Promises Made Promises Kept
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Introduction
Introduction
It is one thing to make promises and an entirely other thing to keep them. Promises may get people to support you and trust you but if you dont keep the promises you lose the trust and no one believes anything you say any more.
We are finishing the book of Amos this morning and we have seen Amos try to get his message to the Israelites through three sermons and four visions - with the fifth one today. Throughout these messages the main thing being communicated is that the people were in rebellion against God and they would be punished and judged for it. They deceived themselves into thinking that because they were “God’s people”, that He wouldnt follow through on judgment.
This fifth vision from Amos is meant to drive home the point that God will indeed follow through and keep His promise of judgment against Israel. What Israel needs to see and what we can see today is that it is because God is a God who keeps His promises - even His promises of judgment that we can have hope in God’s future promises. Our God is a God who makes and keeps promises! He is as faithful to His promise of hope and new beginnings as He is to His promise to judge and punish. It is precisely because of this that we have a solid source for such profound hope. Hope does not exist in and of itself - authentic hope comes from having a faithful trustworthy God. True genuine hope is based on God’s nature and His promises.
This final chapter and vision we are called to gaze upon the nature of our God. He is not to be trifled with, He is inescapable, He is sovereign, He keeps promises and because of that we can trust His promises for our future.
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there my hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. 3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor, from there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.
4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good. 5 The Lord, the God of Armies— he touches the earth; it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.
6 He builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth. The Lord is his name. 7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is the Lord’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will obliterate it from the face of the earth. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob— this is the Lord’s declaration— 9 for I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people who say, “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword. 11 In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name— this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this. 13 Look, the days are coming— this is the Lord’s declaration— when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The Lord your God has spoken.
Promised Inescapable Sword
Promised Inescapable Sword
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there my hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. 3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor, from there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.
4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.
5 The Lord, the God of Armies— he touches the earth; it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt. 6 He builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth. The Lord is his name.
This vision starts different from the others, for Amos saw things and the Lord asked him what he saw. The Lord would then interpret what it was that Amos was seeing. Here for the last vision though Amos just begins describing what He saw and speaking what the Lord spoke. Amos saw the Lord standing beside the altar. The best choice for what altar is that is must be the false altar probably in Bethel. God has given an altar to Israel in Jerusalem and it was supposed to be the place where the people claimed their peace in obedience to worship of the One True Living God. That altar and the temple in Jerusalem was to be the center of life for the nation and the people. Instead they had rebelled and decided to make an altar for themselves and in their rebellion began to pollute their worship and it spilled over into moral life, economic life, and political life. Here was the Lord standing beside their false and corrupt altar and the Lord spoke. With four affirmations the Lord declared the destruction of the altar, the temple and the nation itself.
I will kill
I will kill
Verse 1a the Lord speaking to Amos said strike the capitals of the pillars (these are the upper supports) so that the thresholds (entryways) shake. Knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.
I will search
I will search
God then makes a promise none of those who flee will get away and no fugitive will ultimately escape.
11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not hear them.
If they dig down to Sheol - from there my hand will take them. If they climb up to heaven from there I will bring them down. If they hide on the top of Mt Carmel from there I will track (search) and seize them.
22 There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide.
I will command
I will command
If they conceal themselves from my sight at the sea floor, I will command a sea serpent to bite them. If they are driven from their enemies into captivity - even as captives they will not be safe from judgment - I will command the sword to kill them.
33 But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins.
I will keep
I will keep
Verse 4b - I will keep my eye on them - for harm and not for good. Escape will be impossible because of the direct involvement of the Lord - He is the one who brings and ensures that this judgment will be carried out. Wherever they would go God’s eyes would be fixed on them and He has determined to destroy them. Israel’s apostasy and rebellion has brought the eye of the Lord upon them in judgment.
Similar words would be spoken years later by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah would be speaking as Amos is these words before the exile of the nation of Judah.
10 For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good—this is the Lord’s declaration. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.’
