Amos 8:7
The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget any of their deeds.
The LORD has sworn
This phrase underscores the seriousness and irrevocability of the message that follows. In Hebrew, the word for "sworn" is "נִשְׁבַּע" (nishba), which conveys a solemn oath. In ancient Near Eastern culture, an oath was binding and unbreakable, often invoking divine witnesses. Here, it emphasizes God's unchanging nature and His commitment to justice. The use of "LORD" (YHWH) highlights His covenant relationship with Israel, reminding them of His authority and their accountability to Him.

by the Pride of Jacob
This expression is unique and carries deep significance. "Pride" in Hebrew is "גָּאוֹן" (ga'on), which can mean majesty or excellence. "Jacob" refers to the nation of Israel, descended from the patriarch Jacob. Historically, this phrase can be seen as an ironic reference to Israel's misplaced confidence in their own strength and prosperity, rather than in God. It serves as a reminder that true pride and glory belong to God alone, and any human pride is ultimately subject to His judgment.

I will never forget
The Hebrew root for "forget" is "שָׁכַח" (shakach), which implies a deliberate overlooking or neglect. God's declaration that He will "never forget" signifies His perfect memory and justice. In the context of Israel's sins, it is a sobering reminder that their actions have lasting consequences. This phrase assures the reader of God's omniscience and His commitment to holding His people accountable, reinforcing the theme of divine justice prevalent throughout the book of Amos.

any of their deeds
The term "deeds" translates from the Hebrew "מַעֲשֶׂה" (ma'aseh), which encompasses actions, works, or practices. In the historical context of Amos, Israel's deeds included social injustice, idolatry, and neglect of the covenant. This phrase serves as a warning that God observes all actions, both public and private. It challenges believers to live righteously, knowing that God sees and remembers all, and it encourages a life of integrity and faithfulness to His commands.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who is just and righteous, and who holds His people accountable for their actions.

2. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to the Northern Kingdom of Israel during a time of prosperity and moral decay.

3. The Pride of Jacob
A term that can refer to God Himself, emphasizing His majesty and the honor due to Him, or it can refer to the land or people of Israel, highlighting their covenant relationship with God.

4. Israel (Northern Kingdom)
The primary audience of Amos's prophecies, characterized by social injustice, idolatry, and complacency during the reign of Jeroboam II.

5. Judgment
The event of divine retribution that Amos warns will come upon Israel due to their persistent sin and failure to uphold God's standards.
Teaching Points
God's Omniscience and Justice
God is fully aware of all actions, both good and evil. His justice ensures that sin does not go unnoticed or unpunished.

The Seriousness of Sin
Sin has consequences, and God’s remembrance of deeds serves as a warning to live righteously and repent from wrongdoing.

Covenant Responsibility
As God's people, Israel had a responsibility to uphold His laws. Believers today are called to live in a way that honors their relationship with God.

The Call to Repentance
God's warnings through prophets like Amos are opportunities for repentance and restoration. We should heed such warnings in our own lives.

The Assurance of God's Word
When God swears by Himself, it underscores the certainty and seriousness of His declarations. We can trust in the reliability of His promises and warnings.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's omniscience impact the way you live your daily life?

2. In what ways can the concept of "The Pride of Jacob" deepen your understanding of God's relationship with His people?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of sin. How did that experience shape your understanding of God's justice?

4. How can the warnings in Amos 8:7 encourage you to pursue a life of repentance and righteousness?

5. Compare Amos 8:7 with another scripture that speaks of God's remembrance of deeds. How do these passages together enhance your understanding of God's character?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 32:4
This verse highlights God's justice and faithfulness, reinforcing the idea that He will not overlook sin.

Psalm 10:11-13
These verses reflect the false belief that God forgets or ignores the deeds of the wicked, contrasting with Amos 8:7's assurance that God remembers.

Hosea 4:1-3
Similar to Amos, Hosea speaks against Israel's unfaithfulness and the resulting consequences, emphasizing God's awareness of their actions.

Jeremiah 14:10
This passage echoes the theme of God remembering the sins of His people and the resulting judgment.
The Mercy of GodJ.R. Thomson Amos 8:7
AvariceHomilistAmos 8:4-10
AvariceD. Thomas Amos 8:4-10
People
Amos, Dan, Ephah, Jacob
Places
Bethel, Egypt, Nile River
Topics
Anything, Certainly, Deeds, Excellence, Excellency, Forget, Glory, Indeed, Jacob, Mind, Oath, Pride, Surely, Sworn, Truly, Works
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 8:7

     5467   promises, divine

Amos 8:4-7

     5350   injustice, hated by God
     5870   greed, condemnation

Amos 8:4-8

     5512   scales and balances
     8716   dishonesty, examples

Amos 8:4-10

     5541   society, negative

Amos 8:4-14

     8807   profanity

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 Scripture

Thoughts 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

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