Reading through the Bible in one Year: 2 Corinthians 9-10

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

In the closing chapter of Amos there is a closing vision of doom, and the brightness of future blessings for Israel. 

Amos 9:1-4 (NASB95)
¹ I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, “Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape. ² “Though they dig into Sheol, From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down. ³ “Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. ⁴ “And though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

Judges 16:28-30 (NASB95)
²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. ^[1]

When I read through verse one I was reminded of the story of Samson as he brought down the house on the Philistines.  We don't really know the number of people killed when Samson knocked down the house; there were three thousand on the roof of the house, not including those inside.  You can be sure that as Amos used the illustration that the people were familiar with, they fully understood its implications.  God had promised to bring down the house of worship which was set up at Bethel as a duplicate version of man's attempt to turn Judaism into a religion. I would like to remind you on this note, Bethel was constructed by the Northern kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel so that they could have a temple close to them to worship in.  God had only sanctioned the building of one temple where the sacrifices and temple activities were to take place.  When they built a second one, they were taking the plan of God into their own hands.  To make matters worse, they set up a golden calf to worship which had resembled the golden calf that had brought judgment upon them during the Exodus.  So not only were they taking God's plans into their own hands, they were also adding to God's plan a twist of their own by introducing a false god into the temple.  Amos describes the worship in the temple earlier in the book to be a huge dunked party.  God was certainly in the temple that they had constructed, He was there for judgment.

When God chooses to judge His people, it doesn't matter how far they run, He promised to extend judgment upon them.  A thought on this, what would have happened if they had repented when Amos gave the prophecy?  Would the story have ended like the story regarding Nineveh?  Unfortunately, Amos was ignored and the people did not repent.  I don't believe that God gave the prophecy to Amos just to rub the noses of Israel in their sin, in His everlasting love He offered them one more way out, one more opportunity to repent before He brought judgment upon the nation.  We serve a just God who demands that sin has a price, and we serve a loving God who allows second chances, over and over. 

When the illustration regarding man getting away from God is used, it is kind of comical.  By constructing a false temple at Bethel and implementing their own rules and their own gods in it, Israel set themselves up as equal to God.  It is almost as if they were on the same level with God, therefore the illustration is used that God would hunt them down as one man would hunt down another man.  In reality God knows where each person is at at all times, He doesn't need to hunt anyone down.  The illustration of the hunter is another way to show how highly that they had come to think of themselves.  This was proven to be true as God used the surrounding nations to bring judgment upon Israel in the following years, it was as if they turned from being the people of God to being the enemies of God.

Amos 9:5-6 (NASB95)
⁵ The Lord God of hosts, The One who touches the land so that it melts, And all those who dwell in it mourn, And all of it rises up like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt; ⁶ The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The Lord is His name. ^[2]

Amos verifies the tremendous omnipotence of God.  Read through these two verses and picture in your mind as God formed the mountains and the earth as a child will play with putty.  Imagine how incredible it was for God to create the air, to engineer water which is in an everlasting cycle, going from the sea to the sky and back upon the earth.  Man thinks that he is equal with God and is still figuring out the mysteries about how God's creation works.  Man isn't able to comprehend what it took for God to have devised the system of the earth and how He brought it into being. He isn't able to comprehend how God formed the stars and placed them in the sky.  Yet Israel was determined to walk away from God, to follow after other gods, and to form their own religion.  For a tremendous read on this look at Job 38-39 where God answers Job regarding the counsel that he had received:

Job 38:1-41 (NASB95)
¹ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ² “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? ³ “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! ⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, ⁵ Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? ⁶ “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, ⁷ When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? ⁸ “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; ⁹ When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁰ And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, ¹¹ And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’? ¹² “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³ That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? ¹⁴ “It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment. ¹⁵ “From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken. ¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? ¹⁷ “Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? ¹⁸ “Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. ¹⁹ “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, ²⁰ That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home? ²¹ “You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! ²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, ²³ Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? ²⁴ “Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? ²⁵ “Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, ²⁶ To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, ²⁷ To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? ²⁸ “Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? ²⁹ “From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? ³⁰ “Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. ³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? ³² “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? ³³ “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth? ³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? ³⁵ “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’? ³⁶ “Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? ³⁷ “Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens, ³⁸ When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together? ³⁹ “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, ⁴⁰ When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? ⁴¹ “Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?^[3]

We can't begin to understand how God manages the earth.  We can see the results of His management, we can interpret the possibilities of what might happen as we watch the clouds with satellites, but we can't understand of fathom God's hand behind it all.  Face it, through all the ages from the time of Amos until the present, man has tried to get himself on an equal plane with God.  Now many years later, mankind has increased in knowledge, only to realize that we still know nothing.  Contrary to all reason, in the process of gaining knowledge, mankind has gone further from God moving more into a state of independence, and claiming that He doesn't exist, or that He is merely an equal to man, or even that God is a figment of man's imagination.  Things haven't really changed very much from the time that Amos wrote the words of his prophecy.  God hasn't changed either, it is time for our nation to repent and return to God, it is time for us to spread the word, encouraging everyone to draw near to the Lord and make Him Lord.

