Amos 9, 1-6

1. Amos sees the LORD standing next to an altar, presumably in a temple, a temple in the northern kingdom of Israel.

The LORD speaks of striking down the pillars of the the temple and bringing them down on those who worship there.

God will bring death upon all the people of Israel, none will escape: "they will not have a refuge who will flee or a refugee who will escape."

2. The people will not be able to escape from this destruction, even if they should get as far as Sheol or heaven. The LORD will find them and drag them back to experience the judgment that awaits all the people of Israel.

3. If even they should try to escape to the top of Mt. Carmel or the bottom of the sea, the LORD will bring this destruction upon them: "I will command the serpent and it will bite them."

4. Even if they should be captured by the enemy, the LORD will make sure that they die: "I will command the serpent and it will bite them."

God has abandoned this people: "I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good."

5. Amos describes the LORD here as one who brings destruction, who "touches the land so that it melts, and all those who dwell in it mourn."

Amos then repeats the image of the Nile flooding and then subsiding. I suppose this is an image of destruction coming through a place.

6. Amos then describes the LORD as being far greater than we are: He "builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth."

The LORD "calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth."