Ob and In:
1. v.1-2 Summer fruit and the end of Israel
(NET) The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.
2. What does the end of Israel mean v.3-10
a. Voice: Singing will turn into wailing in the temple. The Lord is speaking... be quiet v.3. Listen to the LORD for listing their sins towards the poor in v.4-6
b. Sins towards the poor and the destitute: trample, do away with v.4, eager to sell for a higher price, to cheat the buyer with rigged scales v.5, buying slave, using a small price/debt for a more substantial purchase, and mixing in some chaff with the grain v.6
v.6a, b We’re eager to trade silver for the poor,
a pair of sandals for the needy.
(NET) The expression trade silver for the poor refers to the slave trade.
(NET) 2:6 Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8–10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.
c. God will never forget their deeds v.7
d. Because God has to judge their deeds these things will happen v.8-10:
i. the earth will quake like the rising and setting of the river v.8, the sun will be darkened v.9,
ii. People will die everywhere and joy will turn into mourning everywhere v.10, 3.
v.3 “There will be many corpses littered everywhere! Be quiet!”
(BKC) So great would be the slaughter that there would not be enough people or places to bury the dead. Innumerable corpses would lie on the ground, to be eaten by dogs and birds, or to become fertilizing dung for the fields (1 Kings 14:11; Jer. 8:2; 9:22; 16:4).
3. Repeated words:
a. day v.3, 9a, 9b, 10; end v.2, not again/no longer v.2,
b. New Moon festival, Sabbath v.5
(BKC) Israel’s businessmen singlemindedly pursued a profit, and did not care that they were trampling the needy and doing away with the poor of the land (cf. 2:6–7; 5:11). Preoccupied with making money, the businessmen begrudged the interruptions caused by the monthly feast of the New Moon and the weekly observance of the Sabbath. They impatiently fidgeted till these days of rest and worship (Ex. 20:8–11; 23:12; 31:14–17; 34:21; Num. 28:11–15; 2 Kings 4:23; Isa. 1:13–14; Ezek. 46:1–6; Hosea 2:11) were over so that they could resume their aggressive dealings.
Reflection: If we cannot wait to violating God (oppressing the poor and making profit), then God also no longer will overlook our sins. The day is coming. God hold what we do accountable. We will pay for our disobedient. Israel would face the consequence of violating the OC.
What occupy my mind today? Is it something please to the LORD? Do I think of the eternal home and set that in front of me? Do I have that attitude that I cannot wait until the worship is over so that I can do...?
Am I oppressing the poor? Thinking to pay a small price for a substantial purchase in the expanse of others?
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