The Fulfillment of Amos 9
The little book of Amos is one of my favorites among the Old Testament prophets. Though written over 2,700 years ago, many of the themes Amos takes up and many of the warnings he levies against Israel are just as pertinent to the Church today. It is an amazing book, worthy of our prayerful, detailed study. When studying Amos, it is easy to see how the first six chapters are perpetually-relevant (Who can fail to find application to those famous words, “Let justice roll down like water”?), but then we come to the last three chapter and sometimes wonder what to do with them…especially the final chapter.
Having proclaimed very clearly that Israel would be carted off into captivity by the Assyrians (Amos 9.4) and destroyed from the face of the earth (Amos 9.8), God then promises, “Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” As is always true of the prophets, God’s threat (promise) of judgment is accompanied by his promise of restoration. The book ends with the following, grace-filled proclamation:
On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.
– Amos 9.11-15 (NKJV)
In the last hundred years, many people have seen this promise fulfilled, at least in part, in the 1917 Balfour Declaration or the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Here, they say, God is making good on his promise to ‘bring back the captives’ of Israel in their rightful territory.
What should we make of this interpretation? Does it rightly understand this prophecy and properly interpret God’s promises?
In a word, no. In stronger words, absolutely not!
There are some areas of the Old Testament that are difficult to interpret and some that have consistently been interpreted in multiple ways through the millennia, but this is NOT one of them. This passage is plainly interpreted and explained in the New Testament book of Acts, and where Scripture interprets itself, there should be no confusion.
Looking at Acts 15, after Barnabas and Paul describe God’s work through them among the Gentiles, the Apostle James takes advantage of the stunned silence, likely as these Jewish Christians realize God has made a great turning point in his salvific work by including Gentiles. James speaks to the Jerusalem Council about Peter’s missionary work. He quotes Amos 9.11-12 about rebuilding the tabernacle of David and points out that God has fulfilled this promise.
In other words, David’s tabernacle has been rebuilt, past tense. God has fulfilled this promise, says Peter under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
How? David’s dynasty was restored in Jesus Christ, at which point Gentiles started in earnest to seek the Lord, as evidenced by the reports from Barnabas, Paul, and Peter.
We need not look for some future work of God to rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. Such an idea has no place in redemptive history, according to the plain testimony of Scripture. Why not? Because it has already been accomplished in the life and work of Jesus Christ, through whose grace Jews and Gentiles are ‘saved in the same manner’ (Acts 15.11).
Thanks be to God!