LET SUMMER FRUIT
1. When we look at our world we find that the time for
certain things is limited.
2. In this part of
3. If we planted a garden there was a limited period of
time when we could take crops from the ground.
4. Certain flowers can only grow during certain months.
5. Even the snow can only come during a certain time.
6. In Amos 8 we read about a limited period of time.
7. The prophet saw a “basket of summer fruit”
(verse 1).
8. To us this probably doesn’t mean a lot.
9. To Amos this image was significant.
10. This prophet had worked with fig trees (
11. As someone who worked with trees and crops he knew
something about harvesting.
12. He knew that in
13. If things were not ripe by this time they were not
going to ripen.
14. If this crop was not picked and used it could not be
saved.
15. The summer fruit signified the end the end of the
harvest year.
16. The symbolical significance of this fruit basket is
found in verse 2.
17. READ.
18. God said “the end” had come upon “
19. Just as the summer fruit signified the end of the
growing season, this basket meant the end of
20.
TONIGHT WE WANT TO EXPLORE ONE OF THE REASONS WHY GOD SAID THAT HIS PEOPLE HAD TO BE DESTROYED.
A. The reason that is given in the text is almost
unbelievable.
B. Imagine that after tonight’s service you stop by Krogers.
C. You buy a box of cereal.
D. The box says that it contains 22 ounces of cereal.
E. You buy the box believing that 22 ounces are
actually inside the box.
F. The information on the label is wrong.
G. The company that boxed your cereal intentionally
cheated you.
H. There is only 15 ounces in the box and the company
knows this.
I. How would we feel if we paid for 22 ounces but only
got 15?
J. Let’s take this one step further.
K. Suppose that in the manufacturing process some of
the cereal fell on the floor.
L. Rather than waste what had fallen on the floor,
workers swept it up.
M. Along with the dust and dirt the cereal were all
gathered together.
N. This mixture of filth and cereal was then used to
make more boxes of cereal.
O. Thus, the box we buy is 7 ounces short of the 22
ounces.
P. Of the 15 ounces in the box let’s say that 5 of
these ounces are dirt and grime.
Your box contains 7 ounces less than
you thought and some of the 15 ounces is dirt.
2. How would we feel if this is what we bought for
breakfast food?
3. If you think this is far fetched look at the text.
A. We will start with verse 5.
B. This verse describes the businessmen in the days of
Amos.
C. READ 8:5.
D. Have we ever seen people who wanted to worship and
then hurry away?
E. Some may want to zip in for worship and then always
hurry home to watch a ball game.
F. Maybe people stop for worship but are always eager
to leave so they can go out to eat.
G. The people that Amos described couldn’t wait for
worship to be over.
H. Saturday after Saturday it seems that these
businessmen watched the clock.
I. Amos described business owners who didn’t like the
day of worship.
J. On the Sabbath day people didn’t transact business.
K. This meant that the shopkeepers didn’t make any
money on Saturday.
L. It was as if the day of worship was a form of
torture.
M. They found it hard to wait until Sunday.
N. These business people said, “When will the new
moon be gone?”
O. “How much longer before the Sabbath day is over?”
P. We might say these people wanted to hurry up
religion so they could get back to everday life.
4. If we want some draw some lessons from Amos 8 here
is the first one.
5. God does not like a “let’s get it over with”
attitude when we serve Him.
6. Our worship may be short or long.
7. There is no Bible command or example on how long we
are to worship.
8. However, if we come to worship thinking “I sure want
it to be over fast,” that’s wrong.
9. Part of the problem with a “hurry up approach” to
worship is found in Jn.
A. Jesus said worship is to be in “spirit.”
B. Some worship in spirit but it is the wrong spirit.
C. The right spirit says we want to worship God
and we will participate in the service.
D. The wrong spirit says that we want things to be over
with fast so we can do other things.
10. There is a second lesson in Amos 8.
A. At the end of the 5th verse the prophet
described “false balances.”
B. This expression can be illustrated by the field of
archaeology.
C. Those who dig in the dirt have found weights used by
ancient shopkeepers.
D. It has been determined that business owners in the
days of Amos had 2 sets of weights.
E. Suppose that someone in this time period went into a
store.
F. This shopper said she wanted 20 ounces of flour.
G. The shopkeeper took out his 20 ounce stone and put
that stone on the scale.
H. He then poured flour on the other side of the scale.
I. When the sides balanced the customer had her flour.
J. These business people were slick. They were thieves. They were crooks.
K. They would take that 20 ounce stone and hollow out
the bottom.
