Introduction: Amos (pronounced AH-mose) was from a small town in the hill country of Yehudah. His name means "burden-bearer" or "to place a load upon", with a root meaning of encouraging. He prophesied while both kingdoms of Israel were still thriving. In fact, Yehudah and Israel had just expanded their borders and taken control of many trade routes in the newly-acquired territories. They had become very prosperous, but this brought about political corruption and exploitation of the poor by the "newly rich", and most of all, forgetfulness that they were set apart from all other nations for YHWH's special purposes.
Chapters 1-5
CHAPTER 1
1. The words of Amos (who was among the sheep-branders of Teqoa), which he beheld [as a seer] concerning Israel in the days of Uzziyah, king of Yehudah, and in the days of Yarav'am the son of Yoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Sheep-branders: Having spent a lot of time with animals taught Amos much about caring for YHWH's flock. Being one of those who counted the ones that "passed under the rod", he would be concerned for individual sheep, like the shepherd in Y'shua's parable. (Mat. 18:12) Indeed, it was only the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" (the very ones Amos was addressing) to whom Y'shua said He was sent. (Mat. 15:24) Teqoa: the name refers to a stockade, or possibly a sheepfold, but at its root it means "a trumpet", and is related to the word for the short, staccato blasts on a shofar that signal danger or war (teqia). Yarav'am: Note the same one who led the secession of Israel from Rehav'am, son of Shlomo, but another, who began to reign 15 years after Uzziyah's father Amatzyah began to reign, and reigned 41 years. (See 2 Kings 14:23). He began as a wicked king, but tradition says he was encouraged by the prophet Yonah, and turned around and had many great successes. The earthquake: literally, shaking--perhaps one of the massive catastrophes caused by the former orbit of Mars crossing over earth's orbit every 54 years. (Patten, Hatch, and Steinhauer) The last was in 701 B.C., which threw both into their present orbits and changed the earth year from 360 days to 365.24. The next to the last passby would have therefore been in 755 B.C., which coincides with the reigns of both kings mentioned here, according to the chronology by John Walton. (Uzziyah reigned from approx. 790 to 740, and Yarav'am from 793 to 753.) Because of the prophecy in Zech. 14:5, Josephus links the earthquake to Uzziyah's sin of coveting the role of the priests, which earned him the punishment common to such sins, leprosy. (2 Chron. 26:16-23) The word for earthquake actually means "shaking", which is also the root for "head" and "beginning", so as at creation, YHWH was bringing something new out of the chaos and destruction being prophesied here. Indeed, Yeshayahu's vision of YHWH as exalted (Isa. 6) came at his time of disillusionment at the death of Uzziyahu, once one of Yehudah's finest kings.
2. Now [what] he said [was], "YHWH will roar out of Tzion, and extend His voice from Yerushayalim! Then the abodes of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Karmel will dry up.
Top (head) of Karmel: a mountain range roughly paralleling the northern coast of Israel, which meets the Mediterranean at present-day Haifa, an area that rarely experiences drought. (David Levy) Alt., best of the fertile fields.
3. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Damaseq, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because they have trampled Gil'ad with sharp iron [threshing tools].
Three...four: Some interpret this to add up to seven, the number of completeness--i.e., the cup of guilt is full, and judgment must fall. In most cases only the "last straw"--what triggered the end of YHWH's patience--is listed. (Levy) Violations: specifically denotes rebelliously crossing a boundary. They would be responsible only to the Noachide covenant, but had broken even that by shedding innocent blood. (Levy) Damaseq means "silent is the weaver of sackcloth"--an arrogant name that said, "We will never mourn!", since sackcloth is the garb of mourning. Yet this is the first place YHWH's judgment descends. Trampled Gil'ad: a rocky, mountainous region, which only iron could thresh. While YHWH had initially sent them to chastise this region for the Northern Kingdom's sins (2 Kings 10:32-33, 13:3-7), they were taking a perverse joy in doing so, overstepping what YHWH intended.
4. "'I have also sent out a fire onto the House of Khaza'el, which will devour the fortified palaces of Ben-hadad.
Khaza'el's name means, "He has beheld Elohim." He had been sent by his master, King Ben-hadad, to the prophet Elisha, to seek a remedy for Ben-hadad's leprosy (2 Kings 8:8ff); he later killed Ben-hadad, assumed the throne, and soon became engaged in a war with the kings of Yehudah and Israel for the possession of the city of Ramoth-gilead. (1 Kings 19) Hadad was also the deity of the Syrians, and YHWH was making war on him as well, showing that the lesser elohim had no strength when it was time for His wrath to fall.
5. "'And I will break the bar of Damaseq, and cause the inhabitant of the Plain of Aven to be cut off, along with the one who holds the scepter of Beyth-Eden. Then the people of Aram will go into exile in Qir', says YHWH.
The bar: probably that which held the city gates shut. Aram: i.e., Syria, of which Damaseq is still the capital. Qir: in Mesopotamia.
6. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Gaza, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because of their carrying away a whole [population] into exile in order to deliver them over to Edom.
Gaza: a center for slave trade due to its location on the Mediterranean coast.
7. "'So I have sent out a fire against the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its fortified palaces.
Gaza was the chief city of the Filistines, as it now is for the people who have taken on the same name again (the Palestinians, which in Arabic is pronounced Filistiin). In 743 B.C., the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III attacked Gaza, making it a vassal city. Only after Babylon conquered Assyria were the Filistines as a people totally destroyed.
8. "'I have also caused the inhabitant to be cut off from Ashdod, along with the one who holds the scepter from Ashqelon, and I will bring My hand back against Eqron, and the what is left of the Filistines will vanish.' [This is what] Adonai YHWH has said.
The repeated patterns in this chapter are a clear example of the common practice of prophets singing or chanting out their prophecies in their own unique style. (Joseph Good)
9. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Tzur, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because of their delivering over a whole [group of] exiles to Edom; moreover, they did not remember the treaty of kinship.
He moves on to a second recipient of YHWH's wrath. "Judgment on the Gentiles is not listed according to geographical location, but according to the severity of their persecution of [YHWH]'s people." These exiles were probably a group of Israelites bought by the "Phoenicians", then sold at great profit. (David Levy) Tzur (often called Tyre) was a major power on the coast of Levanon. Treaty of kinship: or simply, "brotherly covenant"--probably that made between King Shlomo and Tzur's King Hiram (1 Kings 5:2-6; 9:11-14), or alternately between Ahav and Hiram (1 Kings 16:29-31).
