THE FOURTH VISION A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT In this vision, God proclaims His haste to put His threat of devastation into effect; revealing the bitter fruit of sin, which are gathered in a basket, and presented as mourning, wailing, famine, and death. 1- A basket of bitter fruit 1 -3 2- A trial of the oppressors 4 – 10 3- A famine of hearing the words of the Lord 11 – 14 1- A BASKET OF BITTER FRUIT: God showed His prophet a basket of fruit; It came in Hebrew as (of fruit of the late summer or fall); Not joyful fruit, but those of sin, which became too ripe to be left uneaten, as the dark winter was close by. God provided them with many chances to repent their sins and to return to him; sometimes through proclamations, or through gifts, and some other times through warnings and threats He chastened, then forgave; But now, they have prepared themselves for perdition: “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore” (Amos 8: 2) Even now, He does not forget they are ‘His own people’; although their end has come because of their persistence on evil. “The songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day’, says the Lord God – Many dead bodies everywhere; They shall throw them out in silence” (Amos 8: 3) Although the temple became a ruin before their eyes, yet they kept silent, and cried no more; because their anguish became too much to endure; or they lost the energy to cry because of the multitude of the dead; Or for fear, lest the enemy would hear them cry, and come to kill those who remained alive. Even though God is very longsuffering, yet, according to the apostle: “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2: 4-6). In His love, God anticipates a sign to return to us; He longs to dwell in us and to bring us over into His glories. But if we hold fast to rejection, and we keep on walking in evil, our sins would be ripe enough to be gathered in a basket of bitter fruit, hated by God. Although we are His children, yet our end would come; Our sonhood to Him would turn into a secret of suffering to the soul, and a testimony for judgment; … And instead of the songs of joy, there would be wailing and mourning. The temple would become empty, and everything in it would come to an end. Let us then return to Him, that He would return to us; and to establish inside us His joyful paradise instead of that sorrowfullooking basket of bitter fruit. 2- A TRIAL OF THE OPPRESSORS: 77 The prophet gives us a horrible portrait of the conditions of oppression and corruption, in which Israel lived at that time; whose features are: (1) “Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail” (Amos 8: 4) They intend to destroy the poor with every possible way; to swallow the needy in their bellies, or tread upon them with their feet; to the account of their own riches and pleasure. When the ‘ego’ swells up, man thinks of himself as being the center of the world, all work to his account, and all perish for the sake of his happiness; Whereas about Jesus, the Lord of Glory, it is said: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8: 9). Carrying Him in us, we become rich by Him; … And as a sign of our riches, we accept to become poor together with Him, so that our brethren in Christ who dwells in us, would become rich; We long to be enslaved, for them to liberated in Him; to die, that they would enjoy life with Him; And to forsake everything, that they would acquire Him as the secret of their riches. That is the way our teacher the apostle Paul walked, by the Spirit of His Lord, when he said: “For though I am free of all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more” (1 Corinthians 9: 19); And, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4: 5). (2) “Saying: ‘When will the new moon be past; that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade our wheat?” (Amos 8: 5). In a literal way, they used to consummate the law; by not working on the new moon and on every Sabbath, as though they are religious and God-lovers; Yet those days would be so heavy to endure, that they wished them to pass quickly, to resume their trade and material profits! In their own eyes, and in those of others, they seemed as though righteous, and keepers of the days of feasts and Sabbaths; but their hearts were actually far from being holy; according to the words of the Scripture: “With their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain” (Hezekiel 33: 31) It is a painful portrait of the soul that so turned into earth, to feel that the day of the Lord is heavy to endure, and the worshipping rites are too long and without benefit; while spending most of its time rejoicing in the material gains. (3) “Making the ephah small and the shekel large, and cheating with dishonest scales” (Amos 8: 5) Namely, they rob their customers in both buying and selling to their own account; forgetting what is written: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight” (Proverbs 11: 1). (4) “Buying the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat” (Amos 8: 6). In our study of the second chapter, the Lord says: “They sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals” (Amos 2: 6); And we saw how they sell the Lord Himself for the sake of profit, and how they despise Him in the person of the poor and the needy, for a pair of sandals, that He commanded Moses to take off (Exodus 3); and His disciples not to acquire (Mathew 10: 9). They buy the poor for silver; As the poor became so miserable, that they sell themselves and their children as slaves to the rich, that they may eat and live; Something that enraged Nehemiah later on (See Nehemiah 5: 6). 