Uprooted for Now, Replanted Forever - Amos 9

2:06Locust and fire, in both of these, the Lord shows Amos locusts, and then he shows Amos fire. And for both of them, Amos asks for the Lord to relent. He says, please stop. Jacob, the northern kingdom of Israel, Jacob is so little. He's not going to be able to stand if you allow these destructions to come. And the Lord does relent. But then God goes on to show two more visions to Amos. And at this point, God is saying, Amos, you need to stop asking for me to relent. The people of Israel have been so wicked, and their time is coming. And Amos is written around the year 760 B.C. And sure enough, about 40 years later in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom is going to be completely wiped out and taken into account. Captivity by the Empire of Assyria. And so God is saying, Their time is coming soon. Don't ask me to relent. The sword is coming, and it's going to judge the people. And the two visions that he had about that were the plumb line that God used like a level to measure the building and to see if it's straight or crooked, see if it's in line or if it's out of line. And Israel was found to be out of line. And then the other vision is the basket of summer fruit that is ripe, and he's saying that the end is coming soon. Just like something could be ripe for judgment or something like that, that God is saying the time has come for Israel to be judged. The end is here, and it's going to be terrible. Chapter 8, verse 3: The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day, declares the Lord God. So many dead bodies there thrown everywhere. Silence. So it's a terrible judgment. And in the midst of this, you have Amos, who is respectfully hearing the word of God and relaying it, praying to God to relent from judgment, and God listens. But then you have a man named Amaziah, who is a priest at this temple in Bethel. And throughout the whole book of Amos, we've seen that Bethel is, at this time in Israel's history, is a bad place because the Israelites have set up an altar there and even built a temple from what we learned last. Week built a temple there for an altar to maybe worship idols, but it seems like even to worship the true God, just in a way that he hadn't ordained. God had made his presence known at Jerusalem, and that's where the Jews were meant to worship him and complete the feast and the sacrifices. But the Israelites had built this altar at Bethel, and Amaziah was the priest there, and he hates hearing Amos's words, and so he's trying to get him killed or get him out of there, do whatever he can because he doesn't want Amos to prophesy against the northern kingdom. He wants Amos, or he wants either wants Amos to get out of town or stop talking or say something good about Israel instead of condemning their false worship. But Amos says, I can't. I'm just a shepherd. God was the one who called me to this and told me to say these things. And God has a message for you, too, Amaziah, that is not good. And Amaziah and his family would be judged as well. So now we come to chapter 9 in Amos.

5:35And Amos has his fifth vision, the fifth thing that he saw. Look at Amos 9, verse 1. I saw the Lord standing beside the altar or upon the altar. And he said, Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake. So now the Lord, Amos, has a vision. Seeing the Lord himself who is standing on the altar. And it doesn't say which altar. It could be the altar in Jerusalem or something like that. It could just be a generic altar or something, like he held up a generic plumb line in a previous vision. But it seems to be that Amos' visions and prophesying are centering around this false temple at Bethel. And Amos has condemned this altar several times already. Amaziah has said, No, this is the temple of the kingdom. So go away from here. Stop prophesying against it. And then again, in Amos 8, verse 3, he says, The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day. So they seem to be talking about this temple. God seems to be talking about this temple and this altar over and over. And so, if we're just taking clues from context, I think that the Lord is now standing on this altar that's at Bethel. I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, Before we get to what he said, pray with me one more time: Father, give us humility as we study the text tonight.

7:15What a blessing it is to come to this ancient writing that you inspired, to come and learn about this ancient vision that you gave a prophet. We pray that you'd help us be humble, that you'd help us submit ourselves to what this text says and learn from it. We pray that you'd help us understand and apply. In Jesus' name, amen. So, Amos 9, chapter 1. I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people. And those who are left of them, I will kill with the sword. Not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape.

