A Day of Mourning and Lamentation

Sunday, June 28, 2015
Amos 8:1-6, 9-10 KJV

1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: [there shall be] many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast [them] forth with silence. 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; [yea], and sell the refuse of the wheat? ... 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord show the Prophet Amos? (v.1)
2) What did the Lord ask the prophet and how did Amos respond? (v.2a)
3) What did the Lord tell Amos? (v.2b-3)
4) What did the Lord know about those who oppressed the needy? (v.4-6)
5) What were the Lord's warnings to those who rebelled against Him? (v.9-10)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) What, if any, wickedness is prevalent within you, your church, and/or this nation?
7) Have you, or anyone you know, acted wickedly toward the less fortunate? 
8) If so, what if anything, did you (they) do to right your wrong?
9) Do you believe that the end of the age is soon to come? If not, why not?

LIFE LESSONS
10) The end of this age will happen when wickedness in the earth is greatest.