Amos

Richard Belcher discusses the key themes from the Book of Amos. He focuses on the prophet’s stern warnings about justice and righteousness, examining how these themes apply to both historical and modern contexts. Belcher draws from his in-depth knowledge of the Old Testament to elucidate Amos’s messages about social justice and divine judgment.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

---

This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesu at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu. All right, we come to Amos. That’s where we are starting the prophet Amos. So you might find Amos in your bible. We will refer to this book. Just one more comment before we move on.

What we will do at key places in the prophets is we’ll come back to this issue of eschatology. We’ll stop, for example, we’re going to stop at the end of Amos and lay out how each view would interpret Amos 9:11 through 15. We’ll stop in Ezekiel 40-48, his vision of the new temple, and talk about how each view would understand that vision. So there are some key prophetic texts where we’ll stop and we’ll go back through how would the dispensationalists handle this? How would the historic females handle this?

So we’ll come back to this at certain key Old Testament texts. All right, lecture four. Amos 1:1,

¹ The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1, ESV)

There is archaeological evidence that there was an earthquake, 765-760. It just so happened that’s about the time a lot of people place the book of Amos. So that sort of fits, 765-760. Somewhere in that period. This is a period of political stability for both the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. You have two kings, both of which reign for a long time. You have in the southern, I’m sorry, the northern kingdom, we’ll start northern kingdom, Jeroboam II. And you have in the southern kingdom Uzziah. Both of these kings reign from about the 790s down to at least the Uzziah even into 740. So two kings, one in the northern kingdom, one in the southern kingdom, both of them reigning a long time stability and they overlap in their reigns.

There’s no major military power in existence at this time. Egypt is weak. Assyria is weak in decline. Syria is not a major power either. Babylon will not be a great power for another hundred of years. So it is a period where there is no major strong nation on the scene. Therefore, Israel and Judah are allowed to expand militarily and to expand their borders. Jeroboam II and Uzziah extend the borders of Israel and Judah to the extent of the Davidic kingdom.

2 Kings 14:25. Jonah actually prophesies related to Jeroboam II of the extension of the kingdom under his reign. This is a period of great economic growth leading to luxury, reflected in the northern kingdom and the book of Amos. The peace of this time, the stability of this time, allows for the development of economic interests. And so there’s trading going on, there’s money flowing into the country, and there is evidence in the book of Amos of luxury, at least in some parts of the nation. You see houses that are well built and expensive, houses of ivory.

In the Book of Amos, they’ve got both summer and winter homes. Amos 3:15. They recline on beds of ivory. They’re anointed with the finest of all oils. Amos 6:4. They’ve got expensive furniture, they’ve got expensive perfume. Amos 6. They are a people at ease in Zion. Economic development, money, luxury, is all reflected in the Book of Amos, which was written primarily to the northern kingdom. This was also a period of great religious activity. They loved worship. The money coffers were overflowing at the temples.

¹⁵ I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares the Lord. (Amos 3:15, ESV)

⁴ “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, (Amos 6:4, ESV)

The religious activity was well attended, and they even composed for themselves songs like David. One way to take 1 Kings 6:5. So religion is up, worship is up. But there’s a major problem. Morality is down. This is a period, as we will see as we look at the Book of Amos, of hypocrisy and oppression. The northern kingdom, during this period, struggles with the abuse of power, false security. They even longed for the day of the Lord, not knowing what that really meant.

In fact, you might say the day of the Lord came in a way that they did not expect. 30 years after Jeroboam II, 30 years after reaching such heights, the northern kingdom fell. A quick plunge after Jeroboam II’s reign, and we will see that in 722, the northern kingdom falls; the 750s is the end of Jeroboam II’s reign. How did the northern kingdom get this way? Well, a lot of answers, but the Book of Amos focuses on a rejection of the word of God that’s going to come in chapter seven.

That happened early on in Jeroboam I’s reign, where he set up these contrary worship systems. But ultimately, the northern kingdom rejects the word of God, which leads to a distorted view of life. Material prosperity, corruption, religious compromise, all stemmed, or I should say, a false view of material prosperity. Sort of the problem is not that you have material prosperity that’s promised in the Mosaic covenant. It’s how you get that and what you do with it. And it was corruption, religious compromise. All of these things were going on in the northern kingdom.

The Book of Amos, as we will see, is primarily toward the northern kingdom. When you reject the word of God, you can expect these kinds of things: developing abuse of power, corruption, religious compromise. And so, originally written, the book of Amos is for the northern kingdom. However, after the northern kingdom falls, the message in the book of Amos does not stop for God’s people. It’s still relevant to the southern kingdom, which experiences much of the same problems as the northern kingdom. The Book of Amos is relevant for the exilic and post-exilic community.

