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Amos 8

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1 Thus hath the Lord Jehovah shewed me, and, lo, a basket of summer-fruit.

2 And He saith, `What art thou seeing, Amos?' and I say, `A basket of summer-fruit.' And Jehovah saith unto me: `The end hath come unto My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.

3 And howled have songstresses of a palace in that day, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Many [are] the carcases, into any place throw -- hush!

4 Hear this, ye who are swallowing up the needy, To cause to cease the poor of the land,

5 Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit.

6 To purchase with money the poor, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Yea, the refuse of the pure corn we sell.

7 Sworn hath Jehovah by the excellency of Jacob: `I forget not for ever any of their works.

8 For this doth not the land tremble, And mourned hath every dweller in it? And come up as a flood hath all of it. And it hath been cast out, and hath sunk, Like the flood of Egypt.

9 And it hath come to pass in that day, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, I have caused the sun to go in at noon, And caused darkness on the land in a day of light,

10 And have turned your festivals to mourning, And all your songs to lamentation, And caused sackcloth to come up on all loins, And on every head -- baldness, And made it as a mourning [of] an only one, And its latter end as a day of bitterness.

11 Lo, days are coming, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I have sent a famine into the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water But of hearing the words of Jehovah.

12 And they have wandered from sea unto sea, And from north even unto east, They go to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, And they do not find.

13 In that day faint do the fair virgins, And the young men, with thirst.

14 Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen -- and rise not again!'

Exploring the Meaning of Amos 8      

Napsal(a) Helen Kennedy

In verse 1, Amos experienced a vision - a basket of summer fruit - a metaphor for abundance. Fruit is commonly interpreted as a thing coming to completion. Since the fruit was shown by the Lord in a vision, it stands for an abundance of spiritual things coming to fruition, or coming into existence.

When in verse 2, the Lord asks Amos what he has seen, it indicates the depth and importance of the vision of spiritual prosperity. The exact opposite of this spiritual abundance is shown by Jehovah saying, “The end is coming upon my people.... I will not again pass by them any more.”

If it was just a warning, it would mean the end might happen. Here, since Jehovah is stating it as a fact, it shows that the old way of seeing the Lord’s truth among the people (the Church) is actually ending.

Verse 3 is self-explanatory: “And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day . . . the dead bodies shall be many . . . .” Throwing the dead bodies out in silence shows the grim nature of the thing being done.

Verse 4 depicts the ruining, or making impure, of good and truth by those who “swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail.” The extent of this devastation can be seen by the inner meaning of the word “poor” as “those who do not have the knowledges of good and truth but still long for them” (Secrets of Heaven 10227:19).

The “new moon” in verse 5 means “serving the Lord with gladness (Secrets of Heaven 7093:5), and asking “When will the New Moon be past?” shows they are finding no joy in serving the Lord. (See Hosea 2:11)

Wanting the “sabbath” gone means essentially the same thing. “That we may sell grain... and set forth wheat,” shows the love of intelligence and wisdom coming from themselves, since these grains need the hand of man to grow them. The “Ephah and shekel” are a measurement and a means of paying, “and dealing falsely with balances of deceit,” shows the intention to deceive people, inserting seeming truths devised by humans in place of truth given by God.

In verse 6, “That we may buy the poor for silver,” the poor symbolize those who long for truths and might fall for any shiny thing. Then, in the phrase “And the needy for a pair of shoes,” the needy represent people who lack good (Apocalypse Revealed 95).

In context, “silver” and “shoes” show the desire to mislead by money and by comfortable natural things, where “shoes” mean things that are corporeal or that have to do with our bodies (Secrets of Heaven 3761).

“Even sell the bad wheat?” Instead of dealing falsely and with deceit as in the previous chapter, here the meaning is the desire to give bad food to people who long for truth, and that the bad food will cause spiritual sickness.

In verse 7 the Lord swears by the excellency of Jacob. Since excellency can only be attributed to the Lord, and this chapter is dealing with the poor being misguided, what the Lord has sworn to, or is dedicated to, must be truths or knowledges that teach about Himself. The Lord “not forgetting any of their works,” shows that He always knows the things the evil are doing wrong.

