| Date | Version | Reading Plan |
|---|---|---|
| @November 17, 2023 | ESV (2016) | ESV Prophets Plan 2023 |
Pericopes
- The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
Notes/Application
The Lord showed Amos a basket of summer fruit representing Israel’s ripening for judgment. In that day, sounds of temple worship will be replaced by sounds of wailing. God will not forget the deeds of those who trampled on the needy and had no respect for the sacred days of new moon and Sabbath. He will turn their feasts into mourning and songs into lamentation. In their exile, there will be a famine not of bread or water but of “hearing the words of the LORD”. They will seek the word and not find it. Even the youthful among them will faint with thirst, insinuating a great suffering for all people. Those who worshipped false idols “shall fall, and never rise again.” (Amos 8:14).
To be exiled from one’s home would be one thing but something entirely different to be separated from God. Famine of food pales in comparison to famine of God. Those who do not acknowledge God claim to want such a thing but don’t fully realize how horrifying this would be. His continuous work in this world in sending rain on both the just and unjust means that we have difficulty grasping a full separation. But this will indeed be the eternal reality for every soul who does not call upon the name of Jesus. Dire as this is, it creates for us a sense of urgency to share the gospel; to be unwavering in our witness in calling others to repentance and to herald the salvation found only in Christ.
Scripture Journal Notes
Commentaries & Resources Used
- ESV Study Bible. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008)
- Faithlife Study Bible (Lexham Press, 2016)
- Believer’s Bible Commentary (Thomas Nelson, 2016)
- CSB Study Bible Notes (Holman Bible Publishers, 2017)
- Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Guardian Press, 1976)
- The Bible: A Reader’s Guide (Sterling Publishing, 2011)
- The Infographic Bible (Zondervan, 2018)
- ESV Digital Scripture Journal (Crossway, 2019)