Amos 9:7-10 (NASB95)
⁷ “Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me, O sons of Israel?” declares the Lord. “Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? ⁸ “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” Declares the Lord. ⁹ “For behold, I am commanding, And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations As grain is shaken in a sieve, But not a kernel will fall to the ground. ¹⁰ “All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’^[4]

God promises to scatter Israel among the nations.  He also promised that He would not totally destroy them.  We can see from history that this prophecy has been true.  It started with the Assyrians shortly after Amos had given his prophecy, and has continued through the centuries until just recently.  God promised to sort out and to destroy everyone who had set themselves up above Him in verse ten.  The mistake of the Jews was to walk away from God and to try to replace Him with other gods.  By doing so they took their destiny into their own hands, seeming to think that they could control their own destiny.  They forgot or ignored the fact that God is Lord of all, even of the Jews.  They had forgotten the way that God had protected and delivered the people from captivity, and how that He had set them up as a nation.  Again, I wonder what would have happened if the nation as a whole had repented when they had heard the words of this prophecy.  Yet centuries later, we are still reading his prophecy and most will ignore his words living their lives as if they are their own gods.  As Americans, we treat God as a novelty, our attitudes state that we are in charge of our own destinies.

Father, as we consider the illusions that we live in, show each of us how tremendous and powerful that You are.  Impress on our minds how that You are in control of our lives, not us.  I pray that each of us will make You Lord of our lives, in every area.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Luke 5-6

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

This the last day that we are going to be studying Amos.  I have enjoyed the study, and enjoyed thinking about how well it applies to today's world.  I am knocking around the idea of continuing on through the minor prophets until we finish them all.  That would take us some where near the end of the summer.  The other option that I am considering is picking up the book of Genesis and taking a chapter per day out of it.  I realize that it is a lot, my thinking is that since the book is mostly history, we should be able to breeze through it rather quickly.  On the parts that merit slowing down, we will, for instance the first chapter will take a few days.  Let me know what you think.  I feel that it is important to get an understanding in our minds as to how the Jewish mind thinks.  Face it, we serve a Jewish God, who came to the Jews first, (Romans 1:16).  To understand the Bible is based on a good working knowledge of Jewish history.  On with the study!

Amos 9:11-12 (NASB95)
¹¹ “In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will also 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. ^[1]

Until this time, Amos seemed to be focused mainly upon the judgment of the Jews of the Northern Kingdom by speaking about the temple at Bethel.  In these verses it is clear that Amos is also speaking about the temple of David which was in Jerusalem.  The restoration of the temple in the immediate future, which was over a hundred years away, was the end of the Babylonian captivity where Cyrus enabled the Jews to rebuild the temple.  He provided the protection and the funds to rebuild it, and Cyrus was a gentile, referred to in these verses as "the nations"

Acts 15:15-19 (NASB95)
¹⁵ “With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, ¹⁶ ‘After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will restore it, ¹⁷ So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ ¹⁸ Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago. ¹⁹ “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

Malachi 1:11 (NASB95)
¹¹ “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. ^[2]

That is not the end of the story though; immediate restoration of the temple was a type of what was to come in the future.  James indicated that the rebuilding of the temple was still a future prophecy, and that the calling out of the Gentiles was referring to the welcoming of the Gentiles into the Christian faith during Acts.  The rebuilding of the temple is referring to when Jesus returns the second time and rebuilds His temple here on earth.  Until that time, those who previously did not know the Lord, the remnant from Edom and the Gentile nations, have the opportunity to come to know Him personally and to call Him by name.  In the Old Testament to "be called by" someone's name meant that you were under the authority and protection of that person.   

Ephesians 2:20 (NASB95)
²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

John 1:14 (NASB95)
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Revelation 21:3 (NASB95)
³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ^[3]

Quite literally, Jesus came to rebuild His temple, as in His spiritual temple by instituting the Church.  I want to remind you though, the Church is not exclusively a Gentile church, it is a mix of Jews and Gentiles.  That is part of the trouble that we are experiencing in the church today, in the Gentile's church history we have purposefully kicked the Jews out of the Church and turned it away from the Jewish customs and festivals to ones resembling the Gentiles.  In other words, we