10. "'So I have sent out a fire against the wall of Tzur, and it will devour its fortified palaces.'
Alexander the Great indeed destroyed this city by fire in 332 B.C. after a long siege of seven months (due to it being on a nearly-impregnable island). 6,000 were killed and 30,000 sold into slavery.
11. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Edom, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because he pursued his brother with the sword, ruined his tender affections, has constantly been tearing in pieces, and has retained his extravagance perpetually.
This is the only case in which four wrongs are actually listed. Ruined his tender affections: or, corrupted the wombs belonging to him. Extravagance: from the word for "crossing over", meaning any kind of excess from overflowing anger and outbursts of rage to arrogance (having too high a view of himself).
12. "'So I have sent out a fire against Teyman, and it will devour the fortified palaces of Botzrah.
These were Edom'[s chief cities. The nation of Edom was subjugated by the Assyrians prior to 700 B.C. and made a wasteland in the 5th century B.C., later to be taken over by the Nabateans.
13. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] the children of Ammon, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because of their splitting open the pregnant [women] of Gil'ad for the sake of expanding their territory.
Again Gil'ad, the "land of Israel outside the Land proper" is the prize many nations were seeking for themselves. It is a beautiful, mountainous fertile land that stretches from the Sea of Galilee into what today is northwestern Jordan, in the area around the city of Irbid.
14. "'So I have caused a fire to be kindled in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its fortified palaces with a cry of alarm on the day of battle, with a tornado in the day of a storm.
Rabbah: short for Rabbat-Ammon, the capital of the Ammonite kingdom, descendants of Lot's son Ben-Ammi, which today has become the city of Amman, Jordan. Strom: from the word for "bringing to an end".
15. "'Their king will also go into captivity--he and his officials together.' [This is what] YHWH has said."
Tiglath-Pileser destroyed Ammon in 734 B.C.
CHAPTER 2
1. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Moav, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
2. "'So I have sent out a fire against Teyman, and it will devour the fortified palaces of Q'riyoth. And Moav will die with the din of a great uproar, with the cry of alarm, and with the sound of the shofar.
3. "'I have also cut off from its midst the one who judges, and I will slay all its officials along with him,' says YHWH.
4. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Yehudah, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: because they have rejected the instruction of YHWH, and have not guarded His prescribed statutes. Their deceitful things after which their forefathers walked have been causing them to go astray.
Instruction: Heb., torah. Deceitful things: often a term referring to idols. Amos has been moving progressively closer to home, and by now those who might have cheered at the punishments to come upon their enemy neighbors should be starting to feel uncomfortable. Yehudah is right next door, and is their brother, so if YHWH is chiding even them, there is no way Israel will be exempt either.
5. "'So I have sent out a fire against Teyman, and it will devour the fortified palaces of Yerushalayim.
6. "This is what YHWH says: 'On account of three violations [by] Israel, and on account of four, I will not revoke [the punishment]: on account of their selling the righteous one for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--
Selling the righteous one for silver: Though Yehudah appeared to have been responsible for Y'shua's death, it was really on account of the Northern Kingdom (Israel)'s sins that He came and died. (Mat. 15:24)
7. "'those who pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and pervert the recourse of the afflicted. Also, a man and his father are going in to the same maiden, with the intent to dishonor My set-apart Name!
Pant after: alt., trample upon.
8. "'They've even started stretching out beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and drinking the wine of those being fined in the house of their elohim.
Garments taken in pledge: meant to only be held as collateral for a short time, not used by those holding them. (Ex. 22:26) They clearly did not intend to give these back. Israel is charged with very different wrongs than Yehudah was. Every one of these sins is against one's brother. Though they are clearly involved in idolatry, as every other prophet(and even this context) bears out, He is more concerned about how they treat one another--a root sin that will bring havoc on all her neighbors as well. What Israel does affects all the nations that have had significant contact with her (many even intermarrying with her). Nations like Egypt are not even mentioned, only her Semitic brothers. The salt of the earth, she is still refusing to let YHWH pulverize her into usefulness, and the whole region must therefore suffer. They have not fallen upon the rock, so it must be dropped upon them. (Luke 20:18)
9. "'Though I was the one who annihilated before them the Emorite, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who had stored up strong like the oaks. I even annihilated his fruit from above and his roots from below.
10. "'I was also the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you through the wilderness [for] forty years to take possession of the Emorite's land.
11. "'From among your sons I then raised up [some] to be prophets and from among your choicest young men, [some] to be Nazirites. Isn't this indeed [the case], O sons of Israel?', says YHWH.
12. "'But you have been making the Nazirites drink wine, and you have given orders to the prophets, saying, "Do not prophesy!"
Nazirites: men consecrated to YHWH whether permanently or temporarily, identified by their uncut hair and abstinence from wine. His people did not want any such blatant reminders that He had set them apart, nor did they wish to hear reproof. Will we, their descendants, make reparation for their error?
13. "'Look at me! [I'm] struggling under your weight, pressed down like a cart loaded down with sheaves!
14. "'So the place of refuge will vanish from the swift, the strong will not secure his forcefulness, and the mighty will not save his [own] life.
15. "'Moreover, the one who wields the bow will not hold his ground, nor will the light-footed escape or the one who rides a horse deliver himself.
16. "'Even the one who is brave of heart will run away naked in that day,' declares YHWH."
CHAPTER 3
1. "Listen to this word that YHWH has spoken against you, O sons of Israel--against the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, and I quote:
2. "'You alone have I known [intimately] out of all the families of the ground. Therefore, I will call you to account because of all of your guilt.'
YHWH's family is held to a higher standard of judgment (compare Luke 12:48) as teachers are (Yaaqov 3:1), since all of Israel is called to be a teaching people--a light to the nations. The rewards for doing so are greater than others will receive, but the consequences for not doing so are also far greater. Israel of all people should understand what pleases Him. Because they did not seem to care, all who are in her family will pay as well, but especially Israel. Guilt: based on a root word meaning to twist, distort, pervert, or corrupt. It is not sin per se (which is defined as missing the target), but is staying near the target, but moving it slightly so that it will appear that what we are actually doing met the standard after all. He will turn on them the very things they used against Him.
3. "Can two walk together without being in agreement?
In agreement: sometimes even used of betrothal. I.e., they walk together "down the aisle". In this immediate context, it fits. If we and YHWH cannot even agree on the terms of the contract, it is already broken. Alt., without having met. Much of this generation has never even met YHWH as He really is, because of our forefathers' twisting and stretching of the truth for so long.
