(a) Outline Amos' vision of a basket of ripe fruit. (9 marks (b) State three practices that Amos condemned. [6 marks]

(a) Amos' vision of a basket of ripe fruit (Amos 8)

• The Lord God showed Amos a vision: behold, a basket of summer (ripe) fruit.
• The Lord asked, "Amos, what do you see?" and he answered, "A basket of summer fruit."
• Then the Lord said to him, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them." Just as ripe fruit is ready to be eaten and will soon spoil, so Israel was ripe for judgement.
• The Lord declared that the songs of the temple would become wailings in that day, that many dead bodies would be cast out in silence.
• God then rebuked those who trampled on the needy and brought the poor of the land to an end.
• He condemned the merchants who could hardly wait for the new moon and the Sabbath to be over so that they might sell grain and wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, dealing deceitfully with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the refuse of the wheat.
• The Lord swore that He would never forget any of their deeds; the land would tremble and mourn, and He would turn their feasts into mourning and their songs into lamentation.
• He warned of a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, when people would wander and seek God's word but not find it.

(b) Three practices that Amos condemned

1. Oppression and exploitation of the poor and needy, trampling upon them and selling them for trifles.
2. Dishonest trade, using false balances, small measures and inflated prices to cheat buyers.
3. Empty and hypocritical religion, keeping feasts and sabbaths outwardly while practising injustice.