In verse 8 the effect evil has is seen by making “the land tremble,” badly enough to make the people “mourn.” In the next verse the treacherous deeds of the people are shown as rising up, being troubled, and sinking again, comparing it to the annual flood of “the River of Egypt” or the Nile. Instead of the effect of bringing life-giving silt, the rise and sinking of treachery and deceit is said to be troubled.

Causing “the sun to go down at noon” just when it should be at its height gives an image of the polar opposite of what it should be (verse 9). To “Darken the earth in the clear day,” is another image of things being troubled and the opposite of the true spiritual state, the state where light abounds and good and evil are seen in clarity.

“Your feasts into mourning”, “songs into lamentation”, “sackcloth” instead of clothing, and “baldness” in place of hair, is a list that shows how evil continues to build up as a time of judgement draws nearer.

“Mourning as for an only son,” is a state of internal grief, grief that is inconsolable. Those who previously could “buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes,” (see verse 6) are “being reduced from a state of opulence to want and misery” (Apocalypse Revealed 765.)

Verse 11 is a place where the inner meaning comes through clearly in the literal text. Jehovah will send “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.” Jehovah says in a very clear way that natural food and water are not meant, but hearing His words. The lack of hearing and obeying truths from Jehovah, or the Lord, if not reversed, moves toward the death of the spirit because, as the end draws near, the evil will suffer more and more.

To “wander from sea to sea” and “run to and fro” in verse 12 give a picture of the frantic unrestful nature of the evil who can find no true peace because they have spurned the Sabbath (see verse 5). Unable to find the “word of Jehovah,” they live in this state of unpeacefulness. It’s not that they can’t see the Word of Jehovah, but that they can’t find any meaning in it (see previous verse.)

“Fair virgins” and “young men” that “faint for thirst” in verse 13 show that no new growth in anything spiritual is possible because it faints and dies from lack of truth, “thirst” being “to perish from want of truths” (Apocalypse Revealed 956).

Verse 14 shows that the final end has come. The “Sin of Samaria” means people who worshipped the Syrian goddess, Ashima; therefore, those who worship false gods.

“Beersheba” and “Dan” were boundaries or ways to enter the land of Canaan, but here they mean exiting from it, rejecting the truths of faith that lead to heaven (Secrets of Heaven 3923:10).

“They shall fall, and never rise up again,” shows the complete end of any good and truth with the person, or of the Church.

Churches die. The people in them start out being willing to receive true ideas from the Lord, and to put them into practice. But as time goes by, and people stop listening, and start to worship false gods, or their own intelligence, the churches wither.

In Amos 8, the Israelitish church is dying. Its end is stated by Jehovah. But, look back at the beginning of the chapter, to the basket of summer fruit. The Lord can take whatever remains of good and truth in a people, and start a new church. The repeated promise in the Biblical prophets is the promise of the Messiah, the Christ... who would found this new church.

The same thing happens in each of us. Our false gods can kill our spiritual lives. But, there is a remnant -- the embers of good and truth -- and if we turn to the Lord, a new life can be kindled in us. And it can be fruitful.

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Exploring the Meaning of Amos 8      

Napsal(a) Helen Kennedy

In verse 1, Amos experienced a vision - a basket of summer fruit - a metaphor for abundance. Fruit is commonly interpreted as a thing coming to completion. Since the fruit was shown by the Lord in a vision, it stands for an abundance of spiritual things coming to fruition, or coming into existence.

When in verse 2, the Lord asks Amos what he has seen, it indicates the depth and importance of the vision of spiritual prosperity. The exact opposite of this spiritual abundance is shown by Jehovah saying, “The end is coming upon my people.... I will not again pass by them any more.”

If it was just a warning, it would mean the end might happen. Here, since Jehovah is stating it as a fact, it shows that the old way of seeing the Lord’s truth among the people (the Church) is actually ending.