The negative consequences when you reject the word of God. It distorts your whole way of looking at life and everything you see in life. And that’s still a message relevant for God’s people today. In fact, when you talk about the message of Amos, northern kingdom, southern kingdom, exilic post exilic community, what’s the proper analog to Israel today? Remember, this is a message to Israel. This is a message to the northern kingdom. This is a message to Judah. This is a message to God’s people in the Old Testament, who is the message primarily to today?

The church. The church, God’s Old Testament people. God’s New Testament people. Just so happens that the Old Testament people of God were a theocracy, and so they had national things. God’s New Testament people of God is not a theocracy, but the primary message. There are other implications, but the primary message is for God’s people today. When you reject the word of God, your whole thinking becomes distorted. And how relevant is that to some parts of the church?

See, and what you have to do with each major section of Amos or each text in Amos, if you’re teaching or preaching on Amos, is, what’s the meaning of this text to the original reading audience? And then the question is, what’s the meaning of this text for God’s people today, in light of the fact that we are a spiritual community spread out throughout the whole world? So that’s the challenge when we think about the message of Amos for today, apply primarily to the church as God’s people. Amos the prophet.

He is not from one of the prophetic schools. He’s not a professional prophet. Chapter 7:14. Perhaps he’s not a prophet for hire. He is a dresser or piercer of the fruit of sycamore trees; this fruit was yellow with black spots. It did not taste as good as the fig. It was less expensive. It was the food that poor people ate, and you would pierce the fruit at a certain point to promote the ripening of this fruit. So Amos was one of these piercers of sycamore fruit.

He also is identified as a shepherd, and there’s all kinds of debate about whether he was a sheep breeder or whether he was just a regular shepherd who followed the flock, as it says in Amos 7. The implications of this is, did he come from a wealthy background as a sheep breeder, or did he come from a more lowly background as a regular shepherd? You can wrestle with that and read the evidences on both sides. It’s clear that Amos faced some obstacles in his ministry. Where is he from? Tekoa.

Yeah, I thought somebody said Columbia. No, Toccoa. It’s in the south. Right. He is from the southern kingdom, right. He is from Teccoa, which is a very rugged area. Area, sort of, if you want to, you know, more rural, if you want to use that terminology, a rugged area. Where is he sent to prophesy? Northern kingdom. So he’s from the southern kingdom going to the northern kingdom, which may not be too different than the southerner going to north, or a Yankee like myself coming south. I like the south. But he’s right.

But, well, a few times you get an amen. But he’s going from a rural area or a rugged area to a city, urban, you see? So he’s going from the southern kingdom to the northern kingdom. He’s going from a rugged, more rural type area to a urban city area, as we see. He preaches in several of the cities in the northern kingdom. He’s basically a layperson. Layman. He says, I don’t have an MNIB degree. I’m not from any of the professional prophetic schools. And he’s preaching or prophesying to professionals. A layman preaching to the professionals.

He’s preaching to the priests, Amaziah. So he faced some major obstacles. You know, if you were a committee looking to send somebody up to the northern kingdom, you probably wouldn’t have chosen Amos. Too much disconnect. Hudson Taylor left for the mission field before he’d finished medical school. He wasn’t ordained. He showed up in China, as one person said, unordained, unqualified, and penniless. How did it work? There’s only one way. And Amos says this in Amos 7:15.

¹⁵ But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ (Amos 7:15, ESV)

He says, the Lord took me, the Lord grabbed thee, the Lord got ahold of Amos.

That’s the only way it ever works. All kinds of obstacles you will face in your life and in your ministry. It’s the Lord, his work through you, that is important. The Lord got ahold of Amos and sent him up to the northern kingdom. Now we come to the message of Amos, a southerner going north. You sort of wonder how he would get a hearing in their midst. And at least rhetorically, as you read the book, he doesn’t begin prophesying against the northern kingdom, does he?

He begins by prophesying against the nations that surround Israel and Judah. And if you had a map up here, you could sort of see how that works itself out. Sea of Galilee, Jordan River, Dead Sea, southern kingdom here, northern kingdom here. And who does he begin prophesying against? After the introduction to the book, Damascus. Right? Way up there in the north. He prophesies against Damascus. And then he goes to Gaza, which is down here. Then he goes up to Tyre, which is up here in this area. And then he prophesies against Edom Ammon Moab.

