David's Tent
Twice Amos interceded for Israel, and twice God “relented” (7:3, 6). Israel could have found some hope in God’s responsiveness to a faithful prophet. However, from these two vision-reports to the hint of hope in the oracle preceding the final passage (9:8–10), the messages grew more and more harsh with threats of judgment and destruction.
The plural sukkôt also is the Hebrew name for the Feast of “Booths” or “Tabernacles,” named for the shelters in which Israel lived during their desert wandering under God’s care
While a sukkâ was a humble temporary structure, the term is sometimes used in the Old Testament for the abode of God, where the NIV translates it “pavilion” or “canopy” (Job 36:29; Ps 18:11; see also Pss 61:4; 76:2–3, which use the term ʾōhel, “tent”).
T. J. Finley explains the use as a figure based on the shelter of a king in battle. This sense, he says, is also appropriate for our passage, where the following verse uses war imagery in the phrase “possess the remnant of Edom.” The idea would be that Israel is in a state of defeat or near defeat by their enemies, the sign of which is that their king’s sukkâ is fallen. Israel, having been “mercilessly assaulted by the nations” according to 9:1–10, is here promised deliverance under the banner of David, a reference to the coming messianic Davidic king who will establish universal dominion (Zech 9:9–10).
THE LORD’S PROMISE OF RESTORATION (9:11–12)
“In that day” (v. 11) and “the days are coming” (v. 13) alert the reader that the promises contained in these two sections of the final pericope are for the (in)definite future. The hopeful tone of this passage is the direct result of the Lord’s actions in Israel’s behalf.