Amos 7-9 During this time, everything was backwards. The people appeared blessed, but two categories of sin were prevalent. Syncretistic worship and social injustice. The first, syncretistic worship means that they worshipped in the name of God and other idols at the same time. The lines of loyalty are now blurred at best. They worshipped God, but they were simply going through the motions. God did not receive these motions because the people’s hearts were empty towards Him. The second was social injustice. The people had become wealthy and arrogant. The poor were despised and Israel was making an effort to eradicate them. We will talk more about this later. These sins had to be dealt with and thrown down. It was obvious that the people of God were not going to do it and so God decided to do it Himself.
In the past, the Lord had sent multiple serious warnings to such as “hunger, thirst, blight, locusts, plagues, and military defeat”1 to encourage Israel to repent. They did not heed the warnings. This time, the prophecies predict a destruction that makes clear the Lord is finished warning. The time has come to carry out His threats. They were not idle threats like Israel thought. God expected a change of heart, not just a change of outward practice. He expected total loyalty, not just what was convenient to their lifestyle. God did not just critique His people on their hearts. He let them give the proof in their own lives and then He tells Amos that He has the truth. The “people of God” thought that they were allowed to fake it, but God then tells them through Amos that He measures hearts and will clarify for everyone what is true and what is not true about Israel.
Amos was ushered on to the scene by God to be His prophet. The prophet’s primary role was to receive and accurately declare the words and visions from God. The authority of a prophet came from this task and his words carried authority only because these words were from the Lord.
Let’s now start looking at the text for today.
In 7:1-6, there are 2 visions of plagues. One of locusts and one of fire.
In the vision of the locusts the timing of the locusts was very important. The king’s mowing was the first mowing and this took care of the king’s household and the army. The common man was to live off of the second mowing of the crops and the fact that the locusts were eating the 2nd crop meant that the common man would have nothing to eat. The king who already had much would be well taken care of. Amos cried out to God for the common man.
The prophet intercedes for the people and asks for mercy and pardon. Amos cries out to the Lord because he realizes that God is the only one who has the power to stop this onslaught. Amos is clear that Israel is not mighty enough to save itself. Amos is really asking for something unusual here because the mercy and forgiveness of God is usually preceded by repentance. This would certainly be pure grace and mercy if the Lord withheld the locust.
The Lord is quick to grant the mercy and remove the threat, but we will see later that this is not always the case. Remember that nothing destructive has taken place yet, but even Amos’s begging will not stop the hand of the Lord for good. When the fire is promised, Amos again cries out to God and the same compassion is demonstrated by God. God is gracious again. God is willing to wait, but He intends harm to those who do not repent. The fact that God relents or changes His mind is not a sign that God is wandering around confused and the prayers of Amos have given Him clear direction. God’s response is an act of compassion. He demonstrates that even the bad behavior of Israel does not hinder Him from showing compassion if He chooses to do so. In these verses, we see the judgment of God and the compassion of God. They do not offset each other, but exist side-by-side. God moves with compassion for the sake of the innocent although none are pointed out at this point. Let’s apply what we have learned so far.
7:1-6 Application Intercede for the lost. They do not deserve God’s compassion, but He might still have mercy. It is fun to see how effective Amos’s prayers were as he interceded for the weak. Cry out to God while there is still time, but understand that just like in Amos’s day, no one can hold back the hand of the Lord forever. The wicked will be punished if they do not repent. In 7:7-17, we find that God first shows Amos a vision about a plumb line in order to teach Amos what to say and then God sends Amos to deliver the message to Amaziah the priest. First let’s look at the vision by reading verses 7:7-9.