78 By selling the sweepings with the wheat, they are uproot love, and breaking the law, that says, the sweepings should be left for the poor who cannot afford to buy the wheat: “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it, it shall be for the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 24: 19). Having reached such a bitter status, Israel, the people of God, have fallen under the firm trial, about which the prophet says: “The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: ‘Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall the land not tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? All of it shall swell like the River, heave and subside like the River of Egypt. And it shall come to pass on that day’, says the Lord God, ‘That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feast into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day” (Amos 8: 7-10) Despite all the oppression and transgressions done by Israel, that made God swear never to forget any of their wicked works; that “He will not pass by them anymore”, Yet He still has for them a special soft feeling, to say:”I swear by the pride of Jacob” … We are His children of whom He is proud, and for their salvation He longs. Before the oppression of those people, the land trembled as though by an earthquake, and heaved and subsided like the River Nile of Egypt; The sun went down at noon; The earth darkened in broad daylight; Feasts turned into mourning, and songs into lamentation; Sackcloth was brought on every waist, and baldness on every head; … Like mourning for an only son. It is a natural fruit to be tasted by everyone whose cup is filled with evil: … His earth, namely his body that provides him with pleasure, would tremble before God, and would lose all its vitality; All his senses and feelings would loose every gladness, and would enter into a state of despair and murmuring; His life would tremble as though by an earthquake, and would heave and subside like the River of Egypt; ..,.The Sun of Righteousness would set on him, to loose every enlightenment he used to enjoy; … His inner land would turn into a darkness of ignorance; He would loose every sense of spiritual joy; His inner feasts would turn into mourning; Instead of songs he would utter lamentation; And instead of the inner spiritual adornment, he would in disgrace, be clothed by sackcloth, and his head would become bald, as though mourning for an only son, namely his only soul! It is amazing how that bitter fruit was carried by the Lord Christ Himself for our sake, when he bowed His back on the cross; when “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53: 6). When that prophesy has been literally realized; “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27: 51, 52). The earth trembled, and so did hell and the sun disappear at noon, “from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land” (Matthew 27: 45). From that day on, the feasts of the Jews turned into mourning and their songs into lamentations; They lost the temple; They were scattered all over the land; And, having lost their position as the people of God, they became as though mourning for an only son. 79 Many fathers (like father Lectantius1, the scholar Tertullian, and St. Erinaos), saw in those words a straightforward prophecy about what actually happened during the sufferings of the Lord Christ. St. Erinaos says: [It was clearly proclaimed that darkness would prevail over all the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour; after which their feasts, according to the law, and their songs, would turn into mourning and lamentation, as they are delivered to the Gentiles2]. With the same sense, the Scholar Tertullian says: [You have been captivated and scattered after the sufferings of Christ, as previously proclaimed by the Holy Spirit3]; and also says: [According to Isaiah:”I clothe the heavens with darkness” (Isaiah 50: 3); The day about which Amos writes: “It shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight” (Amos 8: 9). At noon of that day, the veil of the temple was torn in two “when the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city…” (Ezekiel 11: 22, 23); When “The daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers” (Isaiah 1: 8) 4]. Introducing a spiritual concept in our daily life of the eclipse of the sun and the dwelling of darkness on earth, St. John Chrysostom says: [It seems to me that it is not just the earth, but even the nature of the weather, were looking down with grief; … The rays of the sun became darker, not because of any change of its elements, but rather because the eyes of men were so dimmed by grief, to be unable to see them clearly; … Which the prophet means by saying: “I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight”. So he