I’m still catching up on posting from my personal reading over the holidays. As I finished Amos I found two sections that are both extremely powerful and timely. I wrote about Amos 8:11-12 here. The second section is found in the last 5 verses of the book, Amos 9:11-15.

“In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut of David. I will seal its gaps, repair its ruins, and restore it to what it was like in days gone by. As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule.” The LORD, who is about to do this, is speaking! “Be sure of this, the time is coming,” says the LORD, “when the plowman will catch up to the reaper and the one who stomps the grapes will overtake the planter. Juice will run down the slopes, it will flow down all the hillsides. I will bring back my people, Israel; they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble and settle down. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; they will grow orchards and eat the fruit they produce. I will plant them on their land and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

The reason this is so powerful is the fact that the rest of the prophecy is about God’s judgment on Israel should they not return to him. He promised very specific things would happen if they kept going away. And the historical record provides undeniable proof that the destruction that God promised actually happened.

But in these last five verses, God makes another prediction, one that has not yet taken place. Look at the new specifics that will happen “in that day”:

1. The restoration of David’s throne. “I will rebuild the collapsing hut of David…and restore it to what it was…” – God’s promise to David was that there would be a permanent Davidic royal dynasty (see 2 Samuel 7:8-16). Most of us will remember that Jesus, from the line of David,  will one day return to rule as king over the entire earth (sometimes called his Millennial Kingdom, because it will last for 1,000 years; see ).I also believe that David himself will rule alongside Jesus during that time as the prince over Israel, yet ultimately subject to Jesus as the “king of kings”. Not everyone believes this, but I think there is support in passages like Hosea 3:5; Jeremiah 30:9; and Ezekiel 34:23-24.
2. The ownership of the entire Promised Land. “They will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule.” Many people mistakenly believe the “Promised Land” is the land of Israel. That’s not true. According to God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:18, the promise actually includes everything “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River.” According to today’s geography, that includes part or all of the countries of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
3. Unprecendented agricultural prosperity. “The plowman will catch up to the reaper.” There will be so much produce in one year (and probably every year), that when the planters go back out to plant, the harvesters will still be working on collecting the last season’s crop! My (personal) guess is that, during this time, there will be enough food in Israel alone to feed the entire population of the earth (of course, the population will be greatly decreased early on). They will be the exporters rather than importers.
4. The final return of the Jews. “I will bring back my people, Israel…and they will never again be uprooted from the land…” This is probably the best part of all. Jacob’s family will finally settle down in their promised home, able to marry, raise families, build homes, plant orchards – never having to worry about another Holocaust or terrorist invasion.

Why is this so important, especially the last one? Because until that day comes, Israel will be fighting for her life. Honestly, I’m glad Israel has finally begun to defend herself. She’s well overdue.

But it won’t solve anything. This war between the Jews and the Jew-haters will not end until Jesus strikes the final blow.

In the meantime, pray that those on both sides will realize that it’s not about the land – it’s about the God behind the land. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The living God. The one who offers forgiveness of sin only through Jesus Christ.

There are two very powerful sections of Amos that I read over the holidays but haven’t written about yet. This is what God says in this first one (Amos 8:11-12)

“Be certain of this, the time is coming,” says the sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation! People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the LORD, but they will not find any.”

There are several things that I find important in these two verses.

God has always been, and will always be, about relationships. The Hebrew phrase translated “divine revelation” is literally “hearing the words of the LORD”. One of the most basic keys to relationship-building is communication.

Israel had left God – they were not communicating with him – and so, as one of his last resort disciplines to bring them back, God decided to withhold communication from them. He had sent them prophets time and time again to keep the channel open, but they did not reciprocate. God’s plan was to “starve” them so they would miss him and return.

Everything God does is to get people who are far from him to come close. If you are a believer, that means that he will go to great lengths to keep you close, even if it means hurting you in some way in the short term while you’re trying to pull away.