This is the 3rd vision. A plumb line is a weight hanging on the end of string. The string is held up and gravity allows it to swing until it settles directly below the hand or item that holds it upright. The purpose of a plumb line is to make sure that all is straight up and down. It was used to test the quality of workmanship. In this case, God’s hand is holding the plumb line. He is telling them that they do not measure up. God tells Amos that He is not going to back off anymore. He is ready to destroy. God is going to destroy the high places of Isaac, the sanctuaries of Israel, and the house of Jeroboam. The Nation of Israel will cease to exist as they had for centuries. Notice that Amos does not plead for mercy any longer. He has seen for himself that God’s people (Israel) do not measure up to the standards given to them by God. The moral character and faithfulness of God’s people has been exposed as terribly corrupt. When God measures something – the measurement is true.
By the way, God is not pleased to find His people in this condition, nor is He pleased to have to punish them. He is going to punish them however. He cannot overlook their sin any longer. He has given time for them to repent and return, but they have ignored him and even the priest is corrupt. Read 7:10-16 Amaziah and Amos
Amos is prophesying in Bethel and most probably in the temple. Amos prophesies that the king and the temple are going to be destroyed. These 2 positions represent all the power in Israel. The king was the political power and Amaziah (who is thought to be the high priest at the time) represents the spiritual head of the people. Amaziah and the king were in league together and so that is why Amaziah accuses Amos of high treason when he tattled on Amos to Jeroboam. Amaziah rejects not only Amos’s words about the king, but about the temple as well. Amaziah, being the high priest, had the right to tell a person who was going to speak in the temple and who was not. This is why he felt comfortable telling Amos to go away and speak no more. It appears that Amos did not speak in the temple at Bethel again, but we do not know whether this was because Amaziah ordered Amos not to speak in the temple anymore or simply because God did not have anything more to say in the temple.
When Amaziah told Amos to be quiet, he did it in such a way as to degrade him. He tried to accuse Amos of prophesying for self promotion. Amaziah had a corrupt heart and was accusing Amos of being just like himself and the rest of the people of Israel. He accused Amos of going through the motions without any heart. He accused Amos of having some ulterior motive.
Amos made it clear that he was not some professional prophet. He was never a part of any special group. He did not prophesy because he was born into the job or did he do it for money. Amos already had a job when God called him to be a prophet. He was a herdsman. It seems that he was a manager of shepherds. He also worked dressing sycamore trees. He made a point of saying that he had plenty to do and that he was making a living at these things. He was a prophet because the Lord had called him to do so and for no other reason. Amos’s only loyalty was to God and he wanted to make that very clear.
When Amaziah told Amos to be quiet, he was saying to God that he did not want to hear what God had to say. Amos was simply speaking for God. Amos’ prophecies are not of choice, but are ordered by God. God then says that since Amaziah did not want to hear from the Lord, he and his family would be an embarrassment and would be killed. The land that Amaziah sought to protect would be divided up and the people would be exiled from the land. Just because Amaziah does not like what is said and tries to dismiss it, does not make it untrue nor does it stop the events from happening. Amaziah does not control God.
Read 7:17 Application 7:7-17 God says what is acceptable, not us. God demands a heart aligned with His Word by faith. God measures each and every one of us. It does not matter what we think or even how we think that we act, who we are must be genuine. What we do must be in relationship by faith, not just going through the motions. Matthew 7:21-23 demonstrates some who looked godly, but whose heart had no relationship.21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’2
Rejecting God’s Word will bring devastation and wrath. Right now we live in a time of God’s compassion. He could bring righteous judgment on the earth immediately and the earth would deserve it. God has sent out His Word and many have rejected Him and His messengers. His compassion keeps His wrath from coming at this point, but do not consider this delay weakness on God’s part. He is gleaning all who will believe and just like in Amos’s day, the time of compassion will come to an end and He will bring destruction. When God calls you, obey and do not be wrongly influenced by others. Amos had no real qualifications to be a Prophet. He was simply a man faithful to his Lord. He remained faithful to God despite the threat of Jeroboam the king and the insults of Amaziah the high priest. Just for example - in contrast, Adam and Eve did not. When Satan contradicted God’s commands to Adam and Eve, they gave in to his influence. Didn’t that cause a mess?