Edom, Ammon, Moab. You see, he’s making the rounds, and I’m sure they’re on board with him against those pagans. Then he prophesies against Judah, the southern kingdom, chapter 2:4-5. Prophecy against Judah. Judah despised the law of the Lord, the law of Yahweh, and they’re probably on board with him. Then, that’s the southern kingdom. Finally, however, he comes to his prophecy against Israel, chapter 2:6-16.

And he sort of sets them up, because if they’re on board with him thus far, and they’re willing to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and ability to bring judgment to these nations, God is also sovereign and will bring judgment against his people. In fact, they may have been expecting an oracle of salvation when God finally came to his people, but it’s an oracle of judgment. And there are basically two besetting sins of Israel, two things that you’re going to come back to over and over again in the book of Amos.

One is the abuse of power in the social realm. The poor are being mistreated, people are being sold into slavery, debt, because they’re being charged interest. And notice something very interesting in Chapter 2:6. And within the nation of Israel, according to the law, you should not charge a fellow Israelite interest. You could charge a foreigner interest, but not a fellow Israelite. But notice what is said in Chapter 2:6.

⁶ Thus says the Lord : “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— ⁷ those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; (Amos 2:6-7, ESV)

For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment. Now, this phrase basically means that their transgressions are to the full. And you see this phrase all throughout chapters one and two, but then notice, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. Now, the parallelism here identifies, and you see this in some places of scripture. This doesn’t happen all the time. It’s not universal. But many times the poor are also the godly. And that’s what you have here. You have the parallel between the righteous and the needy.

So in this particular situation, you find this in the Psalms; you don’t always find this, but in this particular situation, those who are suffering are those who are trying to live in a way that’s pleasing to God. The wealthy women are crushing the needy. In Chapter Four, the merchants are using shady business practices. In Chapter Eight, the landlords are exacting exorbitant taxes or rents. In Chapter Five, there’s bribery going on in the courts. Also in Chapter Five, there is sexual abuse. A servant woman is abused by both father and son.

And so in chapter six, those who are first in privilege will be the first to go into exile, the first to experience the judgment of God. That’s one of the major problems in the northern kingdom, the abuse of power in the social realm. The other one is compromise with paganism in the religious realm. And you’ve got the problem of syncretism. you’ve got the whole problem of worship in the northern kingdom. All of that comes into play here. This is not anything new. Chapter 2:9-12.

Amos goes through a long history of Israel’s disobedience. And at the end of chapter two, he lays out the terrifying aspect of the judgment of God. And just think about it. Amos talk of death, exile, and the end of the northern kingdom is out of step with what people are, are experiencing in 760. Because what people are experiencing in 760 in the northern kingdom is prosperity, good things. His message does not resonate with what they are experiencing, but he’s faithful to proclaim it. And eventually that message will be confirmed.

In fact, it’s not that long, and that message will be confirmed. Let me go on for just a few more minutes, back up a second, and talk about judgment and covenant. We’ve seen the first two chapters basically are messages of judgment against the nations and then messages of judgment against God’s people.

If you look back at the beginning of the book, you got the title in verse one. Then you have verse two:

² And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” (Amos 1:2, ESV)

The Lord roars. He is presented as a lion, and a lion roars when he intends to attack. There may be a reflection here of covenant curse. Deuteronomy 32:24, God says, I will send wild animals against you and they will rob you of your children. Here you have Yahweh himself appearing as the lion, the wild animal. He appears in judgment. And the effects of God’s coming is such that even the top of Carmel withers.

You remember those years of famine during Elijah and Ahab? Even the top of Carmel still had water here. The top of Carmel withers, affected by the coming of God’s judgment. This too may be a fulfillment of covenant curse. For Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 say that God will make the sky like iron and the ground like bronze.

¹⁹ and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. (Leviticus 26:19, ESV)

It will not produce fruit for you. You see, God is presented here as coming judgment to carry out covenant curse against covenant breakers, His own people.

So when you get over to chapter three of the book of Amos, chapter three through six, you have a series of lawsuits, covenant lawsuits against God’s people, as Amos is trying to persuade Israel to believe that what he prophesied against them in chapter two will come about. And there are a series here of these covenant lawsuits, marked by the introductory summons to hear Amos 3:1, Amos 3:9, which is the Hebrew word here, but it’s in the Hephail, so it’s proclaimed. But you have the same Hebrew word.