Amos refers to God as the Lord, the God of Armies and describes His awesome power - touches the earth and melts it and all who dwell in it mourn and cause all of it to rise and fall like the Nile river of Egypt. Surely this awesome God would possess also the power to fulfill His promise to find and seize them from any spot on earth, in the earth or under the earth. The LORD is His name - Yahweh - the covenant keeping God would keep His promise and judge those who had rebelled and disobeyed Him. The heart of Israel’s problem was their heart. They distorted the worship of God. Everything was wrong because they were not right with God. Nothing works right when we alter the worship of the altar - Preacher’s Commentary. It remains true for us today and our churches today. We must worship as God commands. Our worship to God IS our obedience to God.
Promised Sifting
Promised Sifting
7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is the Lord’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir? 8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will obliterate it from the face of the earth. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob— this is the Lord’s declaration—
9 for I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners among my people who say, “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword.
God promised an inescapable sword but also a promised sifting. Amos still speaking for the Lord says Israelites are you not like the Cushites to Me? Cushites are Ethiopians. The Lord declares - I Am - I brought Israel from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor (Kaptor) or Crete and the Arameans (Syrians) from Kir. God is speaking directly to the false assumption that because they were God’s people they had a special pass to do as they pleased and not have to worry about consequences and judgment.
God reminds Israel - Yes I brought you out of Egypt, but I brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans/Syrians from Kir. Don’t be proud and presumptuous of your exodus from Egypt. Your enemies each had one also. What a shock to them that God had been involved in the history of two nations they regarded as enemies.
The next three verses are the final statements of judgment from Amos Though they vow an impartial and certain death to sinners, they also point to final section and a future promise of the Lord. Look the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom and I will obliterate it from the face of the earth.
The eyes of the Lord were watching the sinful nation to bring judgment. He purposed and promised to destroy it from the face of the earth. God is fulfilling the covenant curses
20 The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.
63 Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess.
Notice that God says the sinful kingdom. The judgment is against the rule of the kingdom of Israel and not the people of Israel as God’s people. To confirm this look at what God says next - HOWEVER - I will NOT totally destroy the house of Jacob - this is the Lord’s declaration! The earlier possibility of a remnant was now made certain. God would have mercy on those who repented!
For I am about to give the command - and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes a sieve. God is going to shake Israel as one shakes a sieve for the purpose of sifting, to separate whats good from what is waste or impure. but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
Two ways to see this sifting a fine meshed sieve lets chaff and dust go through but catches good grain, so God would screen out and save any righteous among His people.
Others suggest the sieve in view is a coarse meshed sieve used at the beginning of the sifting process to screen out stones and dirt-clods letting smaller grain fall through. Refers to a sinner who would not escape the screen of God’s judgment.
Either interpretation works because the point God’s impartial sifting will separate the righteous from the sinners.
God is coming after the sinners who do not humble themselves and who say disaster is never going to come and overtake us. Those will die by the sword.
4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral
8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;
Promise To Restore
Promise To Restore
11 In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name— this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.
13 Look, the days are coming— this is the Lord’s declaration— when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The Lord your God has spoken.
God promised an inescapable sword for Israel and promised to sift Israel and in 732 B.C. we know that Israel was conquered and exiled by Assyria. The importance of these promises being fulfilled is because God made another promise to Israel through Amos a promise of restoration. It is because the promise of judgment came that Israel could hope in the promise that God will restore. God says in that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David; I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old. Notice here the similarities - God promised judgment saying “I WILL” and here God promises restoration saying “I WILL”. The promise of judgment and restoration are both kept by the power of the Lord.
Since 732 B.C. even to this very day, there has been no Davidic king ruling in Jerusalem. Though in 1948 the nation has been restored they have no king, priest, temple or sacrifice. The Lord has promised that in that day (a day of darkness and destruction but once the ordeal is over) - that promised day He will restore, repair and rebuild the dynasty of David and establish the kingdom He promised.