When we have a relationship with Christ by faith, God not only calls us away from who we were, but He gives us new responsibility and a message from Him. When God calls, we will respond. God’s call of grace is irresistible. It is life changing. There may come times when struggles and opposition cause us to question what we are doing. Take comfort and wisdom from Amos. He remembered who he was before and after the call of God. He knew that he would never be the same and kept going forward in obedience. In 8:1-14 we have another vision - The vision of summer fruit – God’s declaration that compassion is over – God’s reasons for His judgment – God’s judgment.
Read 8:1-3 8:1-3 has much the same language as 7:7-9. It is a type of confirmation. In both cases, forgiveness is not possible anymore. In chapter 7, the message was to the king and to the temple. In chapter 8, now the entire nation of Israel is included. The summer fruit have no real connection here accept as an indicator of time. If the summer fruit was picked, then it meant that the growing season was over. It was harvest. Everything had come to a completion as it was supposed to. God is using this vision to tell the Israelites the same thing. The end of a time had come. He was not simply announcing that some bad folks were going to be destroyed, but that the Nation of Israel as they knew it was going to be no more. Destruction was imminent and the compassion and forgiveness of God was over. God says who will speak now. He demands attention. Amaziah has told Amos to speak no more and now God gets everyone’s attention by announcing dead bodies everywhere and speaks a deafening “SILENCE!”.
In 8:4-6, there are some violations repeated. Earlier in chapters 2:6-8, 3:9-10, 4:1, and 5:10-13, accusations of misconduct against the poor were spelled out. They were cheated while they were trying to participate in religious observances. Not only that, but they were being driven to be poor so that their very lives might be bought and sold for a price. You might ask – “Why all of this repeating?” It seems that Amos in chapters 1-6 had spoken in Samaria and now Amos is speaking in Bethel. Even if the news of a prophet with a terrible word from God had reached them, they would have had a minimal but incomplete understanding of what God considered to be serious violations and might not take the wrath of God seriously. Let’s look at 8:4-6 and see the abuses laid out before those in Bethel and us as well.
8:4 - The Israelites are trying to bring the needy and poor to an end. Why would this be a bad thing? Does not every society wish for this? It is not only the goal that is in question, but the means to that end. They were trying to eradicate the poor and needy by stealing from them. (Verse 8:5) This was done in several ways. The ephah was less than what was standard and so the poor received less grain for their money. The Shekel was heavier than normal and so the poor sold their grain and received less money for their grain. The balances (scales) were tampered with so that they gave a false reading further cheating the poor. The rich would drive the poor into debt and then take not only their belongings, but their very bodies including their family into slavery to cover the debt. This whole plan was well thought out and ruthless. God was not happy at all. He loves the poor and needy. He takes care of the weak. He fights for widows and orphans. Beside all of that, He was the one who redeemed them out of slavery because their cries were ever before Him (Exodus 2:22-25 23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.3 ). God did not deliver them only so they could become the captures of each other.
8:7-10 – 3, 8, 11, 14 Death and destruction So God promises to destroy those who are destroying others. The Israelites were acting like God was not really paying any attention. They were acting like God wasn’t able to do anything about what they were doing or that He did not care. God makes sure that they understand that He is still very much in control of everything. In the midst of this prophesied destruction, He brings an earthquake and an eclipse. The wicked Israelites had planned destruction for the poor and needy and yet destruction will come to them instead. The temple will be destroyed (7:9). The songs of the temple will turn into wailings (8:3). The feasts will turn into lamentations (8:10). People will be wearing sackcloth and either shave their heads or pull out their hair (8:10). This was a common sign of mourning. It will be like they had lost their only son. The son was the one who carried on the namesake and inherited everything. This mourning will be like they had come to the knowledge that their name was going to be cut off the face of the earth forever.