Hear this. Listen to this message of God’s people. There’s also the introductory woe in 5:18 and 6:1. In fact, 5:1 through 6:14 is a lament, a funeral lament, because Israel’s as good as dead. Now these lawsuits in chapters three through six seem to be proclaimed in Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. Samaria is mentioned. 3:9, 4:1, 6:1, the capital city, the place where the rich and the powerful live. And this whole section, chapter three through six, is an indictment against Israel for her abuse of power and her religious compromise.

And basically, Amos says God is going to take away from Israel everything in which she finds false security, stripped away. I’ve got listed in your notes. I’ll not go through them, some of the thematic concerns of this section, but notice in Amos 3:2, the basis for judgment. God says, “you only have I known. Of all the families of the earth, you’re the only people I’ve entered into a covenant relationship with.”

² “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (Amos 3:2, ESV)

Special covenant relationship, going back to Abraham, Moses, “you only have I known.” In some translations, translate this. Chosen Yadda is the Hebrew word, an intimate relationship. God has entered into a covenant relationship with his people. “you only of all the families of the earth have I known for what?

“Therefore, I will punish you.” Covenant blessing for obedience, covenant curse for disobedience. And it’s the prophets in verses seven and eight of chapter three that proclaim that judgment. Look what Amos says in Amos 3:8. “The lion has roared.” He picks up on Amos 1:2. “The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord has spoken. Who can but prophesy?”

⁸ The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8, ESV)

² And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” (Amos 1:2, ESV)

The prophets announce the message of God. And here it is, a message of judgment. And the outcome, very quickly, is complete devastation. Notice the imagery of a lion continues in verse twelve of chapter three. As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued with the corner of a couch and a part of a bed.

¹² Thus says the Lord : “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed. (Amos 3:12, ESV)

Destruction, devastation. And the rest of this chapter goes on to show how God will remove all those blessings that he’s poured out on his people, their false security, because they no longer believe and trust in him. That sets us up then to look at the visions of judgment that start in chapter seven. Any comments or questions? All right, Amos. We saw how the Book of Amos begins after the title to the book of God, the Lord Yahweh, appearing in covenant judgment. He is the lion who roars and the effects that that has.

And so the first two chapters talk about his judgment coming to a variety of nations around Israel, finally coming to Judah, and finally coming to the northern kingdom, Israel, which is what the prophecy of Amos is primarily, who it’s primarily directed toward. We talked about the problems in Israel, the two basic sins of social abuse, the abuse of power in the social realm, and the religious compromise. Chapters three through six, which we did, I think, finish, are a series of prophetic lawsuits, prophecies that are probably given in Samaria, the capital city.

A series of these lawsuits begin with here, hear this word. And the beginning of chapter three mentions the covenant relationship as the basis for which God, God will bring covenant judgment because I have this special relationship with you. Chapter 3:2. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. And the prophetic ministry in chapter three is connected to the roar of the lion in chapter one. Yahweh has spoken. The lion has roared. Verse 8.

⁸ The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8, ESV)

And so the prophetic book of Amos is connected as well to the prophetic word, connected to God coming in judgment. And we briefly looked at the series of prophecies that brings us this morning to chapter seven, chapter seven through chapter nine, verse ten, with five visions of judgment. And these visions of judgment demonstrate the inevitability, the finality of the judgment that God is bringing against the northern kingdom. And you have three visions, visions one through three. And then you have some non visionary material, chapter seven, verses ten through 17. And then you have vision four.

And then you have some non-visionary material in chapter eight. And then, at the beginning of chapter nine, you have vision five. That’s sort of the structure of this section. These visions are all introduced except for the last vision. In a similar way, you look at chapter seven, verse one. This is what the Lord God showed me. It’s how these visions are introduced. This is what the Lord God showed me.

This is what the Lord God showed me that will be adjusted when we get to the fifth vision in chapter nine. Actually, it’s the same Hebrew verb, just in a different aspect, Hiphil versus Kal, I believe. But we’ll see that when we get to the last vision in chapter nine, that introduction to the vision changes, and there’s a good reason for it there. Throughout this section, there are references to the sanctuaries of Israel. Chapter 7:9. The king’s sanctuary at Bethel. Chapter 7:13. The altar is mentioned in Chapter 9:1.

Probably Bethel is the place where these visions are proclaimed. And if you remember, in the northern kingdom, Bethel is very significant. When Jeroboam I, back in 931, went up to establish the northern kingdom, you remember, he established separate worship centers at Dan, far north, and then Bethel, which is on the main road down to Jerusalem. And so these visions of judgment are proclaimed there in that false worship center at Bethel. So five visions of judgment. Let’s look at these visions. The first two visions describe an event.