The results of starving from no contact from God are big:

1. It leaves you weak – the people are told they will “stagger”. If you do not have regular communication from God – reading the Bible, listening to good preachers and teachers, listening to godly counsel, listening to the Holy Spirit through prayer – you will be weak. You will stagger from place to place – home to work to wherever – with no spiritual strength.
2. It leaves you lost – the people are told they will “wander”. If you do not have regular communication with God, you will be lost, especially in the area of making decisions. Your whole life is a journey, and it’s easy to get lost – head in the wrong direction without even knowing it – when you don’t have perfect guidance.

Notice that God didn’t pull his communication until very last. This is not his preference. Israel went for nearly 400 years without any direct communication from God. That’s a long time to be weak and lost.

How is the channel between you and God? Do you hear from him regularly – more than just in church (and my blog, of course)? Is 2009 the year he sends you into a famine or into a bumper crop of growth and maturity? It’s your choice.

(Check out Michael Card’s song “So Many Books” based on this passage.)

The main concepts in Amos are like two sides of the same coin: they seem like they are facing the opposite direction, but both are necessary to make it work.

In Amos the main theme seems to be judgment. But God’s judgment on his people is always for the purpose of repentance, and both are needed. Chapters 4-5 are a great example of this.

Look at the judgments God sent and the response he was hoping to see:

• “I gave you no food…Still you did not come back to me.” (4:6)
• “I withheld rain…Still you did not come back to me.” (4:7-8)
• “I destroyed your crops…Still you did not come back to me.” (4:9)
• “I sent against you a plague…Still you did not come back to me.” (4:10)
• “I overthrew some of you…Still you did not come back to me.” (4:11)

But they didn’t repent and return. So God said, “Prepare to meet your God, Israel!”

The declaration of judgment continues into chapter 5, but mixed in with it are the steps of repentance and return:

• “Seek me so you can live!” (5:4)
• “Seek the LORD so you can live!” (5:6)
• “Seek good and not evil so you can live!” (5:13)
• “Hate what is wrong, love what is right!” (5:15)
• “Promote justice at the city gate!” (5:15)

One last thing: I love the illustration Amos uses to describe how awful God’s day of judgment will be. Check this out (I bolded the specific section):

Woe to those who wish for the day of the LORD! Why do you want the LORD’s day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light. Disaster will be inescapable, as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.” (Amos 5:18-19)

For some reason the mental picture is funny to me. Unfortunately, it won’t be funny for those who refuse to accept Christ. He is coming back, and his judgment will be final. Will you be “bitten by a poisonous snake”, or will you escape God’s judgment through the salvation offered only by Jesus Christ?

Certain things in God’s Word jump out at us differently as we move through various stages of life. Reading through the prophets makes that extra clear because they were speaking timely messages from God.

Here’s a perfect example: Amos 3:1-2. Following God’s condemnation of Israel and the surrounding nations, he said:

Listen, you Israelites, to the message which the LORD is proclaiming against you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt: “I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Did you hear that? Because they were chosen by God, they would be punished for their sins.

Now here’s why that is special. God had just finished telling the heathen nations that he was going to judge them, usually with fire and destruction. He told Judah and Israel that, too. But here he goes a step further.

The root word translated “punish” here means “to visit, to attend to”. God said that he would “attend to them” because of their sins.

Imagine a police chief who’s son was caught vandalizing a building with a group of guys. When he gets the phone call telling him that his son is down at the station with the group, he’ll probably go right down there and give them all a huge lecture about what could have happened, do they want to spend the night in jail, etc.

But as the other dads and moms walk their sons to their cars, they overhear the chief make one last statement. Looking his son in the eye, he says, “And I’ll deal with you later.”

That’s what God is saying here – “Everyone is in trouble for their sins; everyone will pay. But you and I have a special relationship, and I’ll take care of you personally.”

This is what the writer to the Hebrews said,

And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. Hebrews 12:5-11

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you will be disciplined personally by God for your sin. If you seem to be getting away with it, watch out. You’re either long overdue (testing the Father’s patience) or God is not your Father, and his final judgment will be far worse than any momentary discipline.