8:25The Lord is standing by the altar or on the altar, and he has a message that in judgment, the building should be struck down. Strike the capitals, the top of the pillars. Hit down the top of the pillars so hard that the thresholds shake. When we think of a threshold, we think of the little tiny strip we put underneath our door, maybe to protect the edge of our carpet or something like that. But back then, the thresholds were what held up what the doorposts were set into. So this would have been a big. Stone or something like that, strike the capitals until the threshold shakes. So you hit down the top of the building until the bottom of the building, this foundational part, the threshold, shakes. And shatter them on the heads of all the people. Shatter down these pillars, the top of these pillars, onto the heads of the people. Well, what happens when you shatter pillars onto the top of the heads of people? They get hurt, right?

9:32Or maybe die. But some might escape. So he says, Shatter them on the heads of all the people, and those who are left of them, I will kill with the sword. Not one of them shall flee away. Not one of them shall escape. God's saying, I've seen what happens at this temple. I've condemned what happens at this table, this temple. And now I'm going to punish what's happening at this temple. And the people who worship here, they're not going to escape when the Lord judges them. Verse 2: If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them. If they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. You see what he's doing there? He's saying, if you are able to dig all the way down to where you're in the grave or even in the underworld, Or something like that, I'm still going to find you there. My hand shall still take them. If you climb all the way up to heaven, from there I'll bring you back down. I'm going to find you. Not one person's going to escape. Verse 3. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, that was a mountain, that's a high mountain over in Galilee where Elijah was when he got report about the cloud coming back and it raining on the land. I don't know if you remember that story, but it's a mountain in Israel. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, so if they run all the way up to this mountain that had a big forest on top, it would have been a great place to hide. So if they go there and try and hide, from there I'll search them out and take them. And if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them. God's saying there's nowhere for them to go. If the building doesn't fall on them, they're going to be killed by the sword. If they think they're escaping by going to hide, I'm going to bring them out from hiding. If they think they're going to be able to swim all the way to the bottom of the sea, the hardest place to reach on earth, even there, God has his servants, and he's going to command the serpent to bite them at the bottom of the ocean. Verse 4. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, There I will command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good. God's saying there is no escaping. Maybe the people get scared and run somewhere else to some other nation to live into captivity so that they're not taken into captivity or something like that. If they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword and it shall kill them. God's saying, look, no matter what clever ideas they have to get away, they're not getting away. Why? I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.

12:43Isn't that terrifying? God is the one who sees all things and he knows all things. And these people were so wicked and so disobedient in spite of God sending prophets to them that God said, I'm going to fix my eyes upon them. I'm not going to look away and give them a chance to run. I'm going to fix my eyes upon them, and wherever they go, I will find them and they will perish. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.

13:17This sounds harsh, right? I mean, this is not, there's no wiggle room here. He's not saying, yeah, but maybe there's a little chance you could get away. Or something like that. He's saying, no, I know wherever you could possibly go, and I will see you, and I will make sure that you get judged as well. This wickedness that they had been performing at this temple that God condemned, and they said, We don't care. We don't believe that destruction is coming, as we'll see in a minute. And we don't care what the prophets say. God is saying, I've seen what you've done. You're going to be judged. You're not going to escape. It's coming. Let's keep going. Verse 5: The Lord God of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and sinks again like the Nile of Egypt. Remember, we saw that last week. That when judgment comes, God is using this word picture again, that the Nile River, whenever it rains a lot, in a rainy season, the banks overflow, and everything kind of swells up and expands. The water rises, and then it'll fall back down slowly. And that's what kind of waters the reeds and the marshes and all of that. And so God is saying, I'm sending this judgment, and either the judgment or the grief, the mourning, he says this again right after the morning, is like this swelling of the Nile. It's going to expand across the whole land and then fall down again. The Lord God of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile. And it sinks again like the Nile of Egypt. God is saying, I have this kind of power. I can touch the earth and it'll melt.

