The difference that hope in God’s promise makes
Amos 9:11-15
There used to be a memorable advert for Hungarian Airlines whose tagline was, ‘We give wings to your dreams’. I think of hope as the wings that carry us through dark patches in life and keep us going. It reminds me of my Dad, who throughout the years I was growing up, believed that the end of the Communist regime in Hungary would come. He was not sure that he would see it (he did), but this hope made him work tirelessly to prepare my brother and me for a life beyond it. I will forever be grateful for what he has taught me in terms of worldview and Western languages, which prepared me for the life I live today. As we come to the end of Amos, the book concludes with such a hope for Israel’s restoration. Although it is hard to know how best to interpret the details (how much is figurative language, how much fulfilled or still to come), the point of such a promise from God is to give hope.
Davidic restoration
The Assyrian captivity will sift Israel but not all will be destroyed (Amos 9:8). Some, no doubt, are mourning at this stage over the wickedness in the country and its leadership, grieved that it split away from Judah and the God-given Davidic king. If the prophet is right that they are to go into captivity, will that be the end of them? Amos speaks God’s promise of hope into this desperate situation and such hope can make a difference in giving purpose to continue with God and not give up. The fallen (or it may be translated ‘falling’) tent of David (Amos 9:11) is likely a reference to the Davidic dynasty, more commonly called ‘the house of David’.[1] David’s royal dynasty was in a rickety state and was to go under when Judah was taken into Babylonian exile about 135 years later. God, however, promises that He will restore and rebuild it as it was in David’s time, an ideal that Israel could only hope for.
A kingdom united, at peace, and possessing the nations
Such a Davidic restoration implies the unification of north and south (Israel and Judah) and a strengthened kingdom safe from attacks. Edom as a brother nation (descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother) was antagonistic to Israel throughout their joint history (cf. Amos 1:11) and is representative of Israel’s enemies. More than a hundred years later, the Edomites took over some of Judah’s land after the Babylonians carried the Jews into exile. Yet, God will reverse all that so that the new Davidic king will ‘possess’ some of the Edomite territories (Amos 9:12). The reference to ‘the nations who are called by My name’ (v.12) reminds us of people groups who will come to worship the true God (e.g. Isa 2:2-4; Mic 4:1-3). The early Christians will see the Gentiles’ coming to faith in Jesus as a fulfilment of this prophecy (Acts 15:13-18). Finally, God will reverse the curses that came on Israel for their disobedience (e.g. Amos 4:6-11; 6:7) and overwhelmingly bless them with a return to the land and agricultural plenty (Amos 9:13-15).
The hope that makes a difference
Christians disagree about the way this prophecy is or will be fulfilled, in the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and/or in a future millennial kingdom on earth. Whatever our conviction, it is God’s faithfulness that is the key here. No matter how impossible and hopeless a situation, how degenerate and disappointing His people, God will not give up on them altogether. At times, we may despair of the Christian Church in our world, compromised as it is, riddled with sin and far from the witness it should be, just like Israel had been. We may also despair of ourselves individually, of how easily sin entangles us, how we may lack the desire to seek God or the courage to do what He calls us to. Yet it makes a difference to know that there is a future hope when God will renew all things. It is this anticipation that can encourage us to keep going, to endure what is difficult and know that we stand in His grace and Christ lives in us, our hope and assurance that we will share his glory (Col 1:27).
[1] The tent or tabernacle of David is taken by most commentators to mean the Jerusalem temple, which was destroyed in 587 BC. Thus, they believe that this is a later prophecy added to the book from the time of the exile or beyond. However, the house or tabernacle of God is never called David’s. The only other time ‘the tent of David’ is mentioned in the OT is in Isaiah 16:5, where Moabite fugitives express the hope for a just and fair king sitting in David’s tent, i.e. from his dynasty. The Hebrew words for ‘tent/tabernacle’ used in the two cases is different but synonymous (’ohel in Isaiah and sukkah in Amos).
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