Amos 9.1-15 contains the last vision of Amos. It speaks of the desolation of the land and the slaughter of the people with none escaping. It closes with the promise of the restoration of the kingdom of God.
v 1…I saw the Lord (Adonai) standing beside the altar (the pagan altar at Bethel) and he said, “Smite the capital (the lintel of the temple/house there) so that the thresholds will shake (signifying destruction), and break them on the heads of all of them (as the building collapses on the heads of the people assembled)! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword (Assyrians). They will not have a fugitive who will flee or a refugee who will escape (and save his life).
v 2…Though they dig into Sheol (the deepest depth), from there shall my hand take them: though they ascend to heaven (the summit of the highest mountains), from there I will bring them down (no escape anywhere).
v 3…And though they hide in the summit of Carmel (one of the highest mountains with trees and caves), I will search them out and take them from there (by directing the enemies to find them); and though they conceal themselves from my sight on the floor of the sea (get into ships to faraway places, or islands where they think they are safe), from there I will command the serpent (Leviathan who lives in the sea-Psa 74.13-14, 104.2; Isa 27.1; Rev 13.1 and this alludes to the False Messiah in the birth-pains; also a term for Ha Satan-Rev 12.9; 1 Tim 1.20).
v 4…And though they go into captivity before their enemies (hoping to surrender to save their lives), from there I will command the sword that it slay them, I will set my eye (constant observation) against them for evil and not for good (so escape is futile).”
v 5…The Lord God of hosts (Adoani Yehovah ha Tzavaot), the one (he is the cause) who touched the land so that it melts (figurative language for destruction-2 Pet 3.10; Zech 14.12; Nahum 1.5; Exo 15.15; Psa 46.6) and all those who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises up like the Nile (when it floods) and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.
v 6…The one (Yehovah) who builds his upper chambers (staircase to ascend) into the heavens and founded his vaulted dome (the firmament) over the earth, he who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth (the water cycle), the Lord (Yehovah) is his name (and the cause).
v 7…Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to me (far away from the knowledge of God), O sons of Israel (Jer 13.23-the Ethiopian could not change his skin color and Israel cannot change from their evil)?” declares the Lord. Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphor (Crete) and the Syrians from Kir (in Media-since they broke the covenant, Israel has become like these nations that God has brought from other lands to occupy where they are now)?
v 8…Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom (directing his judgments on them), and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob (the believing remnant to whom were the promises that were made to Jacob-Rom 9.1-5),” declares the Lord.
v 9…For behold (take note and see), I am commanding, and I will shake the house of Jacob among the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve (to remove the chaff), but not a kernel (believer) will fall on the ground (or perish forever, not a hair on their head will fall).
v 10…All the sinners (chataim) of my people will die by the sword, those who say, “The calamity will not overtake or confront us.”
v 11…In that day (“B’yamim” and a term for when the Messiah comes) I will raise up (bring back out of captivity to their own land) the fallen booth (“sukkah” and a term alluding to the Messianic Kingdom) of David (a king will sit on the throne from his line), and will wall up its breaches (caused by all the division-Ezek 37.11-28); I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;
v 12..that they (believing Israel) may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name (this was seen by Torah-based believers in Yeshua as a prophecy that would bring in non-Jews under the mishkan or “booth” of David-Acts 15.13-21; but some like the Zealots and Beit Shammai in the first century did not want non-Jews unless they were circumcised, meaning converted, to become Jewish-Acts 15.1; Acts 22.21-23; and the basis for the book of Galatians),” declares the Lord who does this.
v 13…Behold (take note), the days are coming (in the Messianic Kingdom or the Atid Lavo),” declares the Lord, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed (speaks of speedy growth and abundance)’ when the mountains will drip with sweet wine (large quantities), and the hills will be dissolved (looking like they are melting as though they are dissolving due to the abundant streams of wine pouring down).
v 14…Also, I will restore the captivity (return of the exiles) of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live (inhabit them), they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit (this planting denotes their firm establishment in the land, with “deep roots”; this alludes back to 2 Sam 7.10 with the planting begun by David will be completed by the raising up of the fallen booth of David and the Messianic Kingdom firmly established forever, with no fear of captivity ever again, as seen in the next verse).
v 15…I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out of the land which I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
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