seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);
Amos 5:8 ASV
“Seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name).”
We have exactly the same theme here that was visible in Amos 4:13; it is just Amos’ way of emphasizing that the God who threatens such awful consequences upon Israel is fully able to bring them to pass just as he has promised.
Pleaides and Orion …” These great constellations, the first dominating the spring and summer months, and the second the months of fall and winter, were known to the ancients; and, “They are referred to in the Old Testament (Job 9:9; 38:31) as demonstrations of God’s creative power.”[22]
The changing of day and night, and the sending of rain upon the earth are usually thought to be what is indicated by the balance of this verse; and certainly there is good reason for so construing it; but Keil was of the opinion that a reference to the deluge which came upon sinful men in the time of the Genesis flood is involved. This may well be, for it would have been a most appropriate reminder in the context of Amos’ prophecy of a similar doom upon Israel, and for exactly the same reasons, unbridled wickedness and rebellion against God. He wrote:
“We should not understand this as a reference to the moisture that rises from the sea and then falls upon the earth as rain. The words suggest the thought of terrible inundations of the earth by the swelling sea, and the allusion to the judgment of the flood can hardly be overlooked.”[23]
If this is merely a reference to the mysterious power of God in sending the rain upon the earth, it would still have a very potent and appropriate meaning for the people of that day who attributed the rain to certain of their false gods:
“They had a god of rain and storm; in some places he was called Baai, and in others Hadad. Amos here asserts that it is Yahweh who sends the rain.”
