Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
Thus hath the Lord God showed unto Amos a basket of ripe summer fruit. Amos, whose name means burdened, was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea and a fruit gardener. He prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel, was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom to which many of his prophecies referred. He ministered to the ten-tribe kingdom before its fall amid prosperity, injustice, idolatry and coming accountability, foretelling the downfall of apostasy with striking illustrations from shepherd life such as the basket of summer fruit.
The basket of summer fruit signifies that the end has come. Israel's time of prosperity and indulgence was ripe for judgment and would soon end, with its luxury and extravagance as short-lived as summer fruit. In this context the vision condemns hard-hearted, pleasure-loving people who oppress the poor, exploit the needy, cheat in trade, and concentrate wealth and control of life's necessities. It is cited as part of a prophetic warning about the oppression of the poor and the eventual woe of their oppressors.
The resulting judgment brings upheaval, mourning and many deaths. Oppression drives the poor to anger. The songs in the palace and of the rich in their palaces become cries of grief and howling. The warning is a merciful forewarning meant to help both rich and poor escape coming danger. Rejoicing and feasting when mourning is called for cannot avert the end. Amid conflict between labor and capital the poor are urged to avoid violence and trust God.
As part of the prophecies of chapters 7 through 9, the verse points to last-day conditions. After the wicked reject God's word, calamity will drive them to search for it from sea to sea and from north to south without finding it. A famine of hearing the word, said to have prevailed since 1854, is connected with it, in which God sent the third angel's message and preserved a small remnant of spiritual grain whose fruit will be abundant. Afterward God will save His people and rebuild David's fallen tabernacle. The prophecy thus foretells the downfall of apostasy and points forward from that to the last days when there shall be a famine of the Word.
The vision is also typical of later evil. It is read as foretelling perilous, unsettled times marked by conflict between labor and capital, oppression of the poor by the wealthy, the poor rising against the rich, and the coming end of the unjust social and commercial order marked by concentrated wealth and control of life's necessities. The basket means summer is near, just as the putting forth of leaves on trees shows summer is near. So when the signs in the sun, moon and stars foretold with it come to pass, Christ is near, even at the door, and the end of the world is at hand. The generation seeing all these things, including the darkened sun of May 19, 1780 and the falling stars of November 30, 1833, shall not pass till all be fulfilled including Christ's coming.
Thus hath the Lord God showed unto Amos a basket of ripe summer fruit. Amos, whose name means burdened, was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea and a fruit gardener. He prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel, was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom to which many of his prophecies referred. He ministered to the ten-tribe kingdom before its fall amid prosperity, injustice, idolatry and coming accountability, foretelling the downfall of apostasy with striking illustrations from shepherd life such as the basket of summer fruit.
The basket of summer fruit signifies that the end has come. Israel's time of prosperity and indulgence was ripe for judgment and would soon end, with its luxury and extravagance as short-lived as summer fruit. In this context the vision condemns hard-hearted, pleasure-loving people who oppress the poor, exploit the needy, cheat in trade, and concentrate wealth and control of life's necessities. It is cited as part of a prophetic warning about the oppression of the poor and the eventual woe of their oppressors.
The resulting judgment brings upheaval, mourning and many deaths. Oppression drives the poor to anger. The songs in the palace and of the rich in their palaces become cries of grief and howling. The warning is a merciful forewarning meant to help both rich and poor escape coming danger. Rejoicing and feasting when mourning is called for cannot avert the end. Amid conflict between labor and capital the poor are urged to avoid violence and trust God.
As part of the prophecies of chapters 7 through 9, the verse points to last-day conditions. After the wicked reject God's word, calamity will drive them to search for it from sea to sea and from north to south without finding it. A famine of hearing the word, said to have prevailed since 1854, is connected with it, in which God sent the third angel's message and preserved a small remnant of spiritual grain whose fruit will be abundant. Afterward God will save His people and rebuild David's fallen tabernacle. The prophecy thus foretells the downfall of apostasy and points forward from that to the last days when there shall be a famine of the Word.
The vision is also typical of later evil. It is read as foretelling perilous, unsettled times marked by conflict between labor and capital, oppression of the poor by the wealthy, the poor rising against the rich, and the coming end of the unjust social and commercial order marked by concentrated wealth and control of life's necessities. The basket means summer is near, just as the putting forth of leaves on trees shows summer is near. So when the signs in the sun, moon and stars foretold with it come to pass, Christ is near, even at the door, and the end of the world is at hand. The generation seeing all these things, including the darkened sun of May 19, 1780 and the falling stars of November 30, 1833, shall not pass till all be fulfilled including Christ's coming.