15:10And the people will mourn. God, verse 6, who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth. God can go anywhere and do anything. He sets his home in the heavens. The earth is his basement, his vault. Who calls for waters, for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth. The Lord is his name. God is saying, This is who I am. I am the Lord God of hosts. I am the all-powerful God, the God of armies. I'm the one who can do this. You think you can get away, but you're not thinking about who you're trying to get away from. I live in the heavens. I can touch the earth and it melts. I can pick up the water out of the ocean and dump it down on the earth.

16:09The Lord is his name. Yahweh is his name. Verse 7. Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel? Declares the Lord. The Cushites were down south of Egypt. Are you not like the Cushites to me? Are you not just like another people to me, another people group? O people of Israel, declares the Lord, did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Kaftir and the Syrians from Kir?

16:45Okay, Israel, I brought you up from the land of Egypt. I also brought the Philistines over from somewhere. I also brought the Syrians over from somewhere. They're being judged. Can't I do the same thing with you? Verse 8: Behold, the eyes of the Lord, God, are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground. Stop there for just a second. God is saying, the eyes of the Lord, mentioning that idea again, God's eyes are on that northern kingdom. And he just very obviously says it, I will destroy it from the surface of the ground. It's going to be gone.

17:34And it's coming soon. That day is coming soon where that northern kingdom is going to be gone. It's going to be gone from the surface of the earth. Except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord. There's his promise. There's him remembering. His people. These are his people. This is the nation of Israel. These are the descendants of Abraham. They are his people. He's been reaching out to them to repent. And they haven't repented. And God is saying, okay, now judgment is coming. You are gone. You're out of this land. You're going to be wiped out from the surface of the earth. Wherever you think you can hide from this, I will find you. Don't forget who I am.

18:25You will be destroyed, except I will not utterly destroy you. I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord. Yes, they're going to be wiped off the surface of the land. Yes, they're going to be uprooted and snatched out of the ground and sent away. But they're not going to be utterly destroyed. God is not going to destroy the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He's not going to destroy their line forever. He's going to preserve them. Verse 9: For behold, I will command and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. Well, how is it going to be that he wipes them from the surface of the land, but then doesn't utterly destroy them? He says it's going to happen. Among the nations.

19:32And I think if you're thinking about that, how does a nation get scattered all over the earth and still stay a nation? How does it not just intermingle with all the other people? You know, we know America is a melting pot and it's hard to even trace. You know, we have to do genealogical tests and things like this to even trace what parts of the world our ancestors came from because we have no idea. And it's from all over the place. And wouldn't that happen to God's people? Wouldn't God's people just kind of disappear among the nations?

20:09I think God is saying, verse 9 again, behold, I will command and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. I think God is saying, but I'm still paying attention. Just because my people are scattered across the world doesn't mean my all-seeing eyes, the same ones that are going to chase them and find them in the judgment, my all-seeing eyes are still going to know the difference between the sinners and the righteous.

20:40And just like you would take a sieve and shake it to keep, let's say you're doing it with grain and separating the grain kernels from the chaff, the dust and stuff that you don't want. You have a sieve and you shake it so that the chaff and everything falls down the bottom and you have the good stuff on the top. Or this one might seem to be that it's a sieve that's big enough to let the grain through, but not the rocks through. But no pebbles shall fall to the earth. It's a little unclear on if he's keeping the good stuff in the pan or letting the good stuff fall out. But his point is the same either way: that God is the one who's making the distinction. God knows. And so, even among the nations, God can separate between his people and not his people. He could separate between the righteous and the sinner. Because look at verse 10: All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Disaster shall not overtake or meet us. So, these people at Bethel or in the whole northern kingdom who have this attitude of we don't need to follow these prophets. We can do what we want. We love the money that we're getting from taking advantage of the poor. We love this false system of worship, so we don't have to travel all the way down to Jerusalem. These prophets are saying that disaster is coming to meet us, but these people are saying, No, disaster is not going to overtake or meet us. Everything's fine. We're living the life right now. We're not going to listen to these prophets. God's saying, I've seen those people, and I know how to separate and keep a distinction between those sinners and the righteous.

