Amos 9:11-15

Intro

Amos as earliest prophetic book.

Progressive Revelation

Dispensational Premillennialism

Rapture, church vs. Israel, literal interpretations

vv11-12

We see the royal restoration of Israel, the creational, then the personal promises.

A booth or shelter or tabernacle is a simple structure that protects those underneath from the sun. The shelter of David is the protection David provided from God’s enemies. That shelter was broken when the kingdom split. The obvious fulfillment of this prophecy is the reign of Christ over a re-unified kingdom of Israel + “all the nations who are called by My name.” All who survive the plumb line judgment.

This, plus vv14-15, indicate a seed of a promise that God will re-unite all 12 tribes under 1 king.

“possessing the remnant of Edom” is a literal prophecy in that Israel will take Edom’s land. It is also a allegorical prophecy in that God will end all hatred expressed towards Israel. This has to be a reference to the return of Jesus.

Notice the missional application of these verses from their use in Acts 15:13–21 “13 After they stopped speaking, James responded, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. 15 The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written: 16 ‘After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the fallen Tabernacle of David, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will restore it, 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles Who are called by My name,’ 18 Says the Lord, who Makes these things known from long ago. 19 Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.””

The Jews came from a Gentile, and the Gentiles won’t become Jews, but they will live under the “booth” or “shelter” or “tabernacle” of the Jews. The is a development of the Abrahamic Covenant. Jews wanted prophets to speak judgment to the nations, and while God did speak some judgment, His primary purpose was for Israel to bless and protect the nations. It’s also a development of the Davidic Covenant. God promised David a descendant permanently on the throne. Here we see a resurrection of a fallen shelter (likely reference to the split kingdom, possible reference to the exile), and the inclusion of Gentiles.

What James says Amos is saying is God took Jews from the Gentiles, He will give Jews the final authority over the Gentiles with a Messiah, He desires that Gentiles come to a saving knowledge of Himself and enjoy the protection of the Messiah and His kingdom. Therefore, there’s no reason to force Gentiles to become Jews.

v13

The creational restoration of Israel is given in v13. God is saying that Israel’s fruit will be so great that reapers are still collecting the harvest when the plowman wants to begin next years planting, and the winemakers will still be treading grapes when the planters want to plant new ones. This means the curse of sin from the garden of Eden will be overturned.

Back in Amos 4 we discusses seven curses that Moses promised would occur if the people didn’t obey, and God sent those curses: Famine, Drought, Blight/mildew, Locusts, Plagues, Military defeat, and Devastation. The curses are being overturned.

Mountains dripping wine is a reference to the Millennial kingdom: Joel 3:18 “18 And on that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Shittim.”

Isaiah 25:6–8 “6 Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. 7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all peoples, The veil which is stretched over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.”

This is the sign that John mentions John 2:11 “11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”

vv14-15

The personal promises seem to directly include the people of Israel. So, for the first time, Amos makes explicit that some Israelites will survive the plumb line judgment.

They will rebuild their cities and live in them, they will plant vineyards and drink the wine (God sometimes says you will plant vineyards but others will drink the wine) Amos 5:11 “11 Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And take a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of cut stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.”

God will plant the Israelites on their land and they will not be uprooted again. Notice the flow: God says “I will restore … they will rebuild … they will plant … I will plant.” This is the Millennial Kingdom. All 12 tribes will be joined together:

Ezekiel 37:15–23 “15 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 16 “Now you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but I will rescue them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.”

Given that the 10 tribes of Israel are lost today, there are two possibilities: God will re-create them (the beginning of Ezekiel 37 discusses God resurrecting dry bones) or there are people today that don’t know they belong to one of the 10 tribes.

Ezekiel 37:11–14 “11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’ ””

For gathering, we see Ezekiel 11:17 “17 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’” Jeremiah 31:10 “10 Hear the word of the Lord, you nations, And declare it in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”” Isaiah 66:20 “20 Then they shall bring all your countrymen from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.”

But one thing is clear: God will restore the kingdom of Israel for all 12 tribes, and everyone from all nations who is called by his name will join them in that kingdom. It’s most likely that Jesus’ kingdom will have far-reaching borders, not just the land promised to Jews.

Psalm 72:8 “8 May he also rule from sea to sea, And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.”

Zechariah 9:10 “10 And I will eliminate the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be eliminated. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.”

Themes

Restoration of Israel (including reunited 12 tribes and single kingdom, inclusion of Gentiles, economic prosperity, permanent promise of the land).

Wine, tent of David, and other things (Gentiles, prosperity) as symbols of the Messiah.

Application

Celebrate

Share the Gospel

How can we allow Nepalis to remain Nepali while still telling them to “abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood?”