In Amos 7, the LORD shows Amos three separate visions of what Israel’s judgment will be like. In the first, the land would be devoured by locusts. In the second the land would be devoured by fire. In the final vision, the LORD set up a plumb line, by which He would judge Israel. Amaziah came to Amos and told him to leave the land and go to Judah. He told him the people couldn’t take his words, so he needed to leave. Amos responded that Amaziah’s wife would become a prostitute and his children would die by his side, and he would be carried off into exile and die in “an unclean land.”
Amos 8 resumes the judgment coming against Judah. While it could be either Judah or Israel or both, the Temple is mentioned. The key in this condemnation of the people is their mistreatment of the poor. They use false measures against them and sell them for silver. The result of such treatment is the destruction of those who do it.
Amos 9 concludes the book with a promise of utter destruction on Israel followed by a promise to restore Israel. The LORD tells the people no matter where they hide: Sheol, heaven, or the depths of the sea, He will find them. But then, as is so often the case, the LORD changes His tone, and He promises a future when Israel will be restored. The LORD’s mercy always wins in the end.
As we return to Mark 15, we read once again of Jesus being delivered to Pilate, and of Pilate handing Jesus over to be crucified. The great shame of Pilate is he found no guilt in Jesus, but to preserve his position, he went along with the people’s cries for Jesus to be crucified. As Jesus was being prepared for crucifixion, the Roman soldiers mocked Him, by placing a crown of thorns on His head, and dressing Him with a purple robe. The people mocked Jesus when He was crucified saying He could save others, but not Himself. The truth in that statement is so ironic: If Jesus had saved Himself, all of us would be lost, but because He gave His life in place of ours, we can all be saved! Upon Jesus’ death, the centurion in charge said, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” He said that because of the manner in which Jesus died–calmly and with dignity. Joseph of Arimathea received permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body and bury Him in his own tomb. This is where the chapter ends. It is where the story ought to have ended, if Jesus were merely a man. The devil would have won, and we would be lost. But while Jesus was a man, He was more than a man, which is why there is a Mark 16, and why we have the hope of victory over sin and death!