B3 W1 1-. Symbol. Striking the lintel.
W1 -1-4. Signification.
689-687 B.C.
Amos 9)
1 I saw the LORD Himself standing upon the altar (Mount Zion, or the altar at Beth-el where Jeroboam has once stood [1 Kings 13:1]. Cp. 7:13): and He said, "Smite the capital, shake the foundations, cut them off (i.e. the pillars) by the head, all of them;
and I will slay (this is the signification of the symbolical act) the last of them (i.e. the remnant of the People) with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered. (Judgment begins at the top. Every knee will bow)
2 Though they dig into Sheol (the grave. Cp. Ps. 138:9,&c.), there shall My hand take them; though they climb up to heaven (Those taken by the false rapture teaching. Cp. Job 20:6. Jer. 51:53. Obad. 4), there will I bring them down:
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel (400 caves. See Rev. 20), I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword (ref. Lev. 26:23. Deut. 28:25. Cp. Ezek. 5:12), and it shall slay them: and I will set My eyes upon them for calamity, and not for good. (Ref. Lev. 17:10; 20:5. He's not going to bless them, but take care of them.)
A4 X 5,6. The Land. Touched.
Y 7-10. Exile from it.
X 11-13. The Land. Blessed.
Y 14,15. Restoration to it.
5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is He that touches the land (the Day everything changes), and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood (see 8:8); and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is He that builds His chambers above in the heaven, and has founded His band (i.e. the blue vault, host of souls. He's in control) over the earth; He that calls for the waters of the sea (see 5:8), and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is His name. (Ex. 15:3)
7 Are you not as sons of the Ethiopians (religion, not race. I.e. heathen) to Me, O sons of Israel? says the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? (Ex. 13:3,9,14,16; 33:1. Deut. 5:15; 6:21,&c.) and the Philistines from Crete (Deut. 2:23), and the Syrians from Kir (lower Mesopotamia)?"
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom (One World System), and I will destroy it from off the face of the ground (or soil); saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (the remnant, elect), says the LORD.
9 For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations (He's going to gather all the tribes, not just Judah), like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of My People shall die by the sword, which say, 'The evil shall not overtake nor surprise us.' (They say there's no such thing as God.)
11 In that day (passing to the subject of the future. Quoted in Acts 15:14-18) will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen (erected on Zion by David [2 Sam. 6:17. Cp. 7:6] before the Temple was built on Moriah by Slomon. In 7:7-9, it was seen to ne 'out of plumb', thereof on the point of falling. Here it is fallen down: hence the prophecy her given. In Acts 15 the time had come, had the People obeyed Peter's call in Acts 3:18-21. But it was finally rejected [Acts 28:28], and this prophecy, therefore, yet awaits its fulfillment), and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom (Esau. Cp. Num. 24:18. 2 Sam. 8:14), and of all the nations, which are called by My name (Christians), says the LORD that does this.
13 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper (this shows that the fulfillment of this prophecy is yet in abeyance, for these temporal blessings were postponed on the rejection of the call to repentance in Acts 3:18-26. Cp. Acts 28:25-28. Note the ref to Lev. 26:5), and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop new wine (cp. Joel 3:18), and all the hills shall melt. (I.e. dissolve into wine and oil. See Zech. 14.)
14 And I will bring again the captives of My People of Israel (Ref. Deut. 30:5. Cp. 5:11. Ps. 53:6. Jer. 30:3,18; 31:33. Exek. 16:53. Joel 3:1,2), and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them (cp. Isa. 61:4; 65:21. Jer. 30:18; 31:38-40. Ezek. 36:33-36; 37:25-28); and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof (No middle man, no tax. Full fruit of your labor. Cp. 5:11. Isa. 62:8,9; 65:21. Ezek. 28:26. Hos. 2:21-23. Joel 3:18,&c.); they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land (ref. Gen. 13:15,&c.. Cp. Isa. 60:21. Jer. 24:6; 32:41. Ezek. 34:28; 37:25. Joel 3:20. Mic. 4:4), and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, has said the LORD your God. (Future. This hasn't happened yet. This is the ground of all the blessing Ref. Num. 32:7,8. Deut. 3:18; 26:15; 28:52. Cp. Josh. 2:6,15; 18:3; 23:13,15. Jer. 25:5)