22:20God is going to shake the house of Israel among the nations. You know, we're reminded of that story where Jesus says the same thing. About Peter. Remember, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat. And no, that's not a fun, exciting thing, right? You know, Peter wasn't jumping for joy when he heard that. You know, Satan wants to sift me like wheat. That sounds painful. And it was Satan that wanted to do it. But the Lord is going to use it to purify Peter and grow Peter and show his glory to the world. And I think you have the same idea here. God is saying, I'm going to wipe you from the surface of the land, except I'm not going to utterly destroy you. Instead, I'm just going to shake you like a sif.

23:21No, it's not going to be pleasant, but I've still got my eyes on you, and I could still keep a difference. So in summary, it's about to take a turn in 11 through 15, but in summary, God is saying, the time has come. It's coming soon. He's not extending a chance for the nation as a whole to repent. I think there's always a call for individuals in the nation to repent, to be righteous before the Lord. But he's saying, this worship, this father, Worship, this false system where they've ignored my prophets and not cared about what I said. It's been going on for too long, and this nation is going to be wiped out.

24:11But I'm not going to forget about them, they're just going to go through something very difficult. Next, in verse 11, for the first time, we have a positive, extremely positive turn in the book of Amos. So much of Amos, as so much of Amos has been condemning the northern kingdom, and rightly so, because of how wicked it was. And so much of Amos has been speaking judgment towards that nation and saying, Your time is coming, your time is coming. And we just got this first hint: except I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob. Well, now, at the very end of this book of Amos, we have some amazing, amazing promises about the nation of Israel. Look at Amos chapter 9, verse 11.

25:08In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edith. And all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord who does this. Verse 11 again: In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord who does this.

26:01God is saying, I have a declaration to make. And he says, In that day, and I think he's pointing forward to a time, in a day where he's going to raise up the booth of David. That's a unique term here: a booth of David. Normally, when we think of the dynasty of David or the kings, it's usually the house of David or something like that. You remember, David wanted to build the Lord a house, and instead the Lord said, No, I'm going to build you a house, the kingly line, the house of David. Well, right now, Amos, I think, or the Lord through Amos, is recognizing that it doesn't look much like a house right now. It looks a little bit more like a tent.

26:54In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen. Right now, it's fallen. It's in disrepair, it's ruins. But God is saying, I'm going to raise up this booth of David that has fallen and repair its breaches, raise up its ruins, rebuild it as in the days of old. He's saying, I'm going to rebuild this house of David. Verse 12, that they, the booth of David, the house of David, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name. So formerly, when David was king and Solomon after him, when they were king, they were on top of the world. They were the chief nation. The nations streamed to them, or maybe not streamed to them, maybe that's an exaggeration. But the nations were under their thumb. They conquered the surrounding lands. And I think what the Lord is saying right here is: someday in the future, I'm going to raise up that booth of David so that they're ruling over these nations again.

28:08That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord, who does this. God is someday going to raise up the king in the line of David to rule over not just Israel, but also these other nations that are called by my name. His name. What else is going to be true at this time? Verse 13, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed.

28:48The mountain shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. What is that a picture of? It's really fertile land, right? Amazing crop production. Look at the first one. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper. Okay, so the plowman is what you do at the beginning. You're plowing the ground so you can plant the seeds. The reaper is what you do at the end, you know, when you're harvesting the crops.

29:21And so the picture that he's given is, okay, the reaper goes out and starts to reap because there's so many crops. But then he just, the land is so fertile, he keeps reaping and reaping and reaping. You know, there's more and more crops so that whenever it comes time for the plowman to come and plow the ground to plant the seed, the reaper is still in his way because the crops haven't stopped coming. There's so many. You know, it's so abundant, such fertility in the land.

