For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
This lesson covers most of Amos 9.
9:1ff – judgment begins in the sanctuary
- "Strike the capitals" suggests earthquake, not military assault. This ties in to the prediction of chapter 8.
- V.3 Carmel’s summit – caves, thickets, hiding opportunities.
- There will be no escape. “Gone is the time for object lessons, pleas, repentance and dialogue. Come is the time for the fullness of the judgment, whose nature and need dominate the book, to be released” (Hubbard 227).
- Egypt
- The Israelites had been delivered out of bondage there
- Nile pictures return of the floodwaters, a return to chaos (conquered initially in Genesis 1).
- God’s concern for the nations is a major OT theme.
- Genesis 12:3, Exodus 19:6, Psalms 100, Jonah 1-4, Malachi 1, Matthew 28, Luke 4, Acts 1-28, Revelation 7:9, to list just a few of the many passages.
- The Ethiopians (Cush) would have been regarded by Israel as insignificant.
- This major theme reveals the heart of God.
- Exile is decreed!
- The agents of judgment are the Assyrians.
- Readings from Nahum 1:14, 3:1-19 describe the cruelty of Assyria (capital Nineveh).
- They would meet their ultimate demise at the hands of the Babylonians (614, 612 BC).
- Captivity is a reversal of the exodus.
Advanced
- 9:2 || Obadiah 4, Psalm 139:7-11.
- Another point of no escape: 2 Kings 10:25.
- V.5 melting earth = Psalm 46:6, Micah 1:3-4.
- Cush (v.7) extended from Aswan to a point near Khartoum, a little north of modern Ethiopia. The borders of ancient countries often differed from their modern counterparts.