Both of them have Amos pleading with God not to bring the judgment. In both of the first two visions, the judgment is withdrawn and there’s no explanation given. It’s just, it shall not be so. The first two visions describe an event. Vision one is locusts. Vision two, fire. Two things that would be horrendous devastation for people dependent on agriculture. This would bring destruction to the crops. If you want to see this format, you can look at maybe vision two, chapter seven, verse four.

⁴ This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. (Amos 7:4, ESV)

That’s the statement that’s describing the event, verse five. That’s Amos’ plea that God would not bring this judgment. And in verse six, the Lord relented concerning this. “This shall not be,” said the Lord.

⁵ Then I said, “O Lord God , please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” ⁶ The Lord relented concerning this: “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God . (Amos 7:5-6, ESV)

So, there is a withdrawal of judgment in both of these visions. These first two visions have this same format. God will not bring this judgment against his people. This underscores the patience of God. In the process of these visions, this destruction is announced. But God relents. God withdraws this judgment. So the first two describe an event. There’s a plea to forgive or cease, and God withdraws the judgment.

Now, visions three and four, you can also sort of take together. They have some things in common. Both vision three and four describe a thing. There’s dialogue between God and Amos in visions three and four.

However, you begin to see the inevitability of judgment falling in visions three and four. Both are followed by non-visionary material that we will look at briefly. But let’s look at vision three, chapter seven, verse seven. This is what he showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. What’s a plumb line? String with a weight on the end of it. What do you use it for? Measure, depth. What else? Yeah.

Make sure something is square and straight so that when you build it, it will stand. And so here you have the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand. And now the dialogue in verse eight.

⁷ This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; (Amos 7:7-8, ESV)

What that means is God is setting a plumb line up against the behavior of the northern kingdom. And they’re not measuring up, if you will. They’re not square, if I can use that term. With the right nuance, the wall that’s built and that’s been built by the northern kingdom is crooked. Therefore, God says at the end of verse eight, “I will never again pass by them.” No more relenting; judgment is going to come. And then it goes on in verse nine to talk about the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate. The sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

⁹ The high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” (Amos 7:9, ESV)

The nation is not plumbing; it doesn’t measure up. And of course, you’re in Bethel. Bethel is the place of false worship established by Jeroboam. And so that adds to the fact that they’re not plum, the altar and the idolatry that is set up in Bethel. Now, this vision is confirmed and the judgment confirmed in the non visionary material that follows in chapter seven, verses ten through 17, where you have a confrontation between Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, and Amos, the prophet. Amos is accused of conspiracy. In verse eleven,

¹¹ For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'” (Amos 7:11, ESV)

Now that is Amos’ message as communicated by Amaziah the priest. Amaziah the priest appeals to the king to remove Amos as a prophet. He doesn’t like the message that Amos is proclaiming because it’s going against the authority of the king. You see, they have rejected the authority of the word of God. They have rejected the message of the prophet Amos and the rest of the word of God. And they have to substitute another authority in place of that. And it’s the authority of the king. He appeals to the king. This is evidence.

This whole incident in chapter seven, verses ten through 17, is evidence that Israel is not plumbing. They’ve rejected the prophetic message that’s going to lead to the coming judgment of exile in chapter seven, verse 17, with the destruction of king and temple. And Amos has some very harsh words to say to Amaziah, the priest. Also in verse 17, when this judgment comes, it will bring havoc on the land and the rejection of the prophetic message. You see, in verse 16,

¹⁶ Now therefore hear the word of the Lord . “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ (Amos 7:16, ESV)

See, that’s the rejection. Go back to the land of Judah. Verse twelve. Don’t prophesy here. And this is a clear rejection of God’s message to his people. This is confirmation. Israel is not plumb, because the standard of measure is the word of God, the prophetic word of God, the law of Moses, all of that would be important here. So judgment is going to come in this third vision. The fourth vision in chapter eight also describes a thing. There’s dialogue, and there is the inevitability of judgment described here.

Chapter 8:1.

¹ This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. ² And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them. (Amos 8:1-2, ESV)

There is a wordplay here. I think I have this in your notes, kayats and kates. Hopefully, if you have the Bibleworks font, Hebrew font, on your CD, you downloaded it or put it into the right font, and then the Hebrew will show up if the Hebrew means anything to you.

Otherwise you’ve got other stuff that may not mean anything to you there. But the hebrew word for summer fruit is kaytes. And there’s a word play here. The end has come on, my people. Cates, Cayetz, Kates. The end has come. A basket of summer fruit. If you leave that basket out too long, it becomes too ripe, spoiled. And perhaps the message here is, the nation of Israel is ripe for judgment. The end has come. I will never again pass by them. Judgment is inevitable. And verse three goes on to describe that judgment when it comes.

