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| 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. |
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| 2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. |
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| 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. |
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| 4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: |
Three years – Three Days - NASB, RVIC, DARBY, JPS |
| 5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. |
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| 6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
I – God
Cleanness of teeth – Indicating no food has been in their mouth, thus this is idiomatic for a lack of food.
Amos 8:9
Cause the sun to go down at noon – The light of the Gospel will not shine brightly, even during the presence of the Sun of Righteousness (Our returned Lord Jesus.)
I will darken the earth – God will permit darkness to come on those who will not see.
In the clear day – The term "clear day" means "bright" or "luminary," indicating the light of the Gospel is shining bright and yet the symbolic earth ("organized society under religious restraint") will not receive it.
In addition to the rather obvious symbolical references here there is yet another interesting literal fulfillment of this prophecy.
Br. Julian T. Gray explains this in his work "Which Is the True Chronology."
If we consider this from its literal standpoint, what clearly is being described is a Solar Eclipse. When we consider the time frame (not speaking of the end of the Gospel Age) it seems clear that there was only one eclipse of the Sun in that region during that time, i.e., the one recorded by the Babylonians as having taken place June 15, 763 B.C.
Br. Gray goes through the setting and explains how this lines up with biblical events and with history. He then concludes by comparing which of the various Bible chronologies match this astronomical event. - There is only one. The chronology used by Pastor Russell as presented to us in "The Time is at Hand." |
| 7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. |
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| 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
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| 9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
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| 10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
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| 11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
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| 12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. |
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| 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
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