Read 8:7-10 8:11-14 Absence of God’s positive Word (or any other god) Now there are difficult times in life, but what God promised Israel was terrible. There would be wailing, lament, the king would be dead, the priest would be dead, the temple would be destroyed, dead bodies would be everywhere, and the nation of Israel would be no more. This is hard times. But that was not the worst of it. The Lord promised the people of Israel that when all of this devastation came upon them, they could cry out to the Lord all they wanted and He would not respond. He was not going to speak to them anymore. They could even cry out to their other gods and they would hear nothing. (Crying out to other gods and hearing nothing was not new, those gods say nothing anyways.) This leaves them with no hope. That makes what they are going through utterly devastating.
Look at 8:11-14 Is this brutal of God? No! They had God’s Word and decided to go astray and chase after other gods. They had God’s Word and decided to violate His statutes as if He was not watching or was not going to do anything about it. He had sent prophets to warn and yet they did not repent and return to Him. They even told the prophets not to speak and rejected what they were sent by God to speak. They did not want anything to do with God and so now they suffer by Him and without His help. The time for repentance is past. He is done talking. He is done trying to get their attention. He is done trying to save them.
Application 8:4-6 Carefully consider the poor from a grateful heart. How do we think about the poor? I wonder if our lifestyles include those who are much less fortunate then we are? Some might say that they do not know of any truly poor. I would argue that it is easy to not go where the poor are and therefore say that you don’t see. Is your plan to make a conscious effort to not help the poor or even keep them poor and away from you? I know that there are those who create their own problems and are not willing to repent. They are reaping the wages of their choices. But there are those who made bad choices and are now willing to repent. What about helping them? I know of hard working people who are careful with their money and have tried to supply for their family and yet they have remained poor all of their lives. I am not trying to condemn, but I am trying to get you to consider your personal stance on the poor and then correct your attitudes and actions if that is appropriate. This is not a game to God. He made provisions for the poor among His people. To some degree, He measures the degradation of a society by how they handle the poor. Is it right that the rich keep getting richer, when the poor get poorer? No! Do you know of people who are wealthy and yet they give to the poor? I do. I do not have any problem with them having wealth. I am glad they do. I want them to prosper under God’s hand of blessing. They know what to do with their wealth. Do you know people who have wealth and they only spend it on themselves and give little or nothing to help the poor? Don’t you feel differently about them?
Leviticus 19:9-11 9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. 11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.4 Exodus 22:21-24 21 “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Luke 12:16-21 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”5
Application 8:7-11 Amos is warning this particular group of people about their sin. They sinned openly and unashamedly because they really didn’t think God would do anything about it. I want to talk to the unsaved for a moment, but I want the believers to listen carefully - when God destroys, He is thorough and it is devastating. The greatest devastation of God will be the removal of His Word which gives hope. Do not think that you will get away with your rebellion against God forever. God will not be ignored. Do not think that God’s love and compassion hinders Him from utterly destroying you and your sin. Real repentance is required now before it is too late. Be careful not to convince yourself that God doesn’t care and will do nothing about your apathy towards Him.
Remember what we read in Romans 2:5-8 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 6 Isaiah 13:9-13 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.7
You see – to reject the Word of God is to reject Christ Himself. Listen to what is said about some of the judgment in the end days. Revelation 19:11-16 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.8
I must apologize to you for some of my Christian brothers and sisters. Some have told you that God is love. He is most assuredly is LOVE. But they told you in such a way that made you think that he was just all warm and fuzzy. They painted a picture for you of a god that was much like a stuffed animal or a pet. The Scriptures I just read to you paint an entirely different picture. He is love, but He destroys as well. But there is hope. You do not have to have a wicked heart. You do not have to be destroyed and be cast into Hell forever.
