the pillars d
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. e
None of those who flee will get away; f
none of the fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol, g
from there my hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven, h
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide
on the top of Carmel,
from there I will track them down i
and seize them;
if they conceal themselves
from my sight on the sea floor, j
from there I will command
the sea serpent to bite them. k
4 And if they are driven
by their enemies into captivity, l
from there I will command
the sword to kill them. m
I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good. n
5 The Lord, the GOD of Armies—
he touches the earth; o
it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;
all of it rises like the Nile
and subsides like the Nile of Egypt. p
6 He builds his upper chambers
in the heavens q
and lays the foundation of his vault
on the earth. r
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out over the surface of the earth. s
The LORD is his name. t
Announcement of Judgment
7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? u
This is the LORD’S declaration.
Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor, ,v
and the Arameans from Kir? w
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord GOD
are on the sinful kingdom, x
and I will obliterate it
from the face of the earth. y
However, I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob z—
this is the LORD’S declaration—
9 for I am about to give the command,
and I will shake the house of Israel a
among all the nations,
as one shakes a sieve,
but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people b
who say: “Disaster will never overtake
or confront us,” c
will die by the sword.
Announcement of Restoration
11 In that day
I will restore the fallen shelter d of David: e
I will repair its gaps,
restore its ruins, f
and rebuild it as in the days of old, g
12 so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom h
and all the nations
that bear my name ,i—
this is the declaration of the LORD; he will do this.
13 Look, the days are coming—
this is the LORD’S declaration—
when the plowman will overtake the reaper j
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it. k
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. ,l
They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, m
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
make gardens and eat their produce. n
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them. o
The LORD your God has spoken.
D. No one can escape from God’s hand (9:1–10). 9:1–4. The final chapter begins with another vision, a hymn, and a final warning. The fifth vision pictures the enactment of God’s judgment on Israel by describing his destruction of Israel’s temple (probably at Bethel). God is standing beside an altar at a temple, commanding that the temple and the people in it be destroyed (9:1). The earth will shake, the pillars of the temple will buckle, and the falling roof and pillars will kill all those inside. Although this vision involves only one building and a few people inside it, one should assume that similar events will happen throughout the country, for five times God indicates that no one will escape from his hand.
9:5–6. Having described the thoroughness and severity of God’s judgment, Amos reminds his audience of the greatness of God’s power by quoting from one of their hymns. God is able to bring about everything he has predicted because he is the commander in chief of the hosts of heaven, the God of Armies (9:5). When he touches the earth, his power has the ability to melt it, to make it move up and down (the earthquake), and to cause people to mourn (cf. 8:8).
9:7–10. The third short paragraph in this section attempts to convince those who still question God’s intention to punish his own special and chosen people. Although there were still some people who thought that “disaster will never overtake or confront us” (9:10), God reveals that his judgment is coming. It appears that these people believe that God’s tremendous grace in bringing the Israelites from Egypt is a sure sign that God will never judge his people. But Amos argues that God also delivered other nations (the Philistines and Arameans) from difficult situations in other countries and brought them to new lands (9:7). Does this mean that God will never judge these nations? Obviously, no Israelite would say this. God also claims that he views the Cushites from southern Egypt as similar to Israel; thus, Israel is not the only nation God cares about.
9:11–12. Regarding the first promise, God’s action is dramatically recounted in four “I will” clauses (9:11). Concerning the nation that he will soon judge, he says, “I will restore” the ruptured and dilapidated kingdom that was united under David (the fallen shelter) but divided into two nations (Israel and Judah) after the death of Solomon (1 Kg 12). In addition God promises that “I will repair,” “[I will] restore,” and “[I will] rebuild” the ruined cities that will suffer destruction in the near future.
9:13–15. The second promise relates to the restoration of fertility to the land and the return of the people to the land of Israel. When God restores his kingdom, the land will produce so abundantly that those harvesting grain in the summer will not be able to finish their work before it is time to plow the fields for the next crop (9:13). The grapes will be so large and abundant that their juice will flow like a stream down the hills. Finally, the land of milk and honey will produce the kind of crops envisioned in the covenant blessings (Lv 26:5), like a restored garden of Eden (Is 51:3; Ezk 36:35).