A Study of Amos
So, here we have a vision of Yeshua, standing beside the altar, and He is giving the order to “strike the tops of the pillars.” This can also be translated as capitals. These are the parts of the column that held the roof up. Without these, the whole building would come tumbling down. One can almost picture the lightning bolt. The capitals are struck and the building collapses under its own weight coming down on the heads of all those found within. One must ask themselves at this point, what building is He talking about?
If we look back to the preceding chapter, we see that He is speaking of those who have embraced false worship and have ignored the needs of the people. So He must be speaking of the false temples of worship that will come down. But as in all lessons of scripture, I think there is another meaning found deeper. I think He is speaking of the false religion itself. I think God is saying that He will, in the end, reveal Himself in such a way that the capitals of the false religion will be shown to be an illusion, a falsehood, and the false religion will fall under this revelation. That the leaders who are leading His people astray will be the ones whose heads this will come down on. They will bear a great burden of guilt as they make their way to the Judgment Throne.
Remember, we are talking now about the time “in that day.” Those people who are leading the people in any way other then the way Adonai described to Moses on top of Mt. Sinai are in big trouble. As we saw back in chapter 3, ignorance is no excuse. God has revealed himself to us in the Torah (the books of Moses) and we are all free to read it and study it on our own. Those who find that their beliefs don’t line up with the Torah, and continue on in their beliefs have no excuse. Those who do all of this and teach other to do so to are in a heap of trouble!
We find this very same thing in the book of James. Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1 James understood this because James studied the Torah. He also studied Amos. Could this be the reason we have so few people willing to teach the word? No one wants to be a capital.
Not one shall escape, not one. None of these false worshippers who care nothing for the poor shall survive the judgment to come. It matters not where they hide. They could be aboard the space shuttle, and He would find them. They could be located in a submarine beneath the polar ice cap and they would be found. Even the most elaborate fall-out shelter will be no match for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in that day. “Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” Amos 9:4 There is truly no escape once the end begins.
Amos then goes on to remind us just Who this God is and why we need to remain faithful to Him. “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth– yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD. Amos 9:8 There is always a remnant, there will always be a remnant. In the end, there will be many from the house of Jacob (representatives from all 12 tribes) who will be wiped out by the Lord. There will also be some from each tribe who remain (Revelation 7.) This verse shows that it is not the Lord’s intention to remove “favored nation status” from Israel. This shows that the Christians have NOT replaced the Israelites as the chosen people of God. It also shows that He is not only favoring Judah (the Jews) over the rest of the tribes. If that where the case, He wouldn’t allow a remnant to remain. The nation of Israel may be destroyed, but the people of Israel would not.
This next set of verses is very important. We need to understand what is being said because this is not about them; this is about us.
“For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’” Amos 9:9-10
I have italicized and underlined in the verse above to make it easier to see what the message is. “At that time” Israel will be “among all the nations.” Israel (the “lost” tribes) may be lost to us, but God knows where each and every one is. He has hidden them among the nations. Another way of saying this is: within. Every tribe and tongue and nation has within its citizenry representatives of the “lost tribes of Israel.” Every family could be affected by this! This could mean that you yourself, the person reading this article, could very well be a member of the tribe of Asher and not even know it! Peoples and nations have so inter-bred over the millennia that it’s difficult to say who is who any more. Scientists have recently proven that we all can be traced back to one mother. Could this one mother be Sarah?
“Sinners among His people will die by the sword.” There are those who believe that if they are His people, they will not be part of the tribulation at the end. This plainly says that the people who are called by His name can be considered part of the group of sinners who will die by the sword. He then says that these very people will believe that disaster will not overtake them. I know a group of people today that are called by His name who feel that disaster will not happen to them, the believers of a pre-tribulation rapture. These people feel that they are “too good” to go through the refiner’s fire of the tribulation. That God has promised to “take us away” before the worst of it begins. This is not backed up in scripture; this is not backed up here. This was a hard lesson for me to learn, as I was a pre-tribulation rapture believer.
It has been said that all good teachings end with a blessing. Amos is a good teacher. Remember the remnant he told us about? Well, he has a promise for them to hold onto to get them through it all.
“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things. Amos 9:11-12
The Tabernacle of David will be restored. No one knew how to worship the Lord like David. Can you imagine what it would be like to worship in the Tabernacle with the music and the singing and the Glory of the Holy One of Israel filling the Holy Place?
There have been many sermons of late on the topic of the Restoration of the Tabernacle of David. There are those who are trying to make it a reality today. The topic of Davidic worship, the use of banners and dance in worship has many people excited about worship again. But I think that they are missing the message here. I don’t think God is expecting us to restore the tabernacle of David, I think He will be doing it after, or as a result of, “that day.” The Lord shows us what will be, not because He wants us to do it, but because He wants to give us hope. We are not to run ahead like Sarah and make the vision come to pass (Ishmael), but are to sit back and watch it happen before our very eyes (Isaac.) It is the faith that He will make it happen, not that He will allow us to do it. He’s just telling us about it before hand so that when it happens we will see that He is the One who caused it.