4. "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion employ his voice out of his den if he has not captured anything?
I.e., would I be saying these things if I were not about to do something severe to you? It is too late to keep it from taking place.
5. "Will a bird fall into a trap on the earth when there is no bait [set out] for it? Will a trap spring from the ground and catch nothing at all?
These rhetorical questions are a mere setup for the real ones:
6. "If a shofar is sounded in a city, won't the people tremble [from fear]? If there is calamity in a city, isn't it YHWH who has perpetrated it?
Sounded: the particular term used refers to short, staccato notes that signified an alarm due to an impending attack. Isn't it YHWH...? Especially in Israel, where He has promised that no one would even covet our Land if His people are walking in His ways (Ex. 34:24), anything that went wrong had to have at least come through the filter of His permission, if not originating in His will. (Iyov/Job 1:12-2:7) There are no accidents.
7. "Because Adonai YHWH will do nothing unless He discloses the inner [secrets of] His council to His servants, the prophets.
Council: i.e., His plans to which only a few are privy to the reasons for, yet He promises that some will indeed be forewarned of His intimate purposes, as Avraham was. There is nothing He has not foreseen.
8. "A lion has roared; who would not be afraid? Adonai YHWH has spoken; who should not [feel compelled to] prophesy?
9. "Let it be heard in the fortified palaces of Ashdod, and in the fortified palaces of Egypt. Now [this is what you must] say: 'Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Shomron, and watch the great disturbances in her midst, and the exploitation [being perpetrated] in her innermost [sectors],
Shomron: or Samaria, the final capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Disturbances: confusion, disquietings, panic, trouble, or turmoil. Exploitation: specifically, defrauding or extortion--pressing for unjust gain.
10. "'because they do not even know [how] to do right,' declares YHWH, '--those who are storing up violence and devastation in their palaces.'
Right: literally, what is straight. (Compare His accusation in v. 2 that they are "crooked".) Storing up: He gives back to us from what we have given to Him, with interest. As the computer adage goes, if we put garbage in, we will get garbage out. When our resources run out and He opens the "root cellar" into which we've put our rations for the hard times, if we have put the worst quality food there, it is all we will have. By calling on pagan substitute names like "G-d" or "Fortune", we will reap whatever these demons wish to perpetrate, for that is what they are. Having stored up the wrong things instead of learning Torah inside out, we will find ourselvces without any true wisdom, discernment, or maturity when the real tests come.
11. "So this is what YHWH says: 'An oppressor! And on every side of the Land! And he will bring down your ability to prevail, and your palaces will be plundered!'
Ability to prevail: the current status in Israel; they were counting on things remaining that way, and letting down their guard.
12. "This is what YHWH has said: 'As a shepherd can recover from a lion's mouth two legs or a [severed] piece of an ear, that is how the descendants of Israel will be rescued--[those] who remain in Shomron in the corner of a coffin or [on a] couch in Damaseq.
An animal that is torn like this is useless, for its remains are not even to be eaten (Ex. 22:31); they can only be thrown to the dogs, and that is exactly what YHWH did to our ancestors at this point, because "dogs" is an idiom for Gentiles, and they wanted to belong to the pagan world anyway. Recover: possibly so the lion would not be strengthened any further, but Yahshua, the "Beneficent Shepherd" (Yoch. 10), was able to salvage a small amount of the ability to hear from YHWH and a hobbled halakhah (way of walking out our faith), and was able to rebuild the nation from this, for it was the Shema' (the command to listen to the fact that YHWH is one) and the festivals (called "legs" in Ex. 23:14) by which He began drawing us back to the Torah in our own day. Corner of a coffin: There will not even be enough remains to fill a fraction of it. On a couch in Damaseq: left alone in their lover's bed, for they were no longer welcome in YHWH's.
13. "'Listen and bear witness in the House of Yaaqov!', declares Adonai YHWH, the Elohim of Armies.
Elohim of Armies: When He begins to use this language, it is clear that He is serious about judgment.
14. "'For on the day I bring punishment upon Israel for His rebellions, I will also bring punishment upon the altars of Beyth-El, and the horns of the altar will be chopped off and drop to the earth.
Beyth-El: the illegitimate substitute worship site set up by King Yarav'am I to keep his subjects from going to Yerushalayim, now his political rival, to worship. (1 Kings 12:29) Compare how many call churches the "House of G-d"--one way of translating Beyth-El, for the Church is the same type of compromise.
15. "'I will also cause the winter house to be attacked along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory will be lost, and the great houses will come to an end,' declares YHWH.
He has moved on from addressing the general populace to the kings and priests, the leaders, for they had built a substitute priesthood out of a few apostate Levites, and kings were doing what they had no right to do.
CHAPTER 4
1. "Hear this word, [you] cows of Bashan, who are in the hill country of Shomron, who exploit the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their household superintendants, 'Bring in, and let us drink!'
Cows of Bashan: i.e., those who are well-to-do and fat. Bashan (the Golan Heights) is still some of the best pastureland in Israel. Though the best-fed of any people, they were still oppressing others to get more.
2. "Adonai YHWH has sworn by His holiness that, indeed, days are coming upon you, and He will lift you up with barbs, and those behind you with meat hooks!
Lift you up: or, take you away.
3. "Then you will go out through the breaches, [each] woman equally [fairly], and you will be thrown into the high tower, declares YHWH.
High tower: a fortress with impenetrable walls--seemingly protection; after all, we have constitional rights! But it belongs to our enemies, who have "freed" us from the Torah, the Sabbath, and the significance of our Land! And it means no one will be able to rescue us from there until YHWH decides to free us. The term literally means "great harem"--being the lover of another, but only one of many, not an exclusive bride as we were to YHWH. (3:2)
4. "'Enter into Beyth-El and rebel! Let rebellion be increased at Gilgal! So bring your slaughters for the morning, your tithes for three days,
Rebel: or transgress, overstep your boundaries. Three days: perhaps the times Yarav'am had substituted for YHWH's three pilgrimage festivals meant to be taken to Yerushalayim. (1 Kings 12:32) He sarcastically says they might as well go ahead and fill up their cup of judgment. It will be easier for YHWH not to think about the fact that these are Avraham's descendants if they do things this evil.
5. "'and burn a thank-offering that is leavened, and proclaim free-will offerings; cause them to be heard about, because this is what you like, O descendants of Israel', declares Adonai YHWH.
