And I will Darken the Earth in Broad Daylight

The Lord shows Amos how His people are going through judgment. The people are looking forward to the judgment to be over. They are concerned about their survival and their trade, yet it seemed like they were still planning to continue to be dishonest in their dealings.

God brings judgment in supernatural form including bringing darkness over the land during the day, and also cause famine. The people would have nowhere to turn and although they seek God out of desperation, God would not answer them at that time.



Amos 8
Vision of the Summer Fruit

1 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then the Lord said to me:

“The end has come upon My people Israel;
I will not pass by them anymore.
3 And the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,”
Says the Lord God—
“Many dead bodies everywhere,
They shall be thrown out in silence.”
4 Hear this, you who swallow up[a] the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail,
5 Saying:

“When will the New Moon be past,
That we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
That we may trade wheat?
Making the ephah small and the shekel large,
Falsifying the scales by deceit,
6 That we may buy the poor for silver,
And the needy for a pair of sandals—
Even sell the bad wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall the land not tremble for this,
And everyone mourn who dwells in it?
All of it shall swell like the River,[b]
Heave and subside
Like the River of Egypt.
9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,
And all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on every waist,
And baldness on every head;
I will make it like mourning for an only son,
And its end like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it.
13 “In that day the fair virgins
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin[c] of Samaria,
Who say,
‘As your god lives, O Dan!’
And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’
They shall fall and never rise again.”

Therefore I Cast You as a Profane thing Out of the Mountain of God

Tyre has been a prosperous, influential and modern city. Her wealth and stature had given rise to pride and placing herself above God. Because of this arrogance and pride, God will bring other nations to destroy her so that Tyre will know that she is vulnerable and will suffer like any other mortals.

God gave a lamentation for Ezekiel about the king Tyre. God said that the king of Tyre had wisdom, beauty and wealth. However, upon closer reading, it is clear that God is not referring to a human king. The subject that God mentions here is wise and beautiful, and was in the Garden of Eden. This being is an anointed cherub and her beauty was described with precious stones. Then she developed iniquity and violence, and sinned against God. She was cast out of God's Holy Mountain (Heaven). Her beauty led to arrogance, her wisdom led to corruption. So she was cast down to Earth. This description refers to God's number One enemy.

The God turned back towards proclaiming destruction on another nation - Sidon. It appears that Sidon may have also been a thorn to Israel, hence was judged by God. God promises judgment on all those who came against Israel. God also proclaimed that the scattered people of Israel will be brought back together again in Israel and God will be "hallowed" in them in the sight of the Gentiles.


Ezekiel 28
Proclamation Against the King of Tyre

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,’
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4 With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
9 “Will you still say before him who slays you,
‘I am a god’?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens;
For I have spoken,” says the Lord God.’”


Lamentation for the King of Tyre

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
18 “You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.”’”


Proclamation Against Sidon

20 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her, 22 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst;
And they shall know that I am the Lord,
When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.
23 For I will send pestilence upon her,
And blood in her streets;
The wounded shall be judged in her midst
By the sword against her on every side;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.”

Israel’s Future Blessing

25 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”’”

Your Mother was like a Vine in your Bloodline

A parable here about a lion raising and grooming her cubs but as they grew up, they got caught be her enemies. The enemies were just waiting to capture the young lions. Here the lioness probably refers to Israel while the cubs were the princes who were suppose to inherit the kingdom. It is recognized that the lioness had been blessed, by bloodline, being planted by the waters, and fruitful with many branches. However she will lose here descendants and she herself would be taken to the wilderness, and without a kingdom.



Ezekiel 19
Israel Degraded

1 “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:

‘What is your mother? A lioness:
She lay down among the lions;
Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs,
And he became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey,
And he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him;
He was trapped in their pit,
And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
5 ‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 He roved among the lions,
And became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey;
He devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places,[a]
And laid waste their cities;
The land with its fullness was desolated
By the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side,
And spread their net over him;
He was trapped in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with chains,
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in nets,
That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10 ‘Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline,[b]
Planted by the waters,
Fruitful and full of branches
Because of many waters.
11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.
She towered in stature above the thick branches,
And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.
12 But she was plucked up in fury,
She was cast down to the ground,
And the east wind dried her fruit.
Her strong branches were broken and withered;
The fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch— a scepter for ruling.’”
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.