This vision is also followed by non visionary material, chapter eight, verses four through 14, which shows and emphasizes that the nation is ripe for judgment. So just as the non visionary material after the third vision is a confirmation of that vision, chapter 8:4-14 is a confirmation of this fourth vision. The nation is ripe for judgment. Verse four emphasizes again what we saw earlier in the book of Amos related to the sins of the northern kingdom, the abuse of power in the social realm that’s emphasized here at the beginning of this non visionary material.

You have, in essence, in this section, the withdrawal of the word of God, which comes out in verse eleven.

¹¹ “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God , “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord . (Amos 8:11, ESV)

Chapter seven was a rejection by the northern kingdom of the word of God. And now, in preparation for judgment, there is a withdrawal of the word of God from the northern kingdom.

God is abandoning his people to the judgment that is going to come. And in this situation, it’s the removal of the word of God. When we get to the book of Ezekiel, it will be something different that God does in preparation for judgment. Here in the northern kingdom, it’s the removal of the word of God. God’s people may seek it, but they’ll not find it. It again focuses on verse 14, the false worship that is taking place in Bethel. And Dan there is mentioned as well. And so that’s a part of the focus.

Judgment is coming because God’s people have rejected the word of God. Now we. Yes. Is there a climax in the final judgment from the word of God? Bad. These things are bad. Is it even worse? It’s all a part of the same scenario. It’s all bad. I mean, it is you read 7:17 and you read 8:3. And then you read what we’re going to read after this fifth vision chapter. It’s all B, A, D and all capitals. The withdrawal of the word of God just adds to the fact of becoming a judgment. All right.

The fifth vision in chapter nine. It doesn’t begin like the rest of them. This is what the Lord God showed me. This fifth vision describes a person, not an event, not a thing. It describes a person. There’s no dialogue. It’s just chapter nine, verse one. I saw Yahweh, the Lord. Actually, I’ll have to check that. That’s lord in all capitals in my translation is Lord in all capitals. In your. No, I believe it’s adonite here, which should be lord. Small letters, but it’s. I saw the Lord standing beside the altar.

It’s not that the Lord God showed me; it’s now the Lord has appeared. He roared in chapter one. The prophetic word went out in chapter three of this judgment. And now God appears, and his shadow is cast over the lamb. The Lord appears in judgment. There’s no dialogue. He acts in judgment against his people. And at the. As you first read this chapter nine, the beginning of this chapter, it’s stated in very comprehensive terms. It’s almost like there is going to be complete destruction of God’s people in the northern kingdom.

And yet, when you get to verses eight through ten, you get that glimmer of hope. Verse eight: Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the surface of the ground. I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob. The remnant idea.

⁸ Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord . (Amos 9:8, ESV)

Not complete destruction, an idea that’s picked up by Isaiah and is prominent in Isaiah. God will leave a remnant behind. It will not be total, complete destruction, but judgment is inevitable. Judgment is coming to the northern kingdom.

There’s nothing that the northern kingdom can do at this point to stop that judgment coming. Now there is hope here at the end of the Book of Amos found in Amos 9:11-15. And we need to spend a few moments talking about this section of hope. Maybe we ought to have that section read just to sort of get it out in front of us. Mister Mitchell, would you read Amos 9:11-15? you’re right by the microphone there. That might help.

¹¹ “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, ¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. 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; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. ¹⁴ I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 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. (Amos 9:11-15, ESV)

Okay, thank you. I love verse 13. The mountains shall drip sweet wine in all the hills. Just a picture of tremendous abundance, which we’ll talk about after the disaster of judgment which befalls God’s people.

Amos now talks about restoration, and he talks about the reversal of that judgment. Sinners dying by the sword. Chapter nine, verse ten. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword. But now in verse 15, God’s people are planted, so there’s a reversal there.

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. (Amos 9:15, ESV)

Chapter nine, verse nine. Israel sifted among the nations. Now in chapter nine, verse twelve. In this passage of restoration, Israel will possess the nations. So there is a reversal of judgment. It focuses on God’s promise to rebuild the fallen booth of David, which verse eleven mentions.

¹¹ “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, (Amos 9:11, ESV)

Now, this term, booth, is the term that is used to refer to those temporary dwelling places of God’s people during the feast of tabernacles to remind them of their days in the wilderness. Most people think that this is a metaphorical reference to the state of the Davidic kingdom, the booth of David that is fallen, that the kingdom is a dilapidated little hut, if you will, that needs to be restored.