A thank-offering that is leavened: specifically forbidden in Lev. 2:11. Free-will offerings... heard about: All of these are still characteristics of the exiled northern Kingdom, especially as seen in the churches, where freedom and recognition are so longed for, and the truth of what YHWH wants is mingled with other ideas.
6. "But I have also given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your [dwelling] places, yet [still] you have not turned back toward Me,' declares YHWH.
Cleanness of teeth: not shiny ones, well-polished from excellent preventive care, but disuse due to famine or the withholding of food by a besieging enemy. Dwelling places: or simply, places, often a euphemism for temples.
7. "'Also, I [Myself] have even withheld the rain from you when there were still three months until the harvest, or I let it rain on one city while I would not let it rain on a[nother] city; one area was rained on, while the area that was not rained on dried up.
They were deliberately inequitable toward their fellow Israelites, and YHWH considers this as done to Him. (Luke 12:21) So He deliberately treats them unequally in return.
8. "'So two [or] three cities staggered to one city to [find] water to drink, but they were not satisfied. Yet [still] you have not turned back toward Me,' declares YHWH.
9. "'I have let you be hit with blight and mildew, and when your orchards and vineyards, fig trees and olives had increased abundantly, the [creeping] locust started devouring them. Yet [still] you have not turned back toward Me,' declares YHWH.
Locust: or cankerworm.
10. "'I have sent a pestilence among you in the manner of [what I did in] Egypt. I have slain your young men [in their prime] with the sword, along with [having] your horses captured, and I have made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils. Yet [still] you have not turned back toward Me,' declares YHWH.
11. "'I have overturned some of you like Elohim's overthrow of S'dom and Ghamorah, and you were like a firebrand rescued out of the burning. Yet [still] you have not turned back toward Me,' declares YHWH.
Like a firebrand: The same is said of Y'shua the high priest. (Zech. 3:2) He used his second "chance" profitably, but at this point Israel had been given many openings to repent, and had not. (vv. 6-10)
12. "'Therefore, I will do the same to you, O Israel; as a consequence of this, I will do [it] to you. Get ready to meet your Elohim, O Israel.
As a consequence of this: or, on the heels of this. Meet your Elohim: but not in the way they might wish to.
13. "'Because, indeed, He who forms mountains and who creates wind and makes known to mankind what His complaint is--the One who makes dawn into darkness and who treads upon the heights of the earth--YHWH, the Elohim of Armies is His Name!'"
What His complaint is: or, alternately, what his [man's] thought is.
CHAPTER 5
1. "Listen to this word that I am lifting up against you--a dirge, O House of Israel:
Dirge: i.e., she has already "died". Compare Lamentations 2:21 re: the destruction of the Temple.
2. "'The virgin of Israel has fallen, not to get up again. She has been abandoned on her ground; there is no one setting her [back] up,
Not... again: at the time being spoken of here.
3. "'because this is what YHWH says: "The city that goes out [to battle] a thousand [strong] will have a hundred left, and the one belonging to the House of Israel that goes forth a hundred [strong] will have ten",
They would quite literally be decimated. Yaaqov had promised to give YHWH ten percent of all that he had. (Gen. 28:22) This includes his descendants. He promised He would always leave a remnant (2 Chron. 30:6), but it appears that Israel had fallen to such a low condition that all YHWH would spare was the tithe that already belonged to Him.
4. "'because this is what YHWH says: "Seek Me, and survive!
Seek: or, resort to. This is being spoken only to the ten-percent remnant (v. 3). So the salient question is "HOW do we seek Him?" Throughout Scripture He tells us how He wants to be sought: by loving knowledge, choosing to fear YHWH, not despising His rebuke, listening to Him, and taking His advice (Prov. 1:28-33); loving Him and seeking Him with diligent commitment (Prov. 8:17); drawing near to Him TOGETHER, leaving Gentile lifestyles behind (Yeshayahu 45:19-20); search for Him with a whole heart, begging Him for mercy (Yirm. 29:10); acknowledging our guilt without excuses (Hos. 5:15); seeking the place He chooses and going there (Deut. 12:5); arising and rebuilding His sanctuary (1 Chron. 22:19); making His deeds known, singing to Him, rejoicing, remembering His marvelous works and judgments, giving thanks (back) to Him, and calling on His Name (1 Chron. 8:16); seeking out all of His commandments, knowing the Elohim of our fathers and serving Him with a willing mind (1 Chron. 28:8-9); removing pagan images from His Land and preparing our hearts to seek Him (2 Chron. 19:3); seeking Him while He is near, forsaking our wicked ways, and returning to Him (Yeshayahu 55:6). Survive: or, be revived, restored to life. Later in the book we will see how Israel can rise again after all of this.
5. "'"But you must not seek Me at Beyth-El or go into Gilgal, nor cross over to Be'er-Sheva, because won't Gilgal indeed go into exile, and Beyth-El become afflicted?"
Gilgal: Here, not the first place Yehoshua camped after crossing into the Promised Land, but a dwelling place of prophets about 4 km. from both Beyth-El and Shiloh within the borders of the Northern Kingdom. These are a picture of the "Church", which tries to worship YHWH but under different names and in a different way than He specified. Cross over: because Be'er-Sheva was in the territory of Yehudah, not Israel. This represents rabbinically-based Judaism, which also bears some resemblance to the ancient Torah-based lifestyle, yet is not all He intended; it was only Yerushalayim in which YHWH allowed His altar to stand.
6. "Seek YHWH and survive, or else He will break out like fire [against] the House of Yoseyf and devour her, and there is no one in Beyth-El who [can] extinguish it.
7. "Those who turn justice and righteousness into hemlock for the Land He has laid to rest--
Hemlock: or wormwood; i.e., poison. Alt., turn justice into hemlock and cast righteousness down to the earth.
8. "He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the shadow of death into daybreak, and has darkened the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth: YHWH is His Name!
The Pleiades: Heb.,Kimah. Orion: the western world knows him as a hunter, but in Hebrew, its name, Kesil, means "an arrogant simpleton". What hunter would this apply to, if not to Esau, and earlier, Nimrod? YHWH is thus emphasizing that He is superior to the one many worshipped, since He created him.
9. "He causes devastation to burst forth upon the fierce, so that devastation comes upon the stronghold.
10. "In the gate they hate the one who brings proof, and cannot stand one who speaks [with] integrity.
The gate: the ancient equivalent of the civic courtroom.