In the fulfillment of the restoration of the dynasty of David God promises to restore the national purpose for Israel as well. They may possess the remnant of Edom (brother of Jacob whose judgment is the next we will look at in the book of Obadiah). Edom is a nation perpetually hostile to Israel and represents all of Israels enemies. The kingdom will be united under its Davidic King and then become the source of blessing for all Gentile nations as well.
3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
All the peoples - all the nations
God’s plan from the beginning has been to provide salvation for Gentile nations. God has continually affirmed a united rule under the Davidic King - the Messiah. When God restores the kingdom in the Millennium under David’s Son - Jesus the Messiah both Jew and Gentiles will bear the name of the Lord.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who bears my name and is created for my glory. I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.”
11 “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Armies.
15 And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written: 16 After these things I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, 17 so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord— even all the Gentiles who are called by my name— declares the Lord who makes these things 18 known from long ago.
The Apostle James at the Council of Jersualem quotes Amos 9:11-12 to demonstrate that God has promised to reach the Gentiles and bring them into His Kingdom under Messiah not Israel.
God promises to restore Kingdom, Purpose, and also Blessing - look at verses 13-15. Look the days are coming this is the LORD’s declaration - the plowman will overtake the reaper, the treader of grapes the sower of the seed.
Plowing and reaping forever have been separated by seasons, but in those days the harvest will be so bountiful and plentiful that the reaper is not done reaping while the one plowing returns to plant again. The treading of grapes is still treading while yet the seed are being sown.
Mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with it - mountains and hills are terrible agriculture land. Yet the ground will be so fruitful even the mountains and hills will produce.
God says I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. God’s people will live in peace and enjoy the lavish abundance. God will plant Israel in her own land never to be uprooted again.
The LORD your God has SPOKEN
Conclusion
Conclusion
The severity of God’s judgment at the temple may be shocking to us, but it is also to be a source of hope!. God gave Israel repeated opportunities to repent and return. He also told them exactly what would happen if they refused. Who would God be if He gave promises He never follows through on? When we lose trust in God doing what He says we lose a sense of hope. If we assume God wont keep His promises of judgment how will we be sure that He would keep His promises of restoration? True security is found in trusting God. Trust in God for promises made comes by promises kept. Secure trust in God is a trust that trusts God in everything.
Verses 11-15 God speaks of the restoration of the Davidic covenant - David’s house will be raised again. Which it will - through the return of Jesus Christ as the Son of David. When He returns it is to rule and reign from Jerusalem. We live in a glorious time in which we are beginning to see the fulfillment of these promises to Israel.
There is a controversy that comes from these promises though as Christians are confused how Israel and the church relate to each other. There are four understandings of this
Israel has been replaced by the church. The Jews rejected Messiah the Lord forsook Israel and started over with the church. All promises to Israel only apply ONLY to the church.
Israel is synonymous with the church. All of the promises and prophecies concerning Israel materially and nationally are fulfilled in the church spiritually and eternally.
Israel is equal to the church. Devout Jews who practice Judaism will enter the kingdom of God just as devout Christians - because they are all His children.
I take this last position because I believe the Word of God teaches and deals with Israel and the Church this way that we must see Israel as distinct from the church, both practically and prophetically.
The largest area in which this is dealt with is in Romans 9-11. These chapters focus on Israel. These are there to show that God is trustworthy and faithful to keep His promises that He made to Israel and that the church in no way replaced Israel. The unfulfilled promises will be fulfilled - why can we trust that because God’s other promises were also fulfilled. Promises made and kept leads to trusting for promises made. Romans 11 speaks specifically of the restored nation of Israel in which all come to acknowledge and believe in the Messiah.
After studying Amos, we are prepared to walk with our God with new sense of awe and wonder, for He has personally intervened to make us right with Himself and give us the power to live righteous lives as He commands. Now we behold God incarnate in Christ. His death on the Cross establishes the righteousness with God we could never earn or deserve.
You can trust Jesus with your life for forgiveness of sin - God has promised that through His death sins are forgiven.