I think that’s included. But I would add, and this has been argued quite effectively by a book and also several articles by Beale, the temple and the church’s mission. It’s what we would call a redemptive historical study of the concept of the temple. And he argues, I think, successfully in this passage of Amos 9.

He looks at several Old Testament passages of scripture, in quite a few New Testament passages, that the booth includes the Tabernacle temple. And he shows how this Hebrew word booth can at times be used for the earthly tabernacle, or temple. So, I would add that this part is probably not in your notes.

I would add that concept in your notes that the booth here, yes, it refers to the Davidic kingdom, but the concept of rebuilding the tabernacle and the temple also becomes an important concept, not only in context of Amos 9, but in the way this passage is used, as we will see in the New Testament. Certainly, dynasty and temple go together in 2 Samuel 7. Second Samuel 7 is the Davidic covenant passage, the promises that God makes to David. And you do have both dynasty and temple there together.

So it would make sense that these two concepts would be included. Verse twelve talks about that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name.

¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. (Amos 9:12, ESV)

That will become significant not only in regard to the dynasty question, but that will become significant in regard to the Tabernacle temple question that we will see when we look at this passage in a minute over in the New Testament. But before we get over there, what happens when this booth is restored?

What happens when the dynasty of Israel, and including the Tabernacle temple idea, what happens when this is restored? Well, you have several things. Verses eleven through twelve, the nations are affected. You have the possession of the remnant of Edom and the nations. So you have that taking place.

You also have in verse 13, great abundance, material abundance, a promise of agricultural bounty. With the plowman overtaking the reaper, you don’t have time to. There’s so much crop that you can’t get it all up before you got a plant again.

You see just a tremendous amount of material blessings. And then verses 14 and 15, when this booth is restored, there will be security for God’s people. You have a promise of return to the land. You have these beautiful pictures that you can take back to some of the blessings of the mosaic covenant. They’ll rebuild ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink their wine. They’ll make gardens and eat their fruit. This picture of security in the land. God planting his people in the land.

Now, it’s in the context of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 that this passage is referred to. So it’s appropriate to turn over there for a minute as we talk about what this passage means and as we will sort of briefly go through how each of the eschatological views would handle this particular passage. Let’s just read a little bit of Acts 15. Let’s begin in verse 13. This is after accounts have been given by Peter as well of God’s work among the Gentiles as the gospel has gone forth. Verse 13.

¹³ After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. (Acts 15:13, ESV)

Simeon has related how God has visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name. With this, the words of the prophets agree.” And here he quotes from our passage,

¹⁶ “‘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, ¹⁷ 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 (Acts 15:16-17, ESV)

Now, it’s interesting. Our Amos passage says Edom. This says mankind. Edom and mankind in the Hebrew have the same consonants, so you can see how that switch, especially if you don’t have the vowel points in the original text, how that might have been translated. The remnant of Edom, the remnant of mankind, it means the same thing, 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.

¹¹ “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, ¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. (Amos 9:11-12, ESV)

He goes on to make his point. But here he quotes the passage from Amos in response to the account that has been given of gentiles receiving the good news of the gospel. What do we do with these gentiles? Do we make them become Jews by having them be circumcised and taking the yoke of the law of Moses, or not? And of course, ultimately they decide, no, we don’t do that. But this passage from Amos 9 is referred to here by James.

Now, let’s just take a minute to refresh our memories on how this passage might be understood by the different eschatological views. And we can do this fairly quickly and to expedite things, I have. That’s the chart we had up there. I forgot to bring the good chart, but this is the chart we had up there a couple weeks ago. You remember the dispensational view? Israel and the church are two separate peoples. You never confuse the two. And so, prophecies related to Israel are only fulfilled in Israel. They’re not fulfilled in the church.

Well, the way the dispensational view handles this is they believe Amos 9:11-15 is all fulfilled in the thousand year millennial reign of Christ on the earth. That’s when the fallen booth of David is restored and Christ reigns on the earth for a thousand years. What they do here with verse 14, and it says 15 four, but it’s actually 15:14. So that’s. My apologies, that’s wrong. On this chart, Simeon has related how God first visited the gentiles. Now, the way the dispensational view understands this is that statement refers to the church age.

God first visited the Gentiles, and so then when James comes to quote from Amos 9, that would refer to the thousand-year millennial period, so that all of Amos 9:11-15, whatever it is, will be fulfilled in the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ on the earth. And what is being referred to here? Simeon has related how God first visited Gentiles. That refers to the church age and what’s going on now, so that James only gives a general sense of the passage.