11. "'"Therefore, on account of your trampling on the weak and seizing "contributions" of pure grain from him, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not live in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you will not drink of their wine,
Trampling: or, imposing heavy rent upon. Contributions: or, grain taxes. The treatment of the poor is the scriptural litmus test of true justice--neither oppressing nor unduly favoring them. (Lev. 19:15; Deut. 15:11)
12. "'"because I have been aware of your many revolts and your sins--too numerous to count: putting the righteous in dire straits, taking a bribe, and having turned away the needy at the gate.
13. "'"the one who is circumspect is dumbfounded at that time, since it is a time of calamity."'
Circumspect: one who keeps his eyes on what is going on all around him. Even one who has noticed the trends and prepared for them will be unable to keep up with the sudden changes that overwhelm the Land.
14. "Seek what is excellent and not evil, so that you may survive, and [so] it may become the case that YHWH, the Elohim of Armies, is with you, as you have claimed!
15. "Hate evil and love what is right, and exhibit justice in the gate. It may be that YHWH, the Elohim of Armies, will show pity to what is left of Yoseyf.
Hate evil: not just stay away from it, but actively and aggressively oppose it. Love: be committed to. When our courts are righteous, we will regain His favor. It may be: Some of the listeners must have responded appropriately, for He is restoring Yoseyf. Yet we have no Torah-based courts yet. This is one of the foremost orders of our day.
16. "Therefore, this is what YHWH, the Elohim of Armies--Adonai--says: '[There will be] wailing in all [the] open plazas, and in all the streets, and they will say, "Alas! Alas!" And they will call the plowman to mourn and anyone who knows how to wail, [they will call] to lament.
There will be so few left that anyone left will be called to fulfill the role usually assigned to professional leaders of mourning rites.
17. "'And [there will be] wailing in all [the] vineyards, because I will pass through your midst,' says YHWH.
Pass through your midst: i.e., as He did in Egypt through the angel of death.
18. "'Woe to the ones who long for the Day of YHWH! Whatever for? For you, the Day of YHWH is darkness, not light!
Be careful what you ask for! This is very much like many today who are expecting the Kingdom to be a time of peace and glory for themselves, but are mistaken about where they stand with YHWH, since they do not walk in His Torah.
19. "'It [will be] like when a man was escaping from a lion, and a bear attacked him, or he went into the house and rested his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
Just when they thought they were safe, a worse thing befell them. The house...snake: The counterfeit Messiah is present both within Judaism and Christianity.
20. "'Isn't the Day of YHWH indeed darkness and not light, and as dark [as after the sun has set], with no brightness in it?
21. "'I have come to hate, to reject your festivals, and I will not be made to accept your extended assemblies with delight.
Your festivals: not His, but the ones they have substituted for His, or the way they have changed His to suit their own purposes. This is not His abdication of the validity of the festivals He had prescribed, for Yahshua and Paul both reaffirmed that. (Luke 22:15; 1 Cor. 5:8; Acts 18:21)
22. "'Even if you send ascending offerings and tribute-gifts up to Me, I will not be pleased, nor will I pay attention to the peace offerings of your over-fed beasts.
23. "'Take the noise of your songs away from Me, because I will not listen to the music of your harps,
24. "'and let just rulings roll like waters, and righteousness like a torrent that flows evenly!
Evenly: i.e., with equity; the Hebrew term emphasizes constancy and reliability.
25. "'Did you bring near slaughters and tribute-gifts to Me [during the] forty years in the wilderness, O House of Israel?
26. "'You even carried the woven covering of your king and an image of the likeness of the star of your elohim, which you made for yourselves!
Woven covering: or a proper name, Sikut, a Babylonian deity also known as Molekh, a bloodthirsty deity renamed Zeus and Jupiter in the West. Image: Heb., Kiyun, an Assyro-Babylonian deity later adopted by Hinduism and identical to the Western world's Saturn. Star of your Elohim: possibly the Messiah (Num. 24:17), but refashioned according to their own whims, and thus a counterfeit, foreshadowed by Bar Kochba (the "son of the star", whose actual name was Ben Kosiba).
27. "'So I am about to make you go into captivity further away than Damaseq,' says YHWH, who is renowned as the Elohim of Armies."
Damaseq: Israel's "paramour" (3:12), but close enough to home, where they still felt some sense of being in control. YHWH says He will fling them far beyond there, into being full-scale Gentiles. Yet, interestingly enough, it was one of the first places where the returning "lost sheep of the House of Israel" regathered, as Paul considered the destruction of the Messianic believers there very strategic. (Acts 9)
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Chapters 6-9
CHAPTER 6
1. "Woe [to] those who rest securely in Tzion, and who trust in the mountain[s] of Shomron--those designated as the first of the nations, and to whom the House of Israel came in!
Rest securely: with the connotation of being arrogant about it. Tzion... Shomron: the two governments that existed at this time in Israel. They were also the spiritual and secular seats of the Northern Kingdom, as if they were saying, "If all else fails, we can fall back on Yerushalayim and start serving YHWH again." They were not walking in Torah, but thought it was there as a safety net. Little has changed. The same sins still plague the Northern Kingdom, only now they have been made into doctrines. Today people think that no matter how they live now, they have a hope in "Zion" ("Heaven") or in Shomron (the "great watch", i.e., the Rapture they expect to remove them from the consequences of their actions). For the House of Yehudah, "Tzion" might refer to the Jewish heritage many trust will guarantee them a place in the Kingdom. (Mat. 3:9)
2. "Cross over to Kalneh, and look, or go from there to the great Khamath! Or go down to Gath of the Filistines. Are they better than these realms, or is their territory greater than your territory--
Kalneh: a Babylonian city founded by Nimrod, captured by Assyria in the 8th century B.C.E. Khamath: an important city in the Orontes River valley of upper Syria. Gath: once the hometown of Golyath.
3. "[You] who are driving away the evil day, yet bringing near the seat of violence,
Driving away: or, putting off--i.e., saying the "Day of YHWH's wrath" (5:20) is far off, and we need not worry about it. Its negative effects do not apply to us. Violence: or mistreatment (Heb., Hamas). While the master is away, the servants are beating their fellows (Luke 12:45), because they feel like they can get away with them since the Master said, "Judge not..." But He will judge, or He, too, would be mistreating them like a parent who lets his children get away with too much.