These passages are highlighting the wrath of God for a reason. God wants us to understand what He poured out on His Son. You see the wrath of God is on you right now if you are not saved. God knew that you could not save yourself and so He sent Jesus the Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus died and took on the punishment of God that was meant for you. God poured out His wrath on Jesus. A man who did not deserve any punishment at all accepted this punishment so that we could be saved. God vindicated Jesus on the third day by raising Him from the grave and Jesus is alive forevermore. If you will repent and place your faith in Christ, then you will be saved.
I will address the saved in a few minutes, but we need a little more information from this text. We move to chapter 9:1-10 The Destruction of Israel – Probably speaking in Bethel, but not in the temple. The 3rd and 4th visions are now being carried out in the 5th and final vision. Amos only tells us what he sees.
Read 9:1-10 The Lord has transformed His altar from a place of approachability to judgment. The altar was the place where the Israelites came to worship their God. Altars were places of remembering the good that God had done for them and for the forgiveness of sin. This time, the Lord is standing by the altar ready to pronounce judgment. God is giving orders to someone. We do not know who this person, angel, etc is, but we do know that whoever he is – he does what he is told, which is different than almost all of Israel.
The being is told to destroy the temple and do it in a manner that when the columns fall, they are smashed on the heads of the so called worshippers who are inside. (:1) It is obvious by reading this section that God is not going to let any sinner escape. He will hunt them down no matter where they hide. They can dig down and they can climb to heaven (:2), they can scale mountains or swim to the bottom of the sea (:3), they could hand themselves over to a human enemy thinking that this would be better than facing the destruction of God (:4) and God will still find them and kill them. The greatest attempt to hide may be the one to hide among the few righteous. He will shake everyone like a sieve until only the righteous remain and all sinners are destroyed. (9:9)
The inability to escape from the Lord comes from the fact that He is the one who made the world. (:6) and the destruction will be so severe that the wicked of the nation of Israel will be treated like the heathen nations of the world around them. (:7-8) Israel was so amazingly arrogant that they thought that they were beyond destruction, but they will be destroyed as well. (:10) Don’t judge too harshly yet - remember – these were the people of promise. They were God’s chosen people, they were given the Law and the prophets, they had been delivered from Egypt in an extraordinary move of God’s hand, they were given the Promised Land, and they had the promises of Abraham and David. Their entire thought process about who they were in the sight of God was based on thousands of years of interaction with God as His people. They were the darlings of the universe in their minds. They thought that this meant unlimited protection and freedom no matter what they did. This is much like a highly privileged or spoiled child. A child that is given the best of everything and allowed to have their own way. Somehow all of this kindness makes the child believe that the world really does revolve around them and that there are no serious consequences for their choices and behavior. This attitude is developed in them over time until it is their real belief system. But their view of reality is not reality at all. It is not the case for Israel either. The world revolves around God and His glory. They had gone too far and they were in for a rude awakening.
Application 9:1-10 I would now like to address the saved – are there areas in your life that God has spoken over and over and you have ignored His warnings? He has given you His Word and you know what His Word says about your habitual sin, but you have decided that it does not matter to God? You find yourself arrogantly thinking that God will overlook your holiness (or lack thereof) in any area and so you habitually do the same thing over and over with no effort to repent and change. Don’t let your secure position in Christ make you so comfortable in your relationship that you think that you do not have to constantly grow in your sanctification and holiness. God may discipline you for a while and leave you feeling hopeless. He may remove His Word from you for a time until your desire for Him is greater than your desire for your sin. Be careful. Remain humble before the Lord and do your best to remain teachable and pliable. Be careful not to convince yourself that God doesn’t care and will do nothing about your apathy towards Him. Back to the text. God is Sovereign. The focus of chapters 8 and 9 is the Lord. Just look at the references to “the LORD” or the “I will”, etc. 37 times in Chapters 8 and 9. Do not think that God is only in charge of the good stuff in the world. He does bring devastation when He thinks it appropriate.
