by Wells, Steve
(2.25) “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
(2.26) “Praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.”
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
(2.30-31) God will show off all his magic tricks. Blood, fire, smoke, eclipses.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
(2.30) “I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.”
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
(2.31) “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” These “signs” were a lot more impressive before the causes of solar and lunar eclipses were understood.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
(2.32) “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.”
321 Will those who call on the Lord be delivered?
JOEL 3
3 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
(3.2) “They … parted my land.” On January 5, 2006, Pat Robertson linked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s recent stroke to God’s wrath, saying: “In the book of Joel, the prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has ‘enmity against those who divide my land.’” Although he didn’t quote chapter and verse, Joel 3.2 is probably what he was referring to, though his interpretation of that verse is a bit less than “very clear” to me.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
(3.8) “I will sell your sons and your daughters … for the Lord hath spoken it.”
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
(3.10) “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.”
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
(3.14-16) The day of the Lord is near. You’ll know it’s here when you see all the earthquakes and eclipses.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
(3.14) “For the day of the LORD is near.”
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
(3.15) “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
(3.16) “The LORD also shall roar… and the heavens and the earth shall shake.”
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
(3.17a, 21) “I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.”
Where does God live?
(3.17b) “Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.” Jerusalem will be “holy” when there are no non-Jews (and/or non-Christians) in Jerusalem.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
(3.19) “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.”
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
AMOS
I have sent among you the pestilence … your young men have I slain with the sword … I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils, yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. — Amos 4.10
Most people don’t know this, but God is a pyromaniac. In the first two chapters of Amos alone, he sets, or threatens to set, seven cities on fire. He seems quite proud of it too, saying, “shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3.6)
Highlights:
The divine pyromaniac threatens to “send fire unto” Hazel, Gaza, Tyrus, Teman, Rabbah, Moab, and Judah. 1.4-2.5
“A man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my [God’s] holy name.” 2.7
God killed the Amorite giants, who were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. 2.9
“He that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.” 2.16
All evil comes from God. 3.6
God afflicted the Israelites with “cleanness of teeth” (famine), drought, blasting, and mildew. He killed them with pestilence, slaughtered them with the sword, and “made the stink of their camps come up into their noses.” And yet they still didn’t return to him. What is wrong with people? 4.6-11
Woe is everyone (especially musicians and wine drinkers). 6.1-6
God burned up the earth and sea, and then he repented for it. 7.4-6
He stands on a wall holding a plumb line while he talks to Amos. 7.7
“Thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughte
rs shall fall by the sword … and thou shalt die in a polluted land.” 7.17
God shows Amos a basket of summer fruit and tells him that the end has come. 8.1-2
“There shall be many dead bodies in every place.” 8.3.
“I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.” 8.9
“I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head.” 8.10
Amos sees God standing on the altar. 9.1
God will kill “the last of them with the sword,” and any that try to escape by diving to the bottom of the sea will be bitten, at God’s command, by a serpent. God will set his “eyes upon them for evil, not for good.” 9.1-4
AMOS 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
(1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2.1, 4. 6) God says there are three or four reasons for him to punish various people, he just can’t remember which it is.
3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
(1.3) “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
(1.4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2.2, 5) “I will send a fire unto …” The divine pyromaniac threatens to “send a fire” into Hazael, Gaza, Tyrus, Teman, and Rabbah.
4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
(1.4) “I will send a fire into the house of Hazael.”
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.
(1.5) “I will … cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven … and the people of Syria shall go into captivity.”
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
(1.6) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
(1.7) “I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza.”
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.
(1.8) “I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod … and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord.”
9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
(1.9) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.
(1.10) “I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus.”
11 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
(1.11) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
(1.12) “I will send a fire upon Teman.”
13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
(1.13) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
(1.14) “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah.”
15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.
AMOS 2
2 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
(2.1) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
(2.2) “I will send a fire upon Moab … and Moab shall die.”
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.
(2.3) “I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.”
4 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
(2.4) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
(2.5) “I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
(2.6) “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.”
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
(2.7) “A man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name.”
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
(2.9) “Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks.” God killed the Amorite giants, who were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. (God’s 28th killing: Dt 2.20-21)
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
15 Neither shall he
stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.
(2.16) “He that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.”
AMOS 3
3 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
(3.2) “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” God punishes the Israelites because he knows them so well.
3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
(3.6) “Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” (All evil comes from God.)
294 Is God the creator of evil?
7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.