Knowing The Word in the Minor Prophets: Darkness and Restoration, Among 8:9-10; 9:11-15

The darkness described in chapter 8 of Amos is reminiscent of the darkness on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion from twelve noon till three o’clock. Yet in spite of this act of judgment, there is a time of hope for the restoration of Israel in the resurrection of Jesus and his mission, through his disciples, to the whole world.

8:9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

9:11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallenand repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,”says the Lord your God.

Father, thank you for judging the sins of the world at the cross and your promise of restoration through resurrection life.