A Basket of Summer Fruit

Text: Amos 8:1-2

Amos prophesied of judgment that was coming against Israel. The warnings about judgment and the reasons why it was coming are important for us to remember today.

Significance of Divine Revelation

“The Lord God showed me…” (Amos 8:1) – Amos made it clear that this message was revealed to him by God
The message of a true prophet always originated with God (2 Peter 1:20-21)
When God speaks, man must listen

Significance of the Illustration

God showed Amos a basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1) – why summer fruit?
Summer fruit was what was gathered at the end of the season – indicates that the season was over
What season was over? … the season of God’s patience toward the people (Amos 8:2)
A terrible destruction was coming (Amos 8:3)

Why Judgment Was Coming

Whenever God punished His people, He always made it clear as to why they were being punished (Amos 3:7) – so why were the people being punished?
They oppressed the poor (Amos 8:4; 2:6; 4:1; 5:11-12)
They saw religion as a burden (Amos 8:5-6; cf. Malachi 1:13) – it was a distraction from what they preferred to be doing
They were arrogant (Amos 8:7) – man must recognize his place before God (Psalm 8:3-4) and among his fellow man (Proverbs 22:2)
They rejected the word of God (Amos 8:12; 5:10) – they didn’t know where to look for it because they rejected it
They were idolatrous (Amos 8:14; 7:9)

Famine Was Coming

With the end of the season of God’s patience came the end of His revelation to them (Amos 8:11) – the people rejected God’s word so God was going to quit reaching out to them
Eventually they would realize that they were missing something & would seek for it, but they would not find it (Amos 8:12)
The beautiful virgins & young men would fall (Amos 8:13) – those in the prime of life would not be spared; without the word of God to nourish us, we cannot survive (1 Timothy 4:6)

Conclusion