Amos 8:9, commentary and pictures

Amos 8:9 foretells a sudden and unnatural darkness in the middle of a bright day, when the sun fails at noon and the earth is darkened in clear daylight as feasts and songs are turned into mourning and bitter grief. The darkness comes as divine judgment because the Lord remembers and will not forget oppression and corruption, especially the crushing of the needy and the poor. That noon darkness was fulfilled in the dark day over New England on May 19, 1780, when a clear and cloudless morning grew smoky and pale until the sun disappeared and midday seemed night. That darkening stands among the predicted signs in the heavens pointing to Christ's coming, occurring after the long papal persecution began to subside and before the 1260 years ended in 1798, as a warning of the great and terrible day of the Lord and judgment upon the finally impenitent. The darkened noon also belongs to the time when probation has closed and Christ no longer pleads for sinners, followed by a famine not of bread or water but of hearing the word of the Lord, when those who once rejected it seek it everywhere in vain in spiritual darkness.

Words and Ancient Setting

The verse pictures a sudden, unnatural darkness in the middle of broad daylight, with the sun made to go down at noon and the earth darkened on a clear day. That darkness belongs to a day of mourning and bitter grief, when feasts and songs are turned to mourning and joy to mourning, with trembling of the land, lamentation, and widespread death. The judgment comes because the Lord remembers and will not forget wrongdoing, especially swallowing up the needy and causing the poor to fail through oppression and corruption. It was first spoken to Israel in apostasy, oppression, and corruption shortly before its captivity, and the same judgments apply to later generations guilty of the same evils, including the Jews taken captive, those who rejected Christ, and professed people of God in later times.

Amos, whose name probably means burdened, was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea who prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel. He was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom to which many of his prophecies referred. His message foretold the downfall of apostasy and points forward to the last days and a famine of the Word. It has striking coincidences with Joel, is full of striking illustrations from shepherd life, and its local illustrations are typical of calamities preceding the great day of Jehovah and the time of war and trouble closing earth's history.

Signs and Future Fulfillments

The noon darkness in a clear day was fulfilled in the dark day over New England on May 19, 1780, when the morning was clear and cloudless yet the air looked smoky and the sun, pale and yellowish, grew darker until it could no longer be seen. On that occasion darkness came at midday and made the clear day seem night, with the sun obscured in the daytime sky in sudden, unnatural darkening. That darkening of May 19, 1780, especially across New England, is the fulfillment of this sign.

On that day darkness spread around midday, birds and barnyard fowls went to roost, cattle turned homeward, bats appeared, ordinary work and business stopped, and people prayed, wept, and feared approaching disaster and judgment. That darkening is one of the consecutive predicted heavenly signs pointing to Christ's coming. It occurred after the long papal persecution had begun to subside and before the 1260 years ended in 1798, as part of the heavenly signs that follow the long period of persecution.

It stands as a sign of the great and terrible day of the Lord, warning of coming judgment and divine wrath upon the finally impenitent, so that witnesses took it as a warning that the judgment day was near. The verse is also placed at the crucifixion of Jesus as one of the ancient prophecies fulfilled that day through darkness over the land. The verse is cited among the prophetic descriptions of darkness associated with the fifth vial, when God darkens the earth in broad daylight.

It is a brief episode in the occurrences of the last days, within the wider day of the Lord and its catastrophic changes. It describes an unnatural darkness covering the earth at noon during the battle of Armageddon, when the armies gathered against Jerusalem tremble. Its image of the sun going down at noon and daylight becoming darkness also describes withdrawal of spiritual light and blessing upon Protestant churches after 1844. The light and glory they had received during the 45 years from 1798 to 1844 departed, and their spiritual condition after a period of religious prosperity was marked by sudden spiritual decline and loss of vital godliness.

The prophet's scene of judgment belongs among last-day events, with the Lord causing the sun to go down at noon and darkening the earth in a clear day. It belongs with the mourning, lamentation, and widespread death described in the same chapter, as retribution comes upon the wealthy and powerful amid the consequences of their greed and oppression. The verse depicts judgment through darkness at midday, presenting the social and economic disorder of the time as abnormal upheaval foretold in God's word rather than ordinary conditions.

Judgment and Spiritual Famine

The darkened noon belongs to a day of divine wrath when the opportunity for salvation has passed. It is a day of sudden darkness in broad daylight, when the sun fails at midday and the earth is darkened, accompanied by mourning as feasts and songs are turned to grief. That darkness comes as judgment for wrongdoing that will not be forgotten, when the land trembles and joy turns to a bitter day. It is followed by a famine sent not for bread or water but for hearing the word of the Lord, when people wander and search everywhere for it but cannot find it. The same judgment first fell upon Israel in apostasy, oppression, and corruption shortly before captivity, and it applies also to later generations guilty of the same evils, to the Jews taken captive, to those who rejected Christ, and to professed people of God in later times, with a great famine for the word of God coming after.

In that time probation has ended. Christ no longer pleads for sinners. The watchmen and ministers and all those commissioned to proclaim the word have finished their work and completed their commission. God withdraws the hearing of His word, so access to it is lost. Those who once rejected and neglected the word then desperately seek it in vain, in bitter mourning and spiritual darkness.

The songs of the rich become cries of grief with many dead, because the needy have been swallowed up and the poor made to fail. The warning of this coming danger is given as merciful forewarning, intended to turn both rich and poor toward safety.