Amos 9:1-10, Complete But Not Utter Destruction

One of the consistent themes of the prophets is the preservation of the remnant. When God brings complete destruction, He nevertheless preserves some Israelites with whom to fulfill His covenant of them being His people and He their God.

9:1 Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, “Strike the tops of the Temple columns, so that the foundation will shake. Bring down the roof on the heads of the people below. I will kill with the sword those who survive. No one will escape!

2 “Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down. 3 Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them. 4 Even if their enemies drive them into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them.”

5 The Sovereign Yahweh of Heaven’s Armies, touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn. The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime, and then it sinks again. 6 Yahweh’s home reaches up to the heavens, while its foundation is on the earth. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. Yahweh is his name!

7 “Are you Israelites more important to me than the Ethiopians?” asks Yahweh. “I brought Israel out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and led the Arameans out of Kir.

8 “I, the Sovereign Yahweh, am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,” says Yahweh. 9 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. 10 But all the sinners will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’

Worship at the true temple of Israel in Jerusalem did not permit the people to enter the temple. Only the high priest could do that. Perhaps the false temple in Samaria did allow people to enter, but Amos is speaking metaphorically of the people of Israel as worshipers of a false god being destroyed in their “temple” as it collapsed on them. There would be a collapse of wrong worship in Israel.

The complete nature of God’s judgment on His people is measured by all the places they could possibly hide being reached by His hand of retribution, even Sheol (Hades), the place of the dead. Yahweh is in control of all the elements as Creator of all, and He cannot be thwarted.

If the Israelites think that Yahweh will spare them because they are more precious than any nation, they are mistaken. Yes, He brought them powerfully out of Egypt and into Canaan, with many miracles. But He was also guiding all nations in their development. Israel is not getting a pass.

But even though His judgment will be complete, not every Israelite will die. Yahweh will preserve a remnant with whom to fulfill His purposes for Israel. Like a sieve sifts out the stuff you don’t want so you only have the “true kernel,” so God is sifting the nations and Israel to remove the sinners, the ones who confidently think they will be ok. It is only the righteous in Israel who will come out ok.

God is justly discriminating in His judgment.