29:52One author I read said that that was a difference between May and August. So you would start. Reaping in May. And at least in Israel at this time that Amos is speaking, that you'd start reaping in May, and still the plowman coming is overtaking him, and he's not starting till August. So that's how abundant this land is: that the plowman is overtaking the reaper. And the treader of grapes, him who sows the seed. So just this really great abundance. You can't stomp the grapes fast enough, right, to make the wine.

30:33The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I read that on these especially fertile grape vines, the grapes would get so big and things like that that they would start to sag and touch the ground, and then you'd have the grapes breaking and they'd kind of leak on the ground and things like that. It's just this picture of the most fertile a plant can be. He's saying the mountain shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it. This idea that the crop is so luscious and so strong that it's just dripping this goodness.

31:11Okay, so so far we've seen in this land that the king, they're going to restore this booth of David to rule over the nations, to have extremely fertile land. Verse 14, I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel. So Israel is going to be rich again. They're going to Have great fortune, as in Solomon's day. They shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them. So they're going to come and live in these cities that have been ruined. They're going to re-inhabit these cities. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. And they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. They're not going to have to worry about other nations taxing them and coming in as they're underneath the power of Assyria or underneath the power of Babylon or later underneath the power of Rome that they're having to grow all these gardens, these vines and these crops, and give a whole lot of it to Rome as a tax or to these other kingdoms. No, they're going to get to have this exceptionally fruitful land and they're going to get to eat it themselves. Drink it themselves. They don't have to give it away.

32:27Verse 15. I will plant them on their land. And they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the Lord your God. I will plant them like a plant. I will plant them on the land. And they shall never again be uprooted out of the land. I have given them. They're going to be there forever, says the Lord your God. Right now, what they're about to experience is being scraped off the surface of the earth. They're going to be uprooted. They're going to be scattered throughout all the nations, with the Lord's eye upon them for judgment, but the Lord's eye is also upon them for paying attention to them. And he hasn't forgotten them, he hasn't let them be utterly destroyed or wiped out. Instead, he's saying, there's going to come a day where I'm going to bring them back to this land, and I'm going to plant them again in this land, and I will never again uproot them, says the Lord your God.

33:47That's the end of Amos. The end of Amos, a book that for nine chapters has talked about how wicked this people is, how far they've gone from the true worship of the Lord, and yet the Lord is saying, I am going to bring them back forever. No one's ever going to kick them out of their land again. The land is going to be extremely fertile. They're going to possess the nations around them because the booth of David has been restored.

34:24That's how Amos ends. It ends with promise. And I would say a very specific. Promise, right? But there's another passage we need to look at. So I want you to turn over to Acts 15. Acts 15. Acts 15 is such an important chapter in your Bible. You should know the chapter of Acts 15. It is a foundational passage for the church. It's a hinge moment in history. It's the Jerusalem Council. What has happened is that the apostles and elders were gathered.

35:17Some people, look down at verse 5, chapter 15, Acts 15, verse 5. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses. So what they're talking about is Paul and Barnabas are giving these stories about the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. And some people from the Pharisees stand up and they seem to be believers in Christ, but they were formerly Pharisees. And they're saying, okay, that's great, Paul and Barnabas, that people are believing in Christ, but they must also, if they're going to be saved, if they're going to be part of this community, they must also be circumcised and keep the law.

36:00That's what they're saying. They're saying, great. People have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. They need to make sure they add circumcision to that and keep the whole law for that matter. Verse 6, the apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them. I'll stop there for just a second. So people are becoming Christians all over the world. Gentiles are becoming Christians. And the Jews want them, some Jews want them to become just like Jews.

36:36Let's see what Peter says. Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. I think he's talking about Cornelius there, and when he visits the Gentiles, and they believe, and they speak in tongues to show that they have believed. Verse 8, and God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

37:13So Peter's saying, Look, I was there. It was my mouth that preached to these Gentiles. And God saw their hearts, and God cleansed their hearts, even though they were different than us. They weren't circumcised, and they weren't keeping the law, and yet God, in his Grace cleanses their hearts just like he did ours. Verse 10, now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? Why would you think that it's a good idea if God has made it clear that he is saving these people even though they are Gentiles, why would you then think it's a good idea to put the law on them and say, okay, great job, now go keep this law?

