Amos 8:1-2 Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.… Fruit was the last sign of harvest in Palestine. When the fruit was gathered the harvest was over. What then is the meaning of this vision of a basket of summer fruit? The meaning is that Amos saw the end. Summer fruit had a mournful suggestion about it in Palestinian times and lands. "What seest thou?" The end; the gathered harvest, the upmaking of all things, the year in its results: good or bad, there it is. Can this fruit be changed now? No. Will not the sun work some miracle of ripening upon it? Never more. What it is, that it is. There is an end of ministry, of service, of stewardship, of life. Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things, that they would consider their latter end — the basket of summer fruit, the ingathering of the fields and the vintages. How stands it with us this audit day? (Joseph Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.WEB: Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. |
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