Amos 8

Amos 8
One more sign was given to the prophet (verse 1), a token that Israel’s summer was past, her fruit was gathered; and as God looked at it, He said, “The end is come upon My people Israel.” (Compare with Genesis 6:1313And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:13)). The songs of the present would soon give place to howlings of misery, of woe, when the long-promised judgment of this people should take place. There would then be no word of complaint against God; the many dead would be cast out in silence. There can be no complaint at the just judgment of Jehovah when it falls.
One more word of warning from Him Who reads the thoughts and intents of the human heart is given in verses 4-6; but would the hearers listen, and humble themselves? “Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob, Certainly I will never forget any of their works!”
Verses 8 to 14 and chapter 9:1-10 express in striking language the judgment to fall on Israel; part of it is as yet unexecuted, for God has not visited His earthly people to the full measure for their sins. Isaiah 17 and 28, Jeremiah 30, Joel 2 and Zechariah 13:8-98And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:8‑9) may be referred to among many passages relating to future judgments upon the earthly people of God; Ezekiel 20:33-3833As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. 37And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 20:33‑38) gives the particular dealing with the ten tribes of Israel, who, unlike the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, will be punished outside of the land of their inheritance.
In verse 8, the “flood” is the river of Egypt, the Nile, comparison being made of the promised day of trouble with the annual rising of that stream, “and it shall surge and sink down, as the river of Egypt” (JND) (See also chapter 9:5). The word of God was despised, and His prophets were rejected; the people were, in retribution, to suffer for lack of that divine guidance they had refused (verses 11-14).