Disaster and Blessing (Amos 9)

Imagine if we were watching the news and listening to one story after another of terrible things that were happening to a country. Then suddenly, a totally different message was described that provided great encouragement for those watching. Then the newscaster said that the good report needed further study to see what actually was intended by it, but in the meantime he advised the viewers to take heart from what they had been told. In a sense, that illustration describes the ninth chapter of Amos. The first section continues the list of grim messages that the prophet had delivered, but then in verse 11 he describes a recovery. But is the description of the recovery all that it might seem?

 

The fifth vision

In verse 1, Amos describes his fifth vision (the previous four have been described and explained in chapters 7 and 8). The Lord has already appeared in the third vision, holding a plumb line, a sign that he was going to knock down the religious buildings and the royal house.  He appears again in the fifth vision and in it he expands on what will happen when the judgement falls on the northern kingdom.

 

The first matter we are told about the Lord is that he is standing in the temple. When we read about God visiting a temple, we normally think of him going to the temple in Jerusalem, the temple that he had arranged to be built by Solomon. We would expect to be told something about the worship taking place there and perhaps a description of a blessing the Lord was going to give. But in this vision, he is not in his temple in Jerusalem. Instead, he is standing in the unauthorised temple in Bethel that Jeroboam I had erected, and where false worship had taken place for centuries. He has come not to indicate his compassion, but to state that he will ensure his judgement will fall.

 

So the Lord repeats his intention to fulfil his threatened judgement on the northern kingdom. He uses various illustrations to show how none of those who opposed him will escape. Those who survive the collapse of the temple, which will be shaken down by an earthquake, will be killed with the sword of the Assyrians. (An earthquake did occur shortly after Amos’ ministry and it was so large that it is frequently referred to afterwards in the Old Testament.) Should others try and go where no-one has gone before – the depths of the underworld and the heights of heaven, he will find them. Should they go up high mountains like Carmel to escape or try and hide at the bottom of the sea, he will find them. Even when they go into captivity, things will get worse for them because the governments (the sword) will kill them. He sums his activities up in the second half of verse 4: ‘I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.’

 

As in previous messages, the Lord reminds the people that he is the powerful Creator, the Lord of hosts, the almighty God. We have noticed the likely reference to an earthquake in verse 1 and his control of a sea serpent in verse 3. In verse 5 and 6, he describes the effects on the earth when he visits it. He is the almighty God and the merest touch by him causes the earth to dissolve and shake like the waves of the Nile. The extent of his reign stretches to the heights of the heavens and he governs the moving of the waters, including the water that rises to the clouds and falls as rain. Clearly, he is reminding the Israelites of his amazing power. Who can possibly resist such a God!

 

Moreover, the Lord is the Controller of the nations (9:7-10). In this section, he deals with the assumption that some Israelites had which was that they assumed they would always remain his special people. The Lord informs them that now they mean no more to him than did the Cushites, a people who lived faraway. Even the fact that he had brought them out of Egypt did not indicate permanence of his favour because he had also arranged the territorial shifts of their enemies, the Philistines and the Syrians. His intention was to remove Israel again, and this time they would no longer have any territory, even although a remnant would be spared. But those who lived sinful lives, who had assumed that they were a special people whom disaster would not touch, would perish.

 

Before we move on to consider the second half of the chapter, we can some applications. The obvious one is that people should take the Lord’s threatenings seriously. A second one is that the Lord can preserve those who fear him even while he is punishing others for their sins – some of the northern kingdom would be spared, and that is why we later meet in the Bible some who belonged to those tribes. A third application is to beware the folly of presumption, that somehow the Lord will overlook unfaithfulness. The fact is that he will not. He will honour faithfulness, but those who presume without any basis for their outlook will be punished by the Lord. A fourth application is to remember the greatness of God. He sees everything, he is inescapable, and he is just.

 

The restoration of the house of David

The Lord moves on to describe another action that he will perform in a day after his judgement on the northern kingdom. He details several aspects of that time of restoration, but as we think about them, we should ask ourselves if those details are what they might seem to be saying at first glance.

 

The first detail that we can observe is that the restoration will happen after the kingdom of David has shrunk to the equivalent of a tent (vv. 11-12). His kingdom had been declining in influence and power for a long time, since the days of Solomon, and it was going to decline even further, as it lost its independence. Yet even although it will be in ruins, the Lord will rebuild it to such an extent that it will conquer Edom and other nations. He even says that those nations will have another name because they will be called by his name, the Lord’s name.