And the reason James refers to Amos 9 in this view is to confirm the fact of the gentile conversions. But Amos 9:11-15 really will not be fulfilled until the millennial reign of Christ. It’s not being fulfilled now in the church age because it’s for Israel, and God is doing something now different in the church age. Well, why would James quote this passage if it has no bearing on the issue at hand? That’s part of the question.

And when verse 14 says, Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, that first there is referring back to what Peter has just said and recounted. And then James goes on, I think, and argues that what is taking place, the Gentiles becoming a part of God’s people, was what Amos had in mind. The other three views will acknowledge that in some way Amos 9:11-15 is being fulfilled in the church. So it’s only the dispensational view that would deny that.

The other three views, the progressive, dispensational and historic premier view, the post mill view, and the all mill view, would all agree that James is referring to Amos 9:11-15, because that’s what’s taking place. The remnant of mankind are seeking the Lord. The gentiles who are called by my name, that’s being fulfilled as the gospel goes forth, you see. And so, in some sense, the other three views would say that this Old Testament passage is being fulfilled in the preaching of the gospel, and gentiles coming to know Christ as their savior.

Now, they might have some differences in terms of. And one way you can again see the differences between these views is a sort of focus on Amos 9:13, that great passage of material abundance with the mountains dripping sweet wine and the hills flowing with it, to sort of see where they, each of these views believe that will be fulfilled. Primarily, the historical premier view believes it will be fulfilled in the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, that abundantly outpouring of God’s blessing.

Because this view believes there’s still something to be said for God dealing with the nation of Israel in a thousand-year, millennial period. And that’s when all that abundant blessing will be poured out. Now, some in this view might say verses 14 and 15 were initially begun back in the return of Israel to the land. But they would also, many of them would probably, some of this view would probably say being established in the land might refer to recent events in the Middle East.

But then ultimately, 9:14 and 15, they would say, would be fulfilled in the millennial period with peace, security, Israel living in the land, not being terrorized. So that would be the progressive, dispensational, historic, premill view. The post mill view would find this great material, abundant blessings poured out in the church age, the spreading of the gospel. We talked about this last time we were together. The gospel goes forth. It’s not the liberal social gospel.

This is the real gospel of Jesus Christ. People are converted, transforms their lives, transforms their families, transforms their cultures, and it leads to this golden age with the mountains dripping with sweet wine. Many in the post mill view would see an initial beginning of the return to the land back in the Old Testament. They would acknowledge, all three of these views would acknowledge that the gospel going forth is a fulfillment of 9:11-12.

And then the post-mill view also would probably see, we want to add verses 14 through 15 here, right here in this golden age, security, peace, coming to God’s people. You might add that there as well. But the Amil view sees this period of material blessings on this earth as an effect of the preaching of the gospel before Christ, before Christ comes.

And then finally, the Amil view again sees that Amos 9:11-12 is being fulfilled in the church. The Gentiles are becoming believers. The Amil view would see 9:14 through 15 initially being fulfilled back in the return of Israel to the land. But ultimately, all of this is fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth. This abundant material blessings, and even this peace of 9:14 and 15, where it talks about, I will plant them on their land. They shall never again be uprooted.

The land is a shadow, a figure, a type in the Old Testament of the new heavens and the new earth that’s stressed specifically in the Amil position, so that ultimately you can add again there 9:14-15 here under the new heavens and the new earth. So we have these differences. But you notice what is in common in these lower three views is that 9:11-12 is fulfilled in some way with the preaching of the gospel and gentiles coming to believe in Jesus Christ.

It’s only the dispensational view, the classic dispensational view, that would deny that. Comments or questions? Clear as mud, right?

To relate this back, just one more comment here: to relate this back to the booth, including the temple Tabernacle idea, Jesus is building his temple at the resurrection. That starts that new temple, which is the church, which now includes Gentiles and not just Jews.

And we’ll talk more about this concept over in Ezekiel 40-48, where Ezekiel has this vision of a new temple, and how does that relate to what Christ has done in us? But just briefly mention that Christ is building his permanent temple, and the Gentiles coming into it is a part of that restoration. So I do think Biel has a point here. It’s the dynasty issue. Yes, Christ is of the line of David. He is the king. He reigns from God’s right hand, but he’s also building his temple, the church.

And you could bring in some other things here that we’ll talk about in Ezekiel 40-48 when we get over there. Okay, there’s a selected bibliography. It’s very selected, related to Amos 9:11-15 if you want to read more about some of the different views, but I think that’s it. This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunes U at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes.rts.edu.

For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu.