A Life in Exile

We are going to finish our look at Amos today on a positive note. This letter from Amos to the kingdom of Israel must have been hard to stomach. He didn’t pull any punches in addressing their sins and God’s impending judgment. The final chapter of this minor but powerful prophet makes clear that Israel would be destroyed.

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—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. (Amos 9:8-9 CSB)

The days ahead for Israel were bleak, to say the least.

And yet, a new day was coming.

God is always a God of mercy. He wants them to know that while his justice must be accomplished, his purpose is always for restoration. These will be the verses used hundreds of years later to press another point.

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, 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. (Amos 9:11-12)

Before we move to the New Testament, let me share the final verses of Amos’s prophecy, as they must have brought such hope to the remnant that remained faithful to the God of Abraham.

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. 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. 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. (Amos 9:13-15, emphasis added)

Oh, how Israel’s people have longed for that day when they will never again be uprooted. Has it happened yet? No. There is still a fear of unsettledness in the land. Those who know Christ have a taste of what’s to come, but the fullness is yet to be made known. Another Jew for Jesus will speak about how this prophecy was being lived out in the first century A.D.

Conflicting opinions.

This is post-ascension, most likely, in 48 A.D., fifteen years into the growth of the Church and movement called The Way. Paul and Barnabas had been running into conflict on their missionary journeys with a group of Judaizers who taught that Gentiles had to be circumcised along with accepting Jesus as the Messiah, if they wanted to be part of the church. The two men decided to take the issue directly to the church in Jerusalem. This needed to be settled in order to maintain unity.

After sharing how God was working among the Gentiles and giving them the Holy Spirit upon confession of faith, Paul made a strong case that no hindrance or yoke should be added to new believers if God was not requiring it. This led James, the brother of Jesus, to speak up and end the conflict once and for all. How does he do it? By using the words of a minor prophet called Amos.

“Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

After these things I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, 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 known from long ago.

Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God, but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood. For since ancient times, Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, and every Sabbath day he is read aloud in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:13-21)

James makes a clear case that God’s intention from the beginning is that all nations are included in the gospel. His desire was that after Israel failed to be a blessing to the nations, his own Son would open the way of salvation for Jew and Gentile by grace through faith. No works required. Problem solved. Unity maintained.

A message of restoration.

Today, we see that through Christ, divisions between peoples can be solved. Unity is found in Christ alone. This is a taste of heaven. In the restored Kingdom, a remnant of all who have put their faith in Christ, Jew and Gentile, will stand before the throne and enjoy the bounty of a new heaven and earth. No more ruins, no more fallen tents, no more animosity—oh, what a day!

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Learning from the Past post, click HERE, or start the series from the BEGINNING.