 

The second detail is that when the restoration comes, the land will produce so much that it will disrupt the plans usually implemented for sowing and harvesting (v. 13). There will such a great harvest that they will not have enough time to gather it all in before the time for ploughing comes round. The mountains and the hillsides would be covered with vineyards.

 

The third detail is that in the time of restoration, there will be great security (v. 14). The cities will be safe places to dwell in, and the inhabitants would enjoy their vineyards and gardens. No longer is there a threat from a powerful enemy like the Assyrians. Instead of fear, there will an abundance of peace.

 

In verse 15, another blessing of the time of restoration is mentioned and that is permanence. The restored nation will never again experience exile. Instead they will remain in the land that the Lord promised to give them. No one will be powerful enough to remove them from the place of blessing. What an amazing future they will have!

 

As we look at this description of restoration, we can see that it is going to involve territorial expansion (to other nations), ample supplies, great security and endless prosperity. The question is, when will all this happen? Amos does not tell us, but centuries later a person who spent much of his life in the territory that once belonged to the northern kingdom does tell us. That person is James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, and the place where he tells us is Acts 15:13-17:

 

‘After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,  that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ Therefore my judgement is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God…’

 

James made this announcement at the Council of Jerusalem which had met to deal with the issue of whether or not Gentile Christians should be circumcised. The Council decided that they should not, and the Old Testament passage that guided the conclusion of James was this prediction by Amos.

 

So we can see that the restoration of the kingdom of David is connected to Jesus who does not reign in the earthly Jerusalem, but in the heavenly city. He sits now on the throne of David. The territorial expansion predicted by Amos is fulfilled as people from all the nations join the kingdom, and they have a new name that reflects they are the people of God. Moreover, the abundant supplies that they receive is not connected to earthly provisions and its timetable, because they can get their supplies all the time from heaven. Sometimes they may not know abundance of earthly provisions, but grace comes to them from the King. They are promised the peace of God wherever they are, and they are guaranteed permanent membership of the restored kingdom, and one day when all the inhabitants are gathered in, there will be a new heavens and new earth with ample provision, ample peace and ample possession for ever.

 

So the prediction given through Amos by the Lord is not all that it seems at first glance. Instead, it is much, much more.

 

Application

What is the message of the book of Amos? We have spent several studies looking at its contents and have considered the repeated messages of judgement that he delivered. Repeatedly, the conclusion seemed to be that there was no hope. But that is not how the book closes. Instead, it closes with a message of guaranteed hope. Jesus on two occasions in the Gospels took disciples through the Old Testament and showed them where it spoke about him. When he came to the Book of Amos, where would he be found? He is found in the prophecy of restoration at the end of the book.

 

A second application is found in the words of Peter when he mentions the thoughts of the Old Testament prophets who delivered their predictions. He says this in 1 Peter 1:10-12: ‘Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.’ Amos the prophet described the subsequent glories of the suffering Christ. Somehow, Amos knew that he had a message for us, and the part of his book that affects us is this prediction of restoration, because it describes our place in the restoration.

 

A third application is that we should expect the church of Jesus to grow and that an answer to threatening topics, like the dispute over circumcision, is to lift our spiritual gaze from such distracting quarrels to the wonderful vision that Amos closed his book with. Look around and see how many of the inhabitants of the nations are now called by the name of the Lord. Consider that they now have ample spiritual resources and possess the assurance of belonging permanently to the kingdom of Jesus. 

 

A fourth application of the prediction of Amos is to ask ourselves what is depicted by a heavenly kingdom, ample provision, abundant peace and endless residence. Surely, they point to the removal of the curse given in Eden when the then king sinned and lost his kingdom, lost a fruitful earth, lost a peaceful environment, and lost all sense of permanency. But it has been restored in the sense that the Last Adam, the permanent King, is at work to bring in the inhabitants of his kingdom and to give them foretastes of the benefits of that endless world.

 

Fifth, in a sense, Amos 9 is a story of two kingdoms, and we must belong to one of them. We either belong to the sinful kingdom that will punished with exile from God or we belong to the spiritual kingdom that will be blessed with salvation by God. We are either in the kingdom described in verses 1 to 10 or in the kingdom described in verses 11 to 15. A simple choice, but a solemn one, to make sure that we are in the right kingdom.