4. "who lie on beds of ivory and have sprawled out on their couches, and who devour lambs out of the flock and bull-calves from the middle of the stall,
Stall: where the cattle are fattened up, and the best are those meant to be brought to the Temple. But they are using these for their own purposes instead.
5. "who chant on the mouth of the harp? Like David, they invent for themselves instruments [for] song;
Chant: or improvise carelessly or stammer. David wrote songs for worship in the Temple, but they are using them for their own pleasure alone or profaning them by playing them for the general public, not only for those whom YHWH has allowed privy to His set-apart chambers:
6. "who drink wine in pitchers, and anoint themselves with first [rate] oils, yet are not sick with grief over the ruin of Yoseyf.
Pitchers: this may merely mean "by the pitcherful", but in context it seems to refer to the kind of pitchers called by the same name (mizraq) meant to be used to toss blood against the altar when sacrifices were brought; they are using it for common purposes instead. First [rate] oils: perhaps those from the first pressing of the olives, which were meant to be given to the Levitical priests to light the menorah in the Temple. (Num. 18:12; Lev. 24:2) Some priests were indeed hired by the Northern kings to officiate in the substitute temples and train non-Levites to be their priests. They may well have co-opted some of the implements from YHWH's true Temple in Yerushalayim.
7. "Therefore they will now go into exile with the first removing, and the revelry of those [who have] sprawled themselves out will be removed.
8. "'The Master YHWH has sworn by His own soul,' declares YHWH, the Elohim of Armies: 'I loathe the pride of Yaaqov, and have come to hate his fortified palaces; therefore, I will hand over the city and everything that is in it.
Hand over: or simply, close off.
9. "'And [this is how] it will be: if there are ten men left in one house, then they will die.
Ten men: symbolic of a whole congregation. Normally, YHWH would spare a city for only ten righteous (Gen. 18:32), so these men are not righteous. One house: in the context of the House of Yoseyf (v. 6), this would indicate that when the time comes (as it soon will) for the two Houses of Israel to again merge into one (Yehezq'El 37:22ff), to maintain the distinctives of one or the other (Christianity or Rabbi Akiva's brand of Judaism) will keep us from rising to the next step YHWH has for us. We will have to sacrifice one type of unity for a greater--that of the House of David, the Messiah’s Kingdom, for which we have been bought as servants. (Zech. 8:23)
10. "'And his uncle will carry him along with the one who burns him, to bring the bones out of the house, and will say to whomever is in the recesses of the house, "Is there [anyone] still with you?" And he will say, "[We're] finished", and will say, "Hush! Because we must not make mention of the Name of YHWH!"
Uncle: or, beloved. Make mention of: or, remember. Until our own day, it is indeed few who have remembered it. Yehudah kept it hidden for other reasons, but they are no longer valid either. Apart from the noble desire not to profane YHWH's Name by flippant use, this was the carry-over from a custom picked up in Babylon of not voicing the name of one's deity lest he pay too much attention to them. This seems to be the scenario here, in that those who know of the curse of v. 9 are in hiding. The one who has already been detected says no one is with him, and tells all those in the house to remain silent so they will not be noticed. Thanks to YHWH, this too is being reversed in our day.
11. "'Because, indeed, YHWH is giving the order, and He will cause the great house to be beaten into tiny fragments, and the insignificant house split open.
12. "'Will horses run on rock? Or can someone plow it with oxen? Because you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock--
Poison: literally, "head", perhaps since it is derived from the heads of the plant--a poisonous "fruit". Therefore, this land is no longer pasture. Neither house of Israel has been fully in Torah, so the sheep do not have the best food to eat.
13. "'[you] who rejoice for nothing, who say, "Haven't we captured horns for ourselves by our own strength?"
Horns: a symbol of domination. Modern Israeli leaders have taken this attitude of assuming that since the nation won the 6-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, they must be invincible. For nothing: literally, for a word that is not.
14. "'Because, look at Me! I am raising up a nation against you, O House of Israel,' declares YHWH, the Elohim of Armies, 'and they will certainly squeeze you from the entrance to Khamath to the wadi of the Aravah.'"
Squeeze: or, oppress. The places mentioned here are the northern and southern limits of the inhabited part of Israel in that day; i.e., no one will escape this treatment
CHAPTER 7
1. This is what Adonai YHWH showed me: Now, look! He is forming locusts at the opening of when the late crop after-growth comes up; and in fact it was the late crop after the king’s mowings.
This is right around the time when the special season of T'shuvah (repentance) begins, a month prior to the Feast of the Awakening Trumpet-blast. Locusts have to be so numerous that they are rubbing up against each other's legs before they will swarm like this.
2. And when it had finished completely devouring the green plants of the Land, what I said was, "Adonai YHWH, please forgive! How can Yaaqov stand [back] up, since he is tiny?"
3. YHWH was moved to pity over this. "It will not come about," said YHWH.
4. This is what Adonai YHWH let me see, and behold, Adonai YHWH is summoning the fire to contend, and it was consuming the great deep, and devoured the assigned portion.
Assigned portion: the Land of Israel.
5. And I said, "Adonai YHWH, please stop! How can Yaaqov stand [back] up, since he is tiny?"
6. YHWH was moved to pity over this. "This, too, will not come about," said YHWH.
7. This is what He let me see: and behold, Adonai had stationed Himself on a wall [built with a] plumb line, and a plumb line [was] in His hand.
8. And YHWH said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" So I said, "A plumb line." And Adonai said, "Here I am, placing a plumb line in the innermost midst of My people Israel; I will not bypass him again.
Plumb line: an instrument of judgment, measuring what is and is not upright. This is how Yaaqov can stand--by restoring right judgments in his gates (i.e., courts of law). Bypass: as He had at the first Passover and had done in His mercy since.
9. "Then Yis'haq's cultic platforms will be made desolate, and Israel’s holy places become desolate, and I have risen above the House of Yarav'am with a sword!"
Yis'haq's cultic platforms: probably the alternative worship-site at Be'er-sheva mentioned in 5:5, since that is where Yis'haq (an alternate spelling of Yitzhaq, the son of Avraham) lived and built an altar. (Gen. 26:25) Apparently it came to be used again after Israel had abandoned YHWH's command to build Him an altar nowhere but in Yerushalayim.
10. Then Amatzyah, the officiator of Beyth-El, sent [word] to Yarav'am, King of Israel: "Amos has conspired against you in the innermost midst of the House of Israel! The Land cannot endure all his words,
11. "because this is what Amos said: 'Yarav'am will die by the sword, and Israel will go into exile from upon his Land for sure!'"