Verse 3 is self-explanatory: “And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day . . . the dead bodies shall be many . . . .” Throwing the dead bodies out in silence shows the grim nature of the thing being done.

Verse 4 depicts the ruining, or making impure, of good and truth by those who “swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail.” The extent of this devastation can be seen by the inner meaning of the word “poor” as “those who do not have the knowledges of good and truth but still long for them” (Secrets of Heaven 10227:19).

The “new moon” in verse 5 means “serving the Lord with gladness (Secrets of Heaven 7093:5), and asking “When will the New Moon be past?” shows they are finding no joy in serving the Lord. (See Hosea 2:11)

Wanting the “sabbath” gone means essentially the same thing. “That we may sell grain... and set forth wheat,” shows the love of intelligence and wisdom coming from themselves, since these grains need the hand of man to grow them. The “Ephah and shekel” are a measurement and a means of paying, “and dealing falsely with balances of deceit,” shows the intention to deceive people, inserting seeming truths devised by humans in place of truth given by God.

In verse 6, “That we may buy the poor for silver,” the poor symbolize those who long for truths and might fall for any shiny thing. Then, in the phrase “And the needy for a pair of shoes,” the needy represent people who lack good (Apocalypse Revealed 95).

In context, “silver” and “shoes” show the desire to mislead by money and by comfortable natural things, where “shoes” mean things that are corporeal or that have to do with our bodies (Secrets of Heaven 3761).

“Even sell the bad wheat?” Instead of dealing falsely and with deceit as in the previous chapter, here the meaning is the desire to give bad food to people who long for truth, and that the bad food will cause spiritual sickness.

In verse 7 the Lord swears by the excellency of Jacob. Since excellency can only be attributed to the Lord, and this chapter is dealing with the poor being misguided, what the Lord has sworn to, or is dedicated to, must be truths or knowledges that teach about Himself. The Lord “not forgetting any of their works,” shows that He always knows the things the evil are doing wrong.

In verse 8 the effect evil has is seen by making “the land tremble,” badly enough to make the people “mourn.” In the next verse the treacherous deeds of the people are shown as rising up, being troubled, and sinking again, comparing it to the annual flood of “the River of Egypt” or the Nile. Instead of the effect of bringing life-giving silt, the rise and sinking of treachery and deceit is said to be troubled.

Causing “the sun to go down at noon” just when it should be at its height gives an image of the polar opposite of what it should be (verse 9). To “Darken the earth in the clear day,” is another image of things being troubled and the opposite of the true spiritual state, the state where light abounds and good and evil are seen in clarity.

“Your feasts into mourning”, “songs into lamentation”, “sackcloth” instead of clothing, and “baldness” in place of hair, is a list that shows how evil continues to build up as a time of judgement draws nearer.

“Mourning as for an only son,” is a state of internal grief, grief that is inconsolable. Those who previously could “buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes,” (see verse 6) are “being reduced from a state of opulence to want and misery” (Apocalypse Revealed 765.)

Verse 11 is a place where the inner meaning comes through clearly in the literal text. Jehovah will send “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.” Jehovah says in a very clear way that natural food and water are not meant, but hearing His words. The lack of hearing and obeying truths from Jehovah, or the Lord, if not reversed, moves toward the death of the spirit because, as the end draws near, the evil will suffer more and more.

To “wander from sea to sea” and “run to and fro” in verse 12 give a picture of the frantic unrestful nature of the evil who can find no true peace because they have spurned the Sabbath (see verse 5). Unable to find the “word of Jehovah,” they live in this state of unpeacefulness. It’s not that they can’t see the Word of Jehovah, but that they can’t find any meaning in it (see previous verse.)

“Fair virgins” and “young men” that “faint for thirst” in verse 13 show that no new growth in anything spiritual is possible because it faints and dies from lack of truth, “thirst” being “to perish from want of truths” (Apocalypse Revealed 956).

Verse 14 shows that the final end has come. The “Sin of Samaria” means people who worshipped the Syrian goddess, Ashima; therefore, those who worship false gods.

