"In that day," declares the Lord GOD, "the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!" In that dayThis phrase is a prophetic marker often used in the Hebrew Bible to denote a specific time of divine intervention or judgment. The Hebrew term "בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא" (bayyom hahu) suggests a future event that is both certain and significant. In the context of Amos, it refers to the impending judgment on Israel due to their social injustices and idolatry. This phrase serves as a reminder of God's sovereignty over time and history, emphasizing that His plans will come to fruition. declares the Lord GOD
The Hebrew "נְאֻם אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה" (ne'um Adonai YHWH) is a solemn affirmation of divine authority. "Adonai" signifies the Lord as Master, while "YHWH" is the covenant name of God, underscoring His eternal and unchanging nature. This declaration assures the reader of the certainty and seriousness of the prophecy, as it comes directly from the highest authority. the songs in the temple
The Hebrew word for "songs" is "שִׁירוֹת" (shirot), which typically refers to joyful or worshipful music. The "temple" (הֵיכָל, heikal) was the center of religious life in Israel, a place of worship and celebration. The transformation of these songs into wailing signifies a profound reversal of fortune and a disruption of normal religious practices, highlighting the severity of God's judgment. will turn to wailing
The Hebrew "יֵהָפְכוּ לְיֵלָלָה" (yehapkhu leyelalah) indicates a complete transformation from joy to sorrow. "Wailing" (יֵלָלָה, yelalah) is a term often associated with mourning and lamentation. This change reflects the deep anguish and despair that will accompany the judgment, as the people realize the consequences of their actions. Many will be the corpses
The phrase "רַבִּ֥ים הַפְּגָרִ֖ים" (rabbim hapgarim) conveys the magnitude of the devastation. "Many" (רַבִּים, rabbim) emphasizes the widespread nature of the calamity, while "corpses" (הַפְּגָרִים, hapgarim) starkly depicts the physical reality of death. This imagery serves as a sobering reminder of the cost of sin and the seriousness of divine judgment. strewn in silence everywhere
The Hebrew "הִשְׁלִ֥יךְ בַּסֵּֽתֶר" (hishlikh baseter) suggests bodies cast aside without ceremony or honor. "Silence" (בַּסֵּֽתֶר, baseter) underscores the absence of life and the cessation of normal activities. This silence is both literal and metaphorical, representing the end of joy, community, and the presence of God. The image of bodies "strewn everywhere" conveys chaos and the totality of the judgment, leaving a powerful impression of the consequences of turning away from God. Persons / Places / Events 1. AmosA prophet from Tekoa, a small town in Judah, who was called by God to deliver messages of judgment to Israel. 2. The Lord GODThe sovereign and covenant-keeping God of Israel, who speaks through His prophet Amos. 3. The TempleThe central place of worship in Israel, where songs of praise and worship were offered to God. 4. IsraelThe Northern Kingdom, which is the primary audience of Amos's prophecies, facing impending judgment due to their sins. 5. Day of JudgmentA prophetic event when God’s judgment will be executed, leading to mourning and devastation. Teaching Points The Reality of Divine JudgmentGod's judgment is real and inevitable for those who persist in sin. Amos 8:3 serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of turning away from God. The Transformation of WorshipThe transformation from songs to wailing in the temple highlights the futility of empty religious rituals without true repentance and obedience. The Silence of DespairThe silence following the devastation signifies the complete and overwhelming nature of God's judgment, leaving no room for excuses or denial. Call to RepentanceThis passage urges believers to examine their lives and turn back to God, avoiding the fate of those who face His judgment unprepared. Hope in RestorationWhile Amos 8:3 focuses on judgment, the broader biblical account assures us of God’s desire for restoration and redemption for those who repent. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the transformation of songs to wailing in the temple challenge our understanding of worship and its sincerity? 2. In what ways can we ensure that our religious practices are not merely rituals but are rooted in genuine faith and obedience? 3. How does the theme of silence in Amos 8:3 relate to other biblical instances of silence in the face of God's judgment? 4. What steps can we take to heed the warnings of judgment in our personal lives and communities today? 5. How can the message of Amos 8:3 inspire us to share the hope of repentance and restoration with others? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 13:6-9This passage also speaks of a day of the Lord bringing destruction and wailing, emphasizing the seriousness of divine judgment. Jeremiah 7:34Similar to Amos 8:3, this verse describes the cessation of joy and gladness in the cities of Judah due to impending judgment. Lamentations 2:10Reflects the silence and mourning that follows God’s judgment, paralleling the silence mentioned in Amos 8:3. Revelation 18:22-23Describes the fall of Babylon with the cessation of music and joy, echoing the themes of judgment and silence. Zephaniah 1:7Calls for silence before the Lord in the context of the day of the Lord, similar to the silence in Amos 8:3. People Amos, Dan, Ephah, JacobPlaces Bethel, Egypt, Nile RiverTopics Affirmation, Bodies, Carcases, Cast, Corpses, Cries, Dead, Declares, Everywhere, Flung, Forth, Howled, Howlings, Hush, King's, Pain, Palace, Says, Silence, Songs, Songstresses, Sovereign, Temple, Throw, Turn, Wailing, WailingsDictionary of Bible Themes Amos 8:3 7960 singing Library Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThoughts Upon Worldly Riches. Sect. I.