L. Though a stone was marked as 20 ounces, maybe it
only weighed 13 ounces.
M. When this stone was put on the scale customers
thought they were getting 20 ounces.
N. People were cheated and they know it.
O. Not every customer was a buyer. Some customers were sellers.
P. Some who came to see shop keepers had items to sell.
Q. For an example let’s say that a customer wanted to
sell some gold dust.
R. Since the shop keeper was buying a product he got
out his second set of weights.
S. These weights were also hollowed out.
I). In this case the hollow areas were filled with a
heavier material.
II). A stone that was marked 30 ounces may have actually
weighed 45.
III). Those who sold things to the shopkeepers had to give
more of their product than necessary.
11. This is what is meant by “making the ephah small” and the “shekel great” (verse 5).
A. The shopkeepers compounded their sins by doing what
is described in verse 6.
B. The people sold “the refuse of the wheat.”
C. When weighing things on the scales some of what was
being weighed fell to the floor.
D. Perhaps we have bought grass seed from a barrel like
container.
E. As it was scooped into a sack some of it fell to the
ground.
F. If we were dealing with food items people would
sweep them up and throw them away.
G. When these people measured things like wheat some of
the product dropped on the floor.
H. Amos indicates that these people did not dispose of
what was spilled on the floor.
I. The shopkeepers found yet another way to cheat
people.
J. This way was really slick.
K. At some point (perhaps the end of the day) a
shopkeeper would sweep his floor.
L. On the floor would be the lost wheat plus dirt.
M. The shopkeepers combined the dirt and wheat
together.
N. This mixture was then dumped into the bin where it
had originally come from.
O. This allowed them to cheat people twice.
P. When people paid for grain the weights were
inaccurate.
Q. Then, instead of getting a sackful
of pure grain, the people got a mixture of grain and dirt.
R. This was done to the people who were poor.
S. Again and again the poor were abused.
T. They impoverished were so oppressed that they were “bought”
for a pair of shoes.
U. In 2:6 it was noted that they were “sold” for
a pair of shoes.
12. GOD WAS AWARE OF THE PEOPLE’S SINS AND HE SAID THEY WOULDN’T ESCAPE.
A. Notice verse
7.
B. When God swears it is like He is using
capital letters that are in bold and highlighted.
C. In speaking for God the prophet said, “I will never
forget their works.”
D. The exact statement is, “I will never forget ANY
of their works.”
E. Because of the wickedness God said the “land would
tremble” (verse 8).
F. The Hebrew people would “mourn.”
G. The land would rise “like the river” and “sink
again.”
H. The people would experience a devastation that was
like a massive earthquake.
I. The mourning in the land would be like the loss of an
“only son” (10b).
J. I said that there is a second lesson in Amos 8 and
here it is.
K. Religion cannot be divorced (separated) from life.
13. These shopkeepers had a divided life up into
sections.
14. They saw Saturday as a day of worship.
15. This was a time when they obeyed the rules but
wanted to hurry through things.
16. When Sunday came, they put on a different set of
clothes.
A. They were no longer church members.
B. These people wore the clothes of thieves, cheaters,
and swindlers.
C. These people shook hands with their brethren on
Saturday.
D. On Sunday when they were at the shop they stabbed
people in the back.
E. On Saturday they wished people well.
F. When people came to their shop on Sunday they sold
the poor for a pair of shoes.
17. God said to those who engaged in these sins, “I swear
that you will pay.”
18. “I swear that I will not forget a single sin you
have committed.”
19. “I will come in judgment against you like the
20. We live in a time when people want to separate
religion and life.
21. Be religious, but don’t bring it to work.
22. If you want to be religious, that’s okay. Don’t mention it if you are a public figure.
23. Be religious if you will but keep it out of the
school system.
24. Service to the God of heaven has never been a “put
it on” and “take it off” way of life.
25. This is why the New Testament says things like, “Put
on Christ.”
26. Christians “clothe themselves with Christ.”
27. Christians are “joined” to the Lord.
28. If allow ourselves to be joined to the Lord He will
be pleased with us.
29. Clothing ourselves with Christ will keep us from
many sins.
30. This will certainly prevent us from wanting to
“hurry through” our service to God.
31. Are we someone who has clothed ourselves with
Christ,
32. Or are we trying to live as a “put religion on” and
“take religion off” lifestyle?