“Beersheba” and “Dan” were boundaries or ways to enter the land of Canaan, but here they mean exiting from it, rejecting the truths of faith that lead to heaven (Secrets of Heaven 3923:10).

“They shall fall, and never rise up again,” shows the complete end of any good and truth with the person, or of the Church.

Churches die. The people in them start out being willing to receive true ideas from the Lord, and to put them into practice. But as time goes by, and people stop listening, and start to worship false gods, or their own intelligence, the churches wither.

In Amos 8, the Israelitish church is dying. Its end is stated by Jehovah. But, look back at the beginning of the chapter, to the basket of summer fruit. The Lord can take whatever remains of good and truth in a people, and start a new church. The repeated promise in the Biblical prophets is the promise of the Messiah, the Christ... who would found this new church.

The same thing happens in each of us. Our false gods can kill our spiritual lives. But, there is a remnant -- the embers of good and truth -- and if we turn to the Lord, a new life can be kindled in us. And it can be fruitful.

Swedenborg

Hlavní výklad ze Swedenborgových prací:

The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 208

Další odkazy Swedenborga k této kapitole:

Arcana Coelestia 1460, 2165, 2723, 2842, 3021, 3081, 3693, ...

Apocalypse Revealed 47, 50, 53, 166, 209, 323, 476, ...

Doctrine of the Lord 4

Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 35

True Christian Religion 689, 707

Odkazy ze Swedenborgových nevydaných prací:

Apocalypse Explained 66, 71, 195, 238, 373, 386, 401, ...

Canons of the New Church 27

Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) 5

De Verbo (The Word) 10, 25

Scriptural Confirmations 4, 9, 56, 75

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The Prophet Amos

Commentary on Amos by Rev. George McCurdy

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Skočit na podobné biblické verše

Genesis 6:13

Deuteronomy 25:15

1 Kings 12:29

Nehemiah 13:15, 18

Job 30:31

Psalms 10:7, 47:5

Proverbs 1:28, 20:23, 24:16

Isaiah 13:10, 15:2, 22:14

Jeremiah 1:11, 12, 13, 6:26, 13:16, 15:9, 24:1, 25:27, 44:21

Lamentations 5:15

Ezekiel 7:2, 6, 22:12

Hosea 2:5, 13, 5:6, 9:7, 12:8

Amos 2:6, 7, 5:1, 2, 5, 6:8, 10, 7:8, 9:5

Micah 1:5, 3:3

Zephaniah 1:7

Zechariah 5:6, 12:10

Matthew 27:45

Revelation 14:18

Významy biblických slov

lord
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

jehovah
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

summer
Summer' signifies the full state of the church, the same as 'noon.'

saith
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

seeing
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...

say
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.

israel
'Israel,' in Jeremiah 23:8, signifies the spiritual natural church. The children of Israel dispersed all the literal sense of the Word by falsities. 'The children...

pass
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...

howled
To howl' signifies grief caused by vastation.

day
The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a...

many
Intellectual things – ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding – are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it’s easier to imagine numbering...

place
'A dry place,' as in Luke 11:24, signifies states of evil and falsity which are in the life of someone who does the work of...

hear
Thanks to modern science, we now understand that hearing actually happens in the brain, not the ears. The ears collect vibrations in the air and...

needy
In most cases, those described as "needy" in the Bible are those who lack true knowledge of the Lord and his teachings, but have a...

poor
The poor, maimed, lame, and blind,' as in Luke 14:21, signify the uninstructed Gentiles who were in lives of good.

land
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.

moon
'A month' has respect to the state of truth in a person. 'A month' signifies a full state. Month,' as in Genesis 29, signifies the...

sabbath
In Exodus 31:13, 'verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep,' signifies continuous holy thought about the union of the Lord’s divine with His human.

open
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.

ephah
The Bible uses a somewhat dizzying array of unfamiliar measurement, leaving translators a choice between being accurate and confusing or inaccurate and clear. Since they...