HE that seriously considers the Constitution of the Christian Religion, observing the Excellency of its Doctrines, the Clearness of its Precepts, the Severity of its Threatnings, together with the Faithfulness of its Promises, and the Certainty of its Principles to trust to; such a one may justly be astonished, and admire what should be the reason that they who profess this not only the most excellent, but only true Religion in the World, should notwithstanding be generally as wicked, debauched and …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life Jesus Raises the Widow's Son.
(at Nain in Galilee.) ^C Luke VII. 11-17. ^c 11 And it came to pass soon afterwards [many ancient authorities read on the next day], that he went into a city called Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great multitude. [We find that Jesus had been thronged with multitudes pretty continuously since the choosing of his twelve apostles. Nain lies on the northern slope of the mountain, which the Crusaders called Little Hermon, between twenty and twenty-five miles south of Capernaum, and about …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Second Coming of Christ.
^A Matt. XXIV. 29-51; ^B Mark XIII. 24-37; ^C Luke XXI. 25-36. ^b 24 But in those days, ^a immediately after the { ^b that} ^a tribulation of those days. [Since the coming of Christ did not follow close upon the destruction of Jerusalem, the word "immediately" used by Matthew is somewhat puzzling. There are, however, three ways in which it may be explained: 1. That Jesus reckons the time after his own divine, and not after our human, fashion. Viewing the word in this light, the passage at II. Pet. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Scriptural Predictions of an Apostasy.
Who has not wondered, as they read of the Savior's and the apostles' warnings of "false teachers," grievous wolves, delusive powers, and deceptive lights, what it all could mean? These things certainly are not without meaning. Jesus says, "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they …
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day A Serious Persuasive to Such a Method of Spending Our Days as is Represented in the Former Chapter.
1, 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too indolent a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge such a life as that under consideration.--3. It is therefore enforced, from its being apparently reasonable, considering ourselves as the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blond of Christ.--4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our comfort in life.--5. From the influence it will have to promote our usefulness to others.--6. From its efficacy to make afflictions lighter.--7. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Evening Light
This chapter is an article written by the author many years after she had received light on the unity of the church. It will acquaint the reader with what is meant by the expression "evening light." "At evening time it shall be light." "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light" (Zechariah 14:6,7). The expression …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith Second Great Group of Parables.
(Probably in Peræa.) Subdivision D. Parable of the Lost Son. ^C Luke XV. 11-32. ^c 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons [These two sons represent the professedly religious (the elder) and the openly irreligious (the younger). They have special reference to the two parties found in the first two verses of this chapter --the Pharisees, the publicans and sinners]: 12 and the younger of them [the more childish and easily deceived] said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Figurative Language of Scripture.
1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. 84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys under the figure of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts 15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be embodied …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation Concerning Christian Liberty
Christian faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation; while he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—Concerning Christian Liberty The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments This Doctrine Confirmed by Proofs from Scripture.
1. Some imagine that God elects or reprobates according to a foreknowledge of merit. Others make it a charge against God that he elects some and passes by others. Both refuted, 1. By invincible arguments; 2. By the testimony of Augustine. 2. Who are elected, when, in whom, to what, for what reason. 3. The reason is the good pleasure of God, which so reigns in election that no works, either past or future, are taken into consideration. This proved by notable declarations of one Savior and passages …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Of the Incapacity of an Unregenerate Person for Relishing the Enjoyments of the Heavenly World.
John iii. 3. John iii. 3. --Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God. IN order to demonstrate the necessity of regeneration, of which I would fain convince not only your understandings, but your consciences, I am now proving to you, that without it, it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God; and how weighty a consideration that is I am afterwards to represent. That it is thus impossible, the words in the text do indeed sufficiently prove: but for the further illustration …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Links Amos 8:3 NIVAmos 8:3 NLTAmos 8:3 ESVAmos 8:3 NASBAmos 8:3 KJV
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