12. So Amatzyah said to Amos, "O clairvoyant, go, hurry for your own [sake] to the land of Yehudah, and eat bread there and you can prophesy there,
I.e., "You're a nice boy; I don't want to have to kill you. Just leave quietly and we'll pretend nothing ever happened."
13. "but don't ever prophesy again [at] Beyth-El; it is the king’s sanctuary and it is the royal home."
14. But Amos answered and said to Amatzyah, "I myself am not a prophet nor was I [the] son of a prophet, because I am a herdsman and gatherer of sycomore [figs],
I.e., "I am not doing this for fun or because it is my profession! I'm not trained for this at all, but I'm here because this is what YHWH wanted." YHWH knew that someone who tended sheep would tend His human flock faithfully. A herdsman would be an ideal person to tend sycomore figs, for they are inedible unless someone at the right time pierces them with a tiny reed and rubs olive oil on them, in which case they ripen very delicious. He would have the best vantage point to watch his flocks from such a tree, and could tend to the "figs" at the same time. The Messiah’s title means "anointed" (smeared with oil), and He, too, was pierced for our iniquities so He could be partaken of. (Yeshayahu 53) So Amos was also faithful in protecting a picture of the Messiah.
15. "but YHWH took me from following after the flock, and YHWH told me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'
16. "So now, listen to the word of YHWH: 'You are saying, "Do not prophesy against Israel" and "Do not bring [it] down on the House of Yis'haq!"
17. "'Therefore, this is what YHWH says: Your wife will [become] a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your ground will be distributed by region, and you will die on defiled ground. And Israel will [most] certainly go into exile from upon his Land!'"
Prostitute in the city: probably for one of the pagan temples in the place of her exile. Region: literally, measuring line.
CHAPTER 8
1. This is what Adonai YHWH showed me: lo and behold, a basket of summer [fruit]!
2. And He said, "What do you see, Amos?" So I said, "A basket of summer [fruit]." And YHWH told me, "The end has arrived for My people Israel; I will not bypass him again.
The Hebrew word for "end" (extreme limit) is qetz, a play on the word for summer (fruit), qayitz. Compare Gen. 6:13; Yehezq'El 7:23. Basket: actually based on the word for dog, the most literal meaning is "dog cage" or "dog trap". This gives us an indication of how the ancient Hebrews looked at dogs in contrast to how Western culture does. Efrayim's name indicates that it was meant to be fruitful, but instead YHWH has to treat it like a wild, untamed dog. "Dogs" was a common Hebrew way of describing Gentiles, and that is exactly what the Northern Kingdom was acting like.
3. "And on that day they will be made to howl the songs of the Temple," declares Adonai YHWH. "There will be abundant corpses in every place, and they will throw them out, [saying], 'Hush!'
Songs of the Temple: what they used to love to sing, but not live out. For many centuries all that was left of even the Temple complex was a retaining wall called the "wailing wall".
4. "Hear this, you who are trampling the needy, and putting an end to the poor,
5. "saying, 'When will the New [Moon] have passed, so that we can sell grain? Or the Sabbath, so that we may release wheat, to reduce [the size of] the eyfah, increase [the value of] the sheqel, and craftily tilt the scales,
New Moon: or simply, month, since a Sabbath is mentioned after it. After the first month of the Counting of the Omer(from after Passover until Shavuoth), there are still more sabbaths to count until the seventh. (Lev. 23:14-16) This practice of varying weights and measures was strictly forbidden in Lev. 9:36; Deut. 25:13; compare Prov. 20:10. But an eyfah represents a whole congregation, measuring ten omers, each of which is worth only a half sheqel that is, is the value of an individual person. (Ex. 30:13-15; 38:26) Exaggerating one's own value to that of a whole sheqel consequently lowers his esteem for the rest of the congregation. His priorities are skewed, and what is heavy (important) is treated as light and what is far less significant is given great weight. This person has not learned his lessons on functioning as a unified Body, which the Counting of the Omer emphasizes and depicts. They are not interested in being Hebrews (those who cross over), but rather want His holy days to pass (the root word from which the term "Hebrew" is derived) so YHWH will not let His death angel bypass them (v. 2) this time as He did during the Passover in Egypt. But we can also tip the scales by overemphasizing love so that judgment does not take place when it should, or weakening what commandments really mean by finding loopholes in them, and thus missing the full value of what YHWH wanted to teach us thereby.
6. "'to acquire the weak for silver, and the needy for the sake of a pair of sandals, and sell the residual wheat?'
Residual wheat: from the word for "fallen"--either the worst part of the crop, the refuse, or (more likely in context) that which was to be left for the needy to come glean. (Deut. 24:21) No one is to make a profit from this. Though it grew in your field, this portion belongs to YHWH; it was never yours.
7. "YHWH has sworn by the pride of Yaaqov: If I ever forget any of their deeds for perpetuity...!
Pride of Yaaqov: an idiom for the Land of Israel.
8. "Won't the Land tremble over this, and all those who dwell in it lament? And all of it will rise up like the daylight and be driven out and subside as the Nile of Egypt [does].
Tremble: be perturbed, upset--i.e., ready to vomit out its inhabitants who have not kept YHWH's covenant. (Lev. 20:22) Rise up: alt., withdraw or retreat.
9. "And in that day [the way] it will be," declares Adonai YHWH, "[is] that I will cause the sun to go in at noon, and make the Land dark on the day of light.
10. "Then I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into a dirge, and I will draw up burlap over every hip, and [bring] baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only [son], and its end like a day of bitterness.
Burlap: or sackcloth, worn as a sign of mourning. Baldness: another mourning ritual among the common people, but forbidden for priests (21:5; compare Deut. 14:1)
11. "Indeed, the days are coming," declares Adonai YHWH, "when I will send a famine into the Land--not a famine for bread, or a thirst for water, but rather of hearing the words of YHWH.
The days are coming: This therefore chiefly addresses latter-day Efrayim. Hearing: the Hebrew term includes obedience. Bread symbolizes community (1 Cor. 10:17) and water, teaching of the Torah. There is plenty of instruction available, so people think they are well-watered. There are plenty of congregations to choose from, but there is no real obedience to YHWH's commands, so it is all out of context.
12. "And they will wander from sea to sea, and from the north all the way to the sunrise; they will run to and fro to search for a word [from] YHWH, but they will not be able to find [one].