37:57Peter is saying, no. Verse 11, but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. Peter's saying, look, it's the same. It's the same for us as it is for them. It's the grace of the Lord Jesus. It's not law-keeping that saved us. It's not because, you know, we were circumcised and we believed in Jesus, therefore we get to go to heaven. Peter's saying, look, it's the same for the circumcised or uncircumcised. It's the grace of Jesus Christ. Verse 12, and all the assembly fell silent.

38:40And they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. So next up, Peter has given his testimony. Next up is Paul and Barnabas, and they're saying, look, everybody, and everyone's silent and they're listening. And they're saying, God has done these amazing signs and wonders. And he doesn't say in the middle of only groups of people that got circumcised. No, he's saying, look, God has done these signs and wonders among the Gentiles.

39:14And so Peter's point and Paul and Barnabas' point is saying, look, these Gentiles, God is working among them, God is saving them. God is doing signs and wonders among them. And they're still Gentiles. It's not like they all got circumcised first. After they finished speaking, James replied. James, who seems to be the head of the church at this time, James replied, Brothers, listen to me. Simeon, that's Peter. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.

39:57And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sins. Sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. For from ancient generations, Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he has read every Sabbath in the synagogues. Okay, so let's work backwards through that.

40:43James is standing there, and he's saying, Okay, there's Jews everywhere. People have listened to the law of Moses. So we are going to ask the Gentiles not to do these certain things because of those people. And so you get the picture that he's saying, well, we don't want to just offend the Jews by having the Gentiles say, Look, I'm a Christian. Now I can go around and drink blood and be sexually immoral and things like that. He's saying, Look, we don't want to, we're going to write to them to abstain from these things because there's God fears everywhere. But the judgment from James, verse 19, therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God. And it would be trouble. I mean, can you imagine having to do evangelism like that?

41:34What if that was a real rule? Or what if you weren't sure about it or something? And you were on campus at AM and you evangelized and they said, I want to turn to the Lord. I need to be saved. And you led them to have faith in Christ. You led them to believe. And then you said, okay, great. Now you need to go get circumcised. That is trouble. You see what James is saying? He's saying, Look, we should not trouble them with this law. My judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God. And I think he lines up three lines of evidence to prove that idea. The first is Simon Peter's account, where Peter says, Look, I've seen what God did among the Gentiles, and they were still Gentiles. They didn't become Jews, and then God moved among them. And Paul and Barnabas said the same thing: Look, we've seen God do these miracles and signs and wonders among the Gentiles, and they didn't have to become Jews for God to do those signs and wonders. Their point is, God moved among them and saved them as Gentiles. They did not need to become Jews. So, why do we think we need to make them Jews by circumcising them and telling them to keep the law?

42:47And the third line of evidence relates to our passage in Amos. That's why we're spending so much time on this. The third line of evidence is that it's from Scripture. James says back in verse 15, and with this the words of the prophets agree. Now, that sounds a little unfamiliar because that's usually not how the prophets are quoted. So, James is standing up in this assembly, and he doesn't say, and by the way, this is all to fulfill what this prophet said. That's not what he said. He said, With this, the word of the prophets agree. So he seems to be talking about kind of like the whole teaching of the prophets or the teaching of several prophets or something like that. With this, the words of the prophets agree. This lines up with what we see in the prophets. That's his third line of evidence. So God moved with Peter, God moved with Paul to these Gentiles who were still Gentiles. And James is saying, Look, the prophets agree with this line of reasoning.