Lamentations 3:37-50 37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? 39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: 42“We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. 43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; 44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. 45 You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. 46“All our enemies open their mouths against us; 47panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; 48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, 50 until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees;9 The people of Israel had disregarded God and His Word to them. The Israelites acted as if God was not jealous and they brought in other gods to worship. They were acting like unbelievers. God is now displaying His power and might in such a way that there can be no denying who He is and what He cares about. He does not want anyone confused about who is bringing this destruction and who will bring restoration. It is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
That was a lot of destruction and bad news. You have been listening to these tough talks for 3 weeks now and I hope that you are getting the message of God through His prophet Amos. But for us, who read this now, there is much hope and the Lord in His graciousness wants us to heed the warning and run towards Him in hope of deliverance. Let’s joyfully look at 9:11-15 The destruction is now over. There are some who remain – a remnant. God has not forgotten His promises to Abraham or David and since He (God) made the promises, He must and will keep His Word. God, Himself now restores all of the hope that He had taken away in the previous vision of destruction. In this last section, both the people and the land will be restored. The promise made to David was that there would be a king from his lineage on the throne forever.
I Chronicles 17:10b -14 Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. 11 When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14 but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’ ”10 In Amos, it is clear that the ruler of Israel was killed and the Northern Kingdom was no more. Did God lie to David? Since David is no longer alive and the people are now wicked, is the covenant between God and David now without validity? The covenants of God are eternal. David’s ruins are going to be rebuilt. (9:11)
In the same manner, was the promise made to Abraham bogus? The promise was that through Abraham’s seed all of the nations would be blessed. Genesis 17:3-7 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 11 Abraham’s seed was the Nation of Israel. In Amos, we have just seen that this nation has been destroyed by God. God made the promise and then God seemingly destroys the avenue for keeping the promise.
As always, God’s promises are beyond all that we can ask or think. The promises that seemingly were made to a chosen nation of just one people are now better understood to be a nation made up of all the chosen people. The reference to Edom may be that Edom was considered by many to be the representative of the entire human race. This was stated to point out that there will be a remnant from the entire human race, not just from Israel and that this remnant will also have in common that they will be called by the name of the Lord. (9:12)
The land will be prosperous. It will not only give yield when planted, but it will yield as never before. The Israel that was destroyed by the hand of God once inherited from God a land “flowing with milk and honey”. They thought that was spectacular. But this new land will produce so much that while one is trying to plow up the ground to plant seed in the spring of the year, he runs into the one still trying to harvest the massive crop from last year. The one trying to plant vineyards finds another still trying to stomp the grapes into juice from the last reaping. (9:13)
This group of people will be called God’s people and they will live in this extraordinary land. They will develop it. They will enjoy the fruit of their labor. God will not only allow them to live there, but He will make sure that they are there to stay. This Israel is a different Israel. This is a permanent Israel. They will never again worry about a coming destruction again. They will be at peace.
Notice that there will not only be a different people, but that there is no mention of any other gods either. These people are not confused or disobedient. They are at rest in the blessings of the Lord their God. (:14-15)
Application 9:11-15 Never are the blessings of God to be placed over the God who gave them. When the blessings become more important than God Himself there is idolatry. Never be more satisfied in things. Always enjoy and worship God. Whatever we love, we pursue. Whatever we love, we are relational with. The promises are fulfilled in Christ. Christ is the new Israel and all that are in Christ are the Nation of Israel. He is the one who assembles the Kingdom and establishes priests forever. He establishes a new Temple where the Spirit of God lives.
Revelation 5:9-10 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”12 Romans 9:6-8 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 13
Ephesians 2:11-22 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.14 And what about this New Heaven and New Earth? God is the one who builds and provides this as well. This is a prediction that is not new to Scripture.
Isaiah 65:17-19a 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; …… New Heaven and New Earth (New Testament vision) Listen to all of the fulfilling statements made in this passage. It carefully tells us who will be there and the conditions that they can expect. It carefully tells us who will not be there and what they can expect as well.
Revelation 21:1-6 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”15