GOD has declared his judgement on Israel in the previous verses, now in these verses and up to the 10th verse of chapter 9, God opens up the details of this judgement. In verses 9 and 10 before us God spells out the awful doom which his judgement will bring. It is popular today to treat these Old Testament revelations as the mistaken ideas of an unenlightened age and people, but this is not only very dangerous, but very far from the truth. If this teaching is treated as unenlightened then how can we not conclude that everything we read in the Old Testament is also unenlightened and therefore far from the truth. Let us not be proud unbelievers, and humbly accept the word of God here for the enlightenment of our souls.

HE WHO SPEAKS.

It is easy to pass quickly over the opening sentence, but it is wiser and better to stop and consider what is revealed. The opening of verse 9 first of all reveals to us the one who is speaking, and revealing his truth. Amos is the author of this book in the Old Testament, and out of his mouth these words came, and were recorded for all time; but we are told clearly that the message spoken through the mouth of Amos was in fact the utterance and revelation of the Sovereign Lord. Amos was simply an ambassador speaking on behalf of his Lord and master.

So we learn that the one who speaks is the Lord. It is revelation from God. It is God speaking about what he proposes to do. In every way these day at the beginning of the 21st century the church waters down this truth. The words of the prophet are read, but are not regarded according to their deep significance. It is God declaring his will and purpose, and this is reinforced by the declaration that the Lord is Sovereign. There is no idea of a constitutional monarchy here. The Sovereign Lord is the creator and ruler of all things, and does everything according to his perfect will, and none has power to say him 'nay'. His revelation is a true revelation by God of what is his will and purpose. Because of this we need to take God seriously and receive his word as the truth which no power of earth can change or stop. Here is the certainty of judgement, because it is the Sovereign Lord who declares it.

IN THAT DAY.

The certainty of judgement for Israel, that is the ten northern tribes to whom Amos has been sent, is further declared in these opening three words. 'In that day' refers to the day when judgement would fall. It tells us that God has fixed the day. This makes the judgement certain and inevitable. God has made up his mind and has marked the time when he would execute his will.

If this is the fixed day for the judgement of Israel, which was indeed carried out, it tells us a certainty about the future. The Bible declares that God will judge the earth at the last day. This declaration of a fixed day for Israel's judgement also informs us that the day of judgement, when Jesus shall return to judge the living and the dead, is also already fixed, and the judgement certain. Jesus himself implied this in Matthew 24: 36 where we read Jesus declaring "No-one knows about that day or hour, nor even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." The fixed day may not be known by any but God, yet it is certain because God has fixed the time and day. In Matthew 24 the passage goes on to illustrate the certainty of this final judgement by the illustration of the flood, which was the first all-embracing judgement. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and he preached concerning the coming judgement but did not know the fixed time. However not knowing the time did not make the judgement less certain because God had fixed the time and at the fixed time the rain came and the land was flood and all died except Noah and his family who had believed God and taken refuge in the ark God told Noah to build.

The same is true now. In Israel's day the people could have believed the warning given by Amos, but they did not and so the judgement came when they least expected it and engulfed them. So it will be at the last judgement. The Gospel has been declared which offers the real and complete salvation from this judgement, and whosoever believes will be saved. Those who believe are like the wise virgins and will be ready when the judgement comes, and will be brought safe into the marriage supper of the Lamb. But be sure, the judgement of the last day when Jesus returns is fixed, and it will occur, and those not saved will be judged and condemned into everlasting punishment. It is no love for people to deny this or to avoid telling people in case they are offended, for ignorance will be no excuse on that fixed day.

THE POWER TO JUDG.

The verse, verse 9b, seals the certainty of judgement. It is a declaration of the power of God to effect judgement, which no power on earth will be able to prevent.

This is declared in a declaration of the created order obeying its creator. The picture is of the light of the sun being put out in the middle of the day. The message is to declare that God has total power over his creation, to uphold it or to alter it; to maintain it or to destroy it. In the declaration concerning Christ in the first chapter of Hebrews we read of this fact about Christ. There we are told that Jesus has been appointed by God as heir of all things, that it was through Jesus that that he made the universe, and that he sustains all things by his powerful word. This power of God over the universe was demonstrated as is declared here by the sun being darkened for three hours when Jesus was on the cross. In the Old Testament we are told that once time went backward for a time. If God upholds the whole universe by the word of his power, then it is in the hands of God to take away that upholding so that the universe is destroyed. This warns us that we are in the hand of God, and so the certainty of judgement is sure, because it is the almighty God who declares it.

AWFUL REALISATION.

The prophecy of verse 10 tells of an awful realisation of the emptiness of belief and practice at the time when judgement is poured out.

It was the folly of Israel that the 'pride of Jacob' caused them to believe that the promise that God would be their God and own them as his people for blessing and protection was everlasting and would never be removed. They conveniently forgot that what they prided themselves in was dependent on their owning God to be there God in worship and service, and so keeping themselves from idols. Their faith was very real as far as it went. They were very confident that their belief was true, and therefore they would be safe in life and in death. The picture painted in verse 10 is one of surprised disillusionment.

In times of trouble people return to God for his help. They seek the blessing they believe is their right. This was the condition of Israel, but God warns them that when judgement comes they will find all their belief totally without power to comfort or help them. They will find their faith vain. This pictured in the prophecy that their worship - their prayers and calling on God - would yield nothing for them and so become a place of mourning. Their faith would let them down totally. From this disillusionment would come weeping and not singing. In despair they would seek to repent with sackcloth as their dress and their heads shaved, but instead of relief God promised to increase their pain and sorrow, and likens it to the bereavement of a only son, and that of a bitter day. The picture is of no relief but rather permanent and increasing pain and sorrow. So it happened when the Lord gave them into the hands of Syria.

This picture will be repeated at the last day. In the church today people have a firm faith that as God is a God of love, it does not matter what they believe, all will be well in the future. They are content to neglect Christ's substitutionary death for them and treat it as unnecessary, and many simply deny its truth, saying they have problems with it, but on that day when judgement comes their vain trust in the love of God will let them down, and it all will be found to be vain. This fact is illustrated so powerfully in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. The five foolish ones believed themselves to be ready for the coming of the bridegroom, but when he did at last come, they found that they were totally unprepared. In seeking to become prepared they found the banquet chamber shut to them, and the words through the door came as deep sorrow to their souls - depart from me, I do not know you.

God's infinite love is declared in the gift of his one and only Son to become incarnate, and then give his life a ransom for our sins, so that God's law is upheld, and God then can be just as he forgives the penitent sinner. This is the love of God. It is love revealed through the infinite cost love paid to redeem sinners. How insulting it is to the Lord to deny the validity of this so costly ransom paid to redeem us from sin, Satan, death and hell, and place trust in our own concept of the love of God, which falls so far from the truth. But the terrible nature of such insulting belief is in the fact that on that last day, all that they will have is mourning and weeping as they are cast out into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

APPLICATION.