I believe that after, or as a result of, judgment day we will see the Temple standing in Jerusalem and the Levites offering daily sacrifices once again. I think that His people will live in the land, the true Promised Land, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River. I also believe that all people will celebrate the festivals of the Messiah and make the journey to the Temple for them. The Sabbath will no longer be a burden, but a joy to the people of Israel. And no where will be found even a remnant of the false religions of Babylon that has so mingled in with the True faith. Those holidays which sound so familiar to our ears will be unheard of at that time.
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.” Amos 9:13
This verse refers back to a verse in Leviticus.
“`If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. Leviticus 26:3-5
This promised blessing will finally come to pass in the Millennial Kingdom. This has not yet happened because the children of Israel have not yet upheld their end of the bargain. As soon as they got into the land and settled it, they forgot to do “all that is written therein.” They never once gave the land its Sabbath rest. This will happen after “that day.”
“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. Amos 9:14-15
Many see this prophesy as already haven occurred as a result of the birth of the country of Israel and the subsequent return to the Land by the Jewish people. As a result, they don’t feel the need to pay any heed to the rest of the book as “it already happened.” What we have witnessed, and are still in the process of witnessing, is the return of Judah to the land from exile. The return of Israel is yet to come.
When Adonai brings His people, all of His people, back into the land of the promise, then we will see the fulfillment of all of the prophesies of the Bible. Then we will dwell together in unity and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the child will play at the hole of an asp and not be bitten. The “paradise” we all seek will be a reality for those who are found worthy to be standing among the remnant in the end. But first, we have much overcoming to do.
As with all good studies, we need to come away from Amos asking ourselves how this message applies to us, here in the 21st century. What can we learn from this man and his message to the people of Adonai? First we can learn just how important it is to show mercy and compassion towards one another. Would we be willing to go out on a limb just to help someone even when there is nothing in it for us? Would you be willing to be Amos? It’s a thankless job… and it could get you killed.
Second, we need to have extra compassion on those whose circumstances have them in desperate need of help. It seems that we have the hardest time giving to those who need it the most. We’ll give to a friend, partially because we hope they will return the favor if ever the need be. But how many of us will spend a day giving to someone who has no way of repaying them and they may never see again? Let’s be honest with ourselves with this, because we can’t hide our true feelings from Adonai. Would you be willing to give up your holiday dinner with all the trimmings to go cook and serve the poor that night? Have you smelled some of those people? Why, some of them haven’t taken a bath in weeks… simply because no one will let them use their shower. Even the shelters won’t take some of these folks. Would you? This is just what He is calling us to do.
Third, we must look at our own beliefs and the way we live them out. Have we been lured away from “Jerusalem” to worship at “Bethel or Gilgal?” Are we honoring Adonai by honoring His Sabbath, celebrating His feasts and festivals, or are we honoring the Lord with our own Sabbath and celebrating Him with our feasts and festivals? And if so, are we teaching others to do the same? We might just be in for a big surprise in that day.
Amos also sends a message to the neighbors of Israel today. Those who are lining up against Israel; Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians; need to pay heed to what happened the last time they went up against the God of the Israelites. Their acts of aggression were not only against the people of Israel, but against their God as well. They fail to realize the special relationship that these people have with Adonai.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2
The Arab world spends a lot of time cursing the Israelis, in the name of Allah. This Allah is definitely not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or they would not be able to curse them (see Numbers 22.) Adonai sent a warning to them, and to the Palestinians, by way of an ancient one-time prophet of Israel. He is warning them that He will only allow them to continue in their sin for a little longer, and then judgment will fall on them on behalf of His people. He will be sending a fire upon them which will destroy all of their fortresses and their walls (protection.) He is planning to utterly destroy them for what they have done to His people and His name. They are not allowing His people to worship Him in the way He said at the place He chose. This can not be allowed to continue.
In fact, there is much in this world that can not be allowed to continue. I’m not even speaking of the crime that is rampant in our streets. I’m talking about what goes on “in the name of God.” Palatial houses of worship are being built while His people are homeless. We don’t want to hear about another suicide bomber in Tel Aviv, but we’ll stay up all night discussing 9/11. We give each other good gifts “in His name” once a year, but we ignore each other for the rest of the year. Have you been to a food bank in June? It’s empty. The holidays are over, the giving rush is done, and the food has already been eaten. People are hungry all year round.
We are just as guilty as they were, nothing has changed. In fact, things have only gotten worse. Most people don’t believe God even exists. Those who do are not always willing to give up even one day a week to honor Him. Even those who are willing don’t all understand Who this God is and what He expects of them. Of those who have spent the time to learn this much, only a small part will apply this to their lives even if it means the estrangement of family and friends. Most will not be willing to go outside of their comfort zone and throw off the false teachings of the false teachers who have been among us since the beginning. Those who do are the “overcomers.”
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. (2:17)
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—(2:26)
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. (3:5)
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. (3:12)
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (3:21)
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (21:7)
Those are quite some promises! Are you going to be one of those who Amos would preach to, and be caught up in the coming judgment, or will you be an overcomer? The choice is yours.