NOTES for Amo 9:1-15

“That day,” about which the prophet begins to speak in chapter 8, now appears before us as a nightmare (vv. 1-10). A world lying in sin cannot endure the visitation of the righteous God. But this is not only a day of judgment and justice—it is a day of mercy and restoration (vv. 11-15). The loving God calls us not to fear, but to love. Several events of different kinds and different periods are connected with “that day”: Israel’s return from captivity (v. 14), the restoration of the temple and of the reign of David’s descendant (v. 11), the proclamation of the Lord’s name among all nations (v. 12), the final establishment of the people in the Promised Land (v. 15), and, finally, the unbroken fertility of the earth yielding its harvest to humankind—as in the Garden of Eden! (v. 13). Truly, “the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).