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| 1 Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. |
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| 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. |
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| 3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. |
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| 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
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O ye – An aristocracy of brains and wealth instead of the former aristocracy of heredity. D309
Swallow up the needy – Seeking to hold them down to bare subsistence. D309
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| 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? |
The ephah – The measure. R2357:2
And the shekel – The price. R2357:2
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| 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? |
And sell – And sell them. R2357:2
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| 7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. |
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| 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. |
It shall rise up – A new battle has begun on the part of the rich for the maintenance and increase of their wealth and power, and on the part of the lower classes for the right to labor and enjoy the moderate comforts of life. D308, D309
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| 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: |
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| 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. |
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| 11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: |
Will send a famine – The 1260 years of Papal supremacy. B256
Began 539 AD, when ecclesiastical power attained persecuting ability, and ended 1799 AD, as its persecutions came to an end. R5742:1, R234:6, R389:2*, R491:5
In another sense, the 1260 years from 325 AD, the Council of Nice, to 1585 AD. R5742:1
A spiritual famine. R5993:3, R557:3
A hunger and thirst for the truth--the bread of life and the water of life. OV259:4, R263:3; R3334:4; CR343:1
Resulting in nominal spiritual Israel's being in a dilapidated condition. R4923:1
The true-hearted are starving. R5063:1
Resulting in a lack of church attendance in fulfilment of this prophecy. R5375:1
"The honorable men (clergy, bishops and popes) are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst." (Isa. 5:13) R1896:3
Starving upon the inconsistencies of human theory and "tradition of the elders." R2808:3
Poor parishioners have been fed upon husks until they are famished. HG712:6
Not with standing Bibles by the millions and general education, so that rich and poor have the ability to read God's Word. OV259:2
Our day is full of philosophies, inventions, sciences (true and false), money-making, financial and theological schemes--but these things do not satisfy even the worldly. R3334:4
Even Babylon's notables are dissatisfied, famished. R2905:1
My people are "perishing for lack of knowledge." (Hos. 4:6) They have "hidden the key R2693:4; OV263:3
Typified by the 3 ½-year drouth in the days of Elijah. (1Kings 18,19) B256; R5993:3, R2326:6, R557:3, R491:5*, R389:2*, R234:6
Applies to Jews as well as to Christians. OV154:T
Of bread – Crying out for the bread of truth instead of the stones of error. R1579:2
Nor a thirst – "Because the people have no knowledge." (Isa. 5:13) they are consumed with th R2904:6, R1896:3
Illustrated by the large demand for truth literature, especially the Photodrama Scenario. R5618:6*
Hearing – Understanding. OV154:T, HG317:2
The words of the LORD – The message of God's love and of his plan. CR343:3
The necessary thing to do is to resume Bible study and that without our creedal spectacles. R4923:2
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| 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. |
From sea to sea – There is a famine in every denomination, in every part of the world. OV259:5
They – The Jews. Q269:2
Shall not find it – While today the Lord could feed the hungry Israelites indeed without our aid, let us gratefully thank him for the privilege of being co-workers in any capacity. R2644:4
Because they seek not where alone it is to be found. OV260:2
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| 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. |
Faint for thirst – Increasing intelligence on every hand has awakened our reasoning faculties along religious lines, and the result is the gnawing of hunger in our hearts. OV259:3
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| 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. |
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