Wander: or stagger. North: The Hebrew term also means "hidden"; Efrayimites today also crave the mysteries of the trinity (based on a misunderstanding), Kabbalah (real but dangerous and distorted if outside the context of a thorough knowledge of Torah), or even the more valid but often obsessive "Bible codes" of messages embedded in the text at equidistant intervals. Sunrise: or, the east. This immediately brings to mind eastern religions, breakthroughs of revelation, and especially Easter sunrise services--pagan at worst, and at best the awe of Yahshua's resurrection. But Yahshua downplays the spectacular and emphasizes the true relationship with YHWH. (Luke 10:20) His word is not far off or hidden irretrievably on some mountaintop; it is very simple (Deut. 30:11-14); people just do not wish to obey its plain demands.
13. "In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men [in their prime] will faint from thirst--
No one will be exempt of have the advantage of immunity to His judgment.
14. "those who swear by the guilt of Shomron and say, '[As] your elohim lives, O Dan', and '[As] the way of Be'er-Sheva lives'. So they will fall and not get up again.
Dan and Be'er-sheva: again, alternative worship sites not authorized by YHWH at this time. The Northern Kingdom is by and large still swearing by the false altars and golden calves of security, prosperity, Christian morals, in which they trust instead of YHWH or use to mask their fear of direct relationship with Him and one another.
CHAPTER 9
1. I saw Adonai taking His stand atop the altar, and He said, "Strike the capital [of the pillar] so that the thresholds will shake, and break them off at the top, all of them, and I will kill the last of them with the sword. Not one of them who runs away will escape, nor will any fugitive be rescued.
Thresholds: Ancient edifices, such as the misnamed "Pharaoh's treasury" at Petra, often had basins cut into the threshold so that libations of wine or blood could be poured out there to dedicate the building to whatever deity was being honored thereby. So in the context of Israel this represents a covenant with someone other than YHWH. The Temple in Yerushalayim would NOT have such basins. Capital of the pillar: which upheld the pagan temples, as we see in the account of Shimshon's death. (Judges 16:26ff) Again, there were two pillars in front of Shlomo's Temple (1 Kings 7:21), but they did not uphold anything, but were symbolic only.
2. "If they dig into the underworld, from there My hand will take them out, and if they go up into the skies, from there I will bring them down.
The skies: Many think they will go to heaven and be exempt from YHWH's judgment.
3. "And if they draw themselves back to the top of Karmel, from there I will seek them out and take them from there. Even if they hide from in front of My eyes in the crevasse of the sea, from there I will give orders to the serpent and it will bite them.
Crevasse: or abyss. This is the one place He does not say He will go Himself to retrieve us. Perhaps this is because it is symbolic of the place the condemned demons are held in judgment. (Gen. 1:2; Rev. 9:11; 21:1) Or it could refer to Satan worship; some might think Satan is strong enough or willing enough to defend them from YHWH's wrath.
4. "And though they go into captivity before the face of their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it will slay them, and I will fix My eyes on them for misery and not for prosperity."
5. Now YHWH, Master of Armies, is the One who touches the Land so that it dissolves, and all of those who inhabit it will mourn. And all of it will overflow like the Nile and be driven out and subside as the Nile of Egypt [does].
6. The One who builds His staircase in the heavens and His band [of troops] on the earth--the One who calls to the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the land--YHWH is His Name!
7. "Aren't you like the sons of the Kushites to Me, O sons of Israel?" says YHWH. "Haven't I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Filistines from Kaftor, and the Aramaeans from Qir?
I.e., "I let these peoples migrates from one land to another just as I did for you; why should I treat you as special if you do not do the same for Me?"
8. "Indeed, the eyes of Adonai YHWH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will cause it to be annihilated from upon the face of the earth, although in the end I will not completely destroy the House of Yaaqov," declares YHWH.
9. "because here I am, giving the order; indeed, I have sifted the House of Israel among all the nations, just as one sifts [grain] in a sieve, yet not a grain will fall to earth.
Not a grain will fall to earth: or, not a parcel of land will fall. YHWH is concerned even for one lost sheep. (Luke 15:4-6) But alternately, He determined where the seed would take root and where it would not; He sowed us in some places for strategic reasons and allowed us to bear fruit, while others from Israel He allowed to be destroyed, perhaps because of the seriousness or nature of their particular sins.
10. "All the sinners of My people will fall by the sword--those who say, 'The calamity will not overtake us or confront us!'
11. "In that day, I will raise up the sukkah of David that is falling, and close up the gaps in its walls. Then I will establish what was torn down and rebuild it as in the ancient days,
Ancient: or, eternal, as they were ages ago. Sukkah: a temporary dwelling place such as used during harvest times when to go back and forth from home would lose too much precious time, or when Israel dwelt in the wilderness for 40 years, which the feast of Sukkoth recalls. David: including David's throne, which belongs to the Messiah. He has been in "exile" just as we have, and He has chiefly made His temporary dwelling among the Northern Kingdom, which accepted Him while Yehudah, for the main part, did not. (Mat. 21:43; compare Yochanan 11:54) So this is what He would raise back up. As the Church, it is still crumbling, but as we return to His covenant, He no longer needs to keep us in a dog cage. As we all come back to Yerushalayim, He will again establish His permanent dwelling place.
12. "so they may dispossess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles upon whom My Name is proclaimed," declares YHWH, the One who is accomplishing this.
Dispossess: or, seize, occupy, expel. Edom: Without the vowel pointing, it could also read Adam, i.e., mankind. Anyone left of the human race will indeed come under the rule of Israel's Messiah during the coming age.
13. "Indeed, the days are coming," declares YHWH, "when the plowman will overtake the harvester, and the treader of grapes [will overtake] the one who drags along the seed. Then the mountains will distil sweet wine, and the hills will soften.
Overtake: i.e., the harvest will be so plentiful that it will take until the next planting to gather it all in! Also, the climate in Israel may become so favorable that several additional planting seasons per year can be added. Distil: or drip down. Soften: perhaps to respond more favorable to cultivation, being now hard and rocky; alt., melt, dissolve away.
14. "And I will bring back the captives of my people Israel, and they will rebuild and inhabit the cities [that were] made desolate, and they will plant vineyards and drink their wine.
This is a direct allusion to the reversal of the curse of building houses that conquerors would inhabit and planting vineyards whose grapes worms would devour. (Deut. 28:30, 39)
15. "And I will plant them on their own soil, and they will never again be uprooted from upon their territory, which I have given them," declares YHWH your Elohim.
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