says, not on account that there was an eclipse of the sun, or a disappearance of daylight, as much as because those in grief cannot recognize the light of day because of the blindness that prevailed on their eyes5. … We are in need of God to lift up from us the darkness of sin, that our eyes would be enlightened by His Holy Spirit, to be able to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of righteousness, and to enjoy His splendor in us. As to turning the feasts into mourning and the songs into lamentation, That is the natural work of sin; While repentance would give us the contrary, by Jesus Christ, to whom we would return, and in Him we would find our feast, truly joyful. And as said by St. Gregory the wonder maker: [It is our duty to keep that feast filling the whole world with joy and gladness; Let us keep it with psalms, praise, and spiritual songs … As our Lord has confirmed to us that, through the fruit of repentance, He will turn our grief into joy6]. 3- A FAMINE OF HEARING THE WORDS OF THE LORD: The fruit of sin is destruction on every side: a destruction of the body, with the trembling of the earth, and the mourning of its inhabitant (8); a destruction of the soul, with its loss of light, and turning into a state of depression and incessant lamentation; And finally a destruction of the spirit, with the loss of the spiritual food for man; “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land, 1 Divine Instil. 4: 19; Epitome of Div. Inst. 46. 2 Adv. Haer. 4: 33: 12. 3 An Answer to Jews, 10. 4 Adv. Marc. 4: 43. 5 Conc. Statues 2: 6. 6 Four Homilies, 2 (on the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary). 80 Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. … In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst” (Amos 8: 11, 13) That is what God threatens the wicked, to enter into a state of hunger and thirst, not of food and drink, but of hearing the words of the Lord, the Giver of life; Wandering from one sea to another – the sea here, with its raging waves, refers to the world – Namely, seeking the satisfaction for their souls from one teacher to another, from teachers, who are themselves deprived of the spiritual satisfaction and the true peace; searching in vain, all over the world, from North to South, and from East to West, until all their talents, energies, and potentials -- the fair virgins and strong young men -- would wither with spiritual thirst! They will reap the sin of Samaria, who swear and say: ‘As your god lives O Dan’, And ‘as the way of Beersheba lives’; They shall fall and never rise again” (Amos 8: 14). It is such a horrible famine, the soul seeks a spiritual satisfaction, and would never find it; Not that God has deprived her of it, but because of her increasing transgressions, and her lack of desire for repentance, she would lose the possibility of reaching the word of God as the bread of life. I wish therefore, that we perpetually enjoy the word of the Lord, about which He Himself says: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6: 63); And St. John Chrysostom says: [The word of God is food, adornment, and security for the soul; And not listening to it, is famine and deprivation1]. St. Gregory Bishop of Nyssa2 believes that, while God threatens the wicked of a famine, but not of food, and of thirst, but not of water; On the other side, He grants His children in paradise, fruition that are befitting of His promises; Not material fruits and material water, but the bread and the fountain of life. That is the living bread on which we are committed to feed, get satisfied, and provide it to our hungry brethren; like the grain that Joseph provided to his father, brothers, and even to strangers. In this sense, St. Gregory the Nezianzen3 called St. Basil ‘The second Joseph’; who saved Egypt as well, from famine, by his wise ordinance. By providing the bread of angels, to feed the souls, hungry for God; He provided inexhaustible food that remains forever to give life. Speaking to a delegation coming to Egypt with a load of grain, St. Gregory the Nezianzen said: [You have brought with you a cure, not for the famine of bread and the thirst of water; As that sort of famine and thirst are relatively not horrible, and their treatment is not impossible; But you brought a cure for the famine of hearing the word of God, which is truly more serious, and its treatment extremely difficult, because of the increasing evil, and the rarity of faithful listeners in the present time4. Therefore, Let us return to the Lord, and not remain in such a famine, wandering from a sea to another, that would end up making the fair virgins and the strong men wither with spiritual thirst. As we said before, the fair virgins and the strong men, refer to the senses provided to us by God, good and fair; which, in case we become deprived of the word of God, 1 In Matt. Hom 2: 10. 2 On the Making of Man 19. 3 Panegyric on S. Basil 36. 4 Oration 34: 2. 81 would wither and turn ugly and evil, with no adornment, by which they would be worthy of enjoying the eternal wedding (Matthew 25). Through deprivation of the word of God, the wise virgins in us would turn into foolish virgins, who by their carnal thoughts would lose their light.
Welcome