44:00The reason why we turn here is because what he's about to say is primarily a quote from Amos. Now, it doesn't match Amos, and he seems to be inserting these little statements from either he's elaborating on it himself, or he's quoting from another scripture. Like one time he says, the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. That's not in Amos. That phrase that these nations are going to seek the Lord is in Zechariah 8:22, and you can write that down. But just listen: many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. We studied that several months ago. The verse before says, The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I myself am going. A couple of verses later, it says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, in those days, ten. Men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. So, Zechariah is foretelling this amazing time where these nations from all around hear that someone is a Jew and hear that this Jew is going up to Jerusalem and they're grabbing on, they're saying, Oh, come on, let us go. We've heard that we've heard about your God, and they want to go seek the Lord.

45:25James seems to be using that phrase that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. But even the beginning back in verse 16, after this, that's not an Amos, I will return. That's not an Amos. So I think James is there just kind of speaking about the prophets. I don't think he's trying to, you know, I heard someone say, I don't think he's trying to pass a wanna right here and give us a quotation of a verse.

45:51If he is, then we're in trouble because it doesn't match, right? I think instead he's just speaking and saying, we all know the prophets. And this is agreeing with what the prophets say, that after what's happening right now, I will return. I think he's talking about Jesus's return. He's saying, after this, I will return. And then he starts to quote parts of this Amos passage that we've just studied. The reason why this is so important for us to look at is because it's a little bit of a battleground passage. And I shared that with a couple people here tonight already, but this is a battleground passage for a couple of theological camps. And Matthew. Maybe you don't like this kind of stuff, but maybe you are into this. And so let me tell you the difference.

46:38There's a view called dispensationalism, premillennialism. And what that view is, is that the nation of Israel, still today, the nation of Israel is going to return to the land physically and be blessed by the Lord. And I believe that's what we just read about in Amos, where the booth of David is reigning over them. They're reigning over the nations. The land is extremely fertile, and God plants them in that land to stay there forever. And so you could tell that's my position. But then there's another camp, or really a whole cluster of camps, and this is a large, large portion of Christianity, that would say something like this. When we come to the passage in Acts, they would say, do you see what the apostle is doing right here? He is reinterpreting what is happening in Acts. I mean, what is happening in Amos. What he is saying is that what's happening in his present day is the new apostolic interpretation of what Amos said.

47:48Maybe I'm losing you, but keep trying to pay attention. That what James is saying is he's saying, look, look around you. These Gentiles are coming into the fold. And And they would say, see, when we look at Amos, we hear about Gentiles. And so that must be being fulfilled right now. And instead of Amos talking about the real land and the people really being planted there, and the land really being fertile and sitting under the king and possessing the other nations, instead, that passage gets reinterpreted to be talking about the church. And let me just run through this in verse 16. After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David.

48:33There's several options there for this camp that believes that this is a reinterpretation of the Old Testament. But the most common and the most prevalent is they would say that word tent is also, you remember the Lord used to travel around in a tent, and we call it the tabernacle, but that word just means tent. And they would say, see, that tent is a lot like the temple that was built later. And they would say, see, the temple in the New Testament, that represents the church. And so they would say, since he uses the word tent, and that tent is the word for tabernacle, and the word tabernacle is like temple, then we could say the temple is the New Testament church. And what's happening is it sounded in Amos like he was saying that the nations are actually coming to the land, the Gentiles who are called by his name. But what's really happening is that he was talking about the church, that the Gentiles are. Part of the church, and it gets reinterpreted. Okay?

49:37When you study the interpretation of Scripture, this text actually is kind of the proof text, and this has been used against me personally, not in a mean way, but in a gentle way. I looked at an Old Testament passage and said, Isn't this clear? And someone said, But haven't you seen Amos 9? Even the most clear passage that we think we understand, it was reinterpreted by the apostles. So, how can you say there is a future for physical Israel? Even the most clear passage is reinterpreted. And they point at this text, but I don't think that's what he's doing. Long story short, let's look one more time. I think what he's saying, and you can study this and spend more time on this and ask me questions. Email me about it if you're confused. I think what he's doing is he's saying, What's happening now makes sense with what the prophets have said. After this, I will return.

