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"I saw the Lord standing by the altar"

Text: Amos 9:1

THE FIFTH VISION

The fifth and last vision was carefully noted by Amos. The Lord was standing beside an altar of a temple.

“I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:
‘Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,
And break them on the heads of them all.
I will slay the last of them with the sword.
He who flees from them shall not get away,
And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.'”
Amos 9:1

1. “I saw the Lord standing by the altar”

a) This could not be a reference to the temple in Jerusalem.

b) Amos was sent by the Lord to minister in Israel.

c) There were many temples in Israel.

d) The most likely reference would be the altar where the king himself worshipped at.

e) This would be the temple at Bethel (Amos 7:10 – Amaziah was the priest there).

2. “And He said”

a) This was a solemn judgment by the Lord.

b) This judgment follows what the Lord had already declared in Amos 8:2.

c) This statement confirmed the sentence uttered previously.

d) The destruction of Israel would also include the false worship system of the nation.

3. The destruction of the temple itself

a) The doorposts and thresholds would be struck.

b) The temple would collapse on the people.

c) We are reminded of the destruction of a temple of the Philistines by Judge Samson (Judges 16:28-30).

d) The worshippers would be killed when the temple collapsed!

4. “I will slay the last of them with the sword”

a) This would be a prediction of enemies who would destroy Israel.

b) They would also destroy the temple at Bethel.

c) Their sword would kill those who escaped the destruction of the temple at Bethel.

d) No one would escape the slaughter that the enemies (Assyrians) had planned.

The solemn will of God was prophesied by the prophet Amos. It was a sobering word to proclaim!