shekel
'A shekel' signifies the price or estimation of good and truth, and 'half a shekel' signifies the determination of the quantity thereof.

balances
The balances mentioned in Revelation 6:5 signify the estimation of goodness and truth.

deceit
The spiritual meaning of being deceitful is pretty close to the literal meaning: According to the Writings it means using false thinking and logic to...

money
'Silver,' in the internal sense of the Word, signifies truth, but also falsity. 'Silver' means the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from selfhood,...

sandals
In the Word, 'the sole of the foot' and 'the heel' signifies the ultimate natural. 'The shoe' is what clothes the sole of the foot...

sworn
The Lord swearing by himself signifies that divine truth testifies, for He is divine truth itself, and this testifies from itself and means itself. It...

Jacob
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...

forget
To forget, in the internal sense, signifies nothing else but removal and apparent privation.

works
'Works,' as in Genesis 46:33, denote goods, because they are from the will, and anything from the will is either good or evil, but anything...

mourned
In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life....

sunk
The spiritual meaning of "sink" is relatively easy to see: It means to descend into lower spiritual states, especially into states where false reasoning and...

egypt
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.

sun
The 'sun' signifies celestial and spiritual love. The 'sun' in the Word, when referring to the Lord, signifies His divine love and wisdom. Because the...

go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...

noon
'Noon' signifies the full state of the church. 'Noon' signifies wisdom in its most luminous state. 'Noon' denotes a state of light, because the times...

a day
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.

light
In the Word, “light” in the highest sense represents Divine Truth: knowledge, ideas, understanding that come to us from the Lord. In lesser degrees...

turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...

songs
'The sound of musical instruments' corresponds to affections of spiritual and celestial love.

lamentation
The children of Israel represent 'lamentation' by various things which signified some evil of the church among them for which they were punished. When they...

sackcloth
'Being clothed in sackcloth' signifies lamentation because of the devastation of truth in the church. 'Sackcloth,' as in Revelation 6:12, relates to destroyed good.

loins
'Loins' in general, signify love, and when referring to the Lord, divine love. 'Loins' signify the interiors of conjugial love. Loins,' as in Isaiah 11:5,...

head
The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord....

baldness
'A bald head' signifies the Word deprived of the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter.

days
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

coming
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.

the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...

sent
'To send' signifies revealing.

bread
Just as natural food feeds the natural body, so spiritual food feeds the spiritual body. And since our spiritual body is the expression of what...

water
'Waters' signify truths in the natural self, and in the opposite sense, falsities. 'Waters' signify particularly the spiritual parts of a person, or the intellectual...

hearing
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...

words
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

sea
'The sea and the waves roaring' means heresy and controversies in the church and individual.

north
'North' signifies people who are in obscurity regarding truth. North,' in Isaiah 14:31, signifies hell. The North,' as in Jeremiah 3:12, signifies people who are...

seek
The meaning of "to seek" in the Bible is pretty straightforward, but there is a bit of nuance: Swedenborg tells us that in most cases...

the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...

word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

find
Finding, or being found, can have different meanings in the Word, depending on the context. Here are two examples, From Arcana Coelestia 5756, 'Behold, the...

virgins
A ‘virgin’ in the Word means those who are in the Lord’s kingdom. –Secrets of Heaven 3081...

swearing
'To sware' is a binding.

samaria
'The woman of Samaria' signifies the church which would be founded among the Gentiles.

said
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

God
When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is...

dan
The tribe of Dan (Jer. 8:16) signifies truth in its own ultimate degree of order, here truth in the church, which is contained in the...

way
In John 14:6, 'the way is doctrine,' 'the truth' is every thing pertaining to doctrine, and 'the life' is the essential good which is the...

fallen
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...

rise
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...

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 The Prophet Amos
A New Church Bible story explanation for teaching Sunday school. Includes lesson materials for Primary (3-8 years), Junior (9-11 years), Intermediate (12-14 years), Senior (15-17 years) and Adults.
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