50:34And then he starts to quote Amos, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old. I think he's quoting several passages, primarily Amos, to say, Look, when that booth of David is restored and the Messiah is reigning, in the nations come, to seek the Lord, like it says in Zechariah, they're still Gentiles.

51:07So when the Messiah is reigning and people are coming to worship him, those people are Gentiles. And so I think his line of reasoning at the council is this. He's saying, look, Peter told us that the Spirit fell upon these men and they were uncircumcised. They were still Gentiles. Paul said, God did these miracles among these men. They were still Gentiles. And we know from the prophets that when the Messiah is reigning, when the nations come to him, they're still going to be Gentiles. So why in the world would right now, why in the world would we try and change these Gentiles into Jews so that they could come to Christ? That's what I think he's doing with this text. I think he is saying that the prophets agree with this. And I really think that's his whole point. I don't think his point is, let's reinterpret the prophets to mean this. I think he's saying this is what they meant all along. The prophets agree. That's the whole line of evidence. That's the whole proof. If it wasn't true that the prophets agreed with this and that he was just reinterpreting, then the proof would fall on its face.

52:23We're getting late. But I think what he's saying is... There's going to be a glorious day, and we know in that glorious day the Gentiles are going to be able to come and worship the Messiah. So why would right now, why would right now, why would we make them become Jews just to come and worship the Messiah? We'll turn back to the end of Amos. And let's read about that day one more time. In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old. It's going to go back to the glory days. That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, declares the Lord who does this. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed, and a mountain shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the Lord your God. You know, when we come to a passage like this, depending on our view of the end times, whether we hold this view or this view, we can get so angry with each other.

53:55But we need to realize that for both of the people in this camp, what they're saying. Is that for the people in both of these camps, what they're saying is that the scriptures, I believe that the scriptures are teaching this, and so I need to hold this position because my conscience makes me. That's what I believe that the scriptures are teaching. I think that when we forget that, we can get angry and say, you're going against scripture, or something like that. So we shouldn't get angry. But I do have a challenge for the people in this camp who thinks this is getting reinterpreted. Not an angry challenge, just a challenge that you should have fun with, anyways. But a challenge to think about. That when we're looking at Amos, if it's true that the Apostle James at the Jerusalem Council is reinterpreting this passage to be speaking about the church and the Gentiles coming into the church, then the challenge is, something for you to at least think about, is doesn't God know the future?

55:10And didn't he know that when he spoke through the prophet Amos? And if he knew that this was going to be fulfilled in the church and not literally, then why did he talk about being planted in the land forever? If he knew it was never going to happen, why did he tell them, I'm going to plant you in the land forever. I'm going to make your hills fertile. You know, it sounds good to us sometimes to say, oh, he reinterpreted it and made the promises greater, but we still have this issue. What about the first time he said it? And he knew it wasn't going to come true. Don't we have an issue there? So that's a challenge to deal with. And of course, you know, I won't be angry if you land on that side, but at least something to think through. But we can look forward to the day when the Messiah is reigning. Jesus said, When I come, when the Son of Man comes with all of his angels, then I will sit on my glorious throne. We can look forward to the day when he is sitting on that glorious throne, when he does come with the angels. We can be amazed that God has seen what his nation has done, their wickedness and their sin, this northern kingdom has done. He's saying, I'm going to wipe you, scrape you from the land, remove you from the surface of the earth, but someday I'm going to plant you again, and you will never be uprooted. Pray with me. Father, I pray that as we come to a text like this, where so many tensions among so many Christians can be so high, I pray that we would deal with each other in kindness and love.

56:49But I do pray that you would help us wrestle with these texts and get to the bottom of what it means. I pray that you wouldn't help us, or you wouldn't let us look over things or ignore things. But that you would just help us get caught up in the God who always tells the truth and learn from your scriptures and know that they can be depended upon and relied upon. Help us to wrestle with these things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.