YHWH's Judgment Against Israel And Their False Altar is Certain And sure (Amos 9:1-4).
There is an interesting and possibly significant comparison between Amos 9:1 here and 1 Kings 13:1 (possibly as known to Amos in the tradition). There Jeroboam I had ‘stood by the altar' at Bethel, only to hear it cursed by the man of God. Now that curse was to be brought to its final fulfilment by YHWH Himself, as He too stood by the altar. But this time it would not only be the altar that would collapse. The command was that the whole building which contained the altar was to be made to collapse on the people, while the remainder of the people would be slain with the sword, no matter where they hid themselves. YHWH would deal with them by earthquake and sword.
‘I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake, and break them in pieces on the head of all of them, and I will slay the last of them with the sword. There shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.” '
YHWH had as it were taken up the place usually occupied by the serving priests, but it was not in order to make an offering, but to call for the very structure of the sanctuary to shake and fall in pieces on the heads of all who worshipped there, while any who escaped He would slay to the last man by the sword. Not one would successfully flee away. Not one would escape. The place of sanctuary would have become a place of death. The word for ‘capitals' is caphtor, a play on words with Caphtor in Amos 9:8. The capitals were part of the pillars which were required to hold up the roofs of all temples around that time. The ‘thresholds' were the bases for the doorposts. Their smiting and shaking would cause the whole sanctuary to collapse. The ‘smiting' suggests that He was talking to the men who would carry out the demolition work. The fact that it contained worshippers points to the Canaanite method of worship. Compare how Samson brought their temple down on the heads of the worshippers (Judges 16:29-30).
His listeners would no doubt refer this to the temple at Bethel, but it could equally apply to the Temple in Jerusalem and those who were at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1). As we shall see, in his grand finale Amos dismisses the ideas of both.
Note the stark use of the title ‘Lord' (adonai - sovereign lord). He was no longer bound to them by the covenant as YHWH, but now acted towards them as He would act towards all the nations (Amos 9:7). They had forfeited their special status.
“Though they dig into Sheol,
From there will my hand take them,
And though they climb up to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel,
I will search and take them out from there,
And though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea,
From there will I command the serpent, and it will bite them.
And though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there will I command the sword, and it will slay them,
And I will set my eyes on them for evil,
And not for good.”
In vividly descriptive words YHWH assured them that wherever they sought to hide themselves, they would not escape. The grave-world (Sheol) would not protect them (compare Deuteronomy 32:22), He would drag them up from there. The heavenly world would provide no hiding place, He would simply pull them down. The top of Carmel, noted for its height and its hiding places in the caves and forests, would not conceal them, for he would search them out and find them. Even the bottom of the sea would provide no shelter, for He would command one of His great creatures to bite them. Captivity among their enemies would not protect them, for He would command the sword to slay them. And all this was because He had set His eyes on them for evil and not for good. He had had long patience with them, but now that patience was at an end. They would be an example to all of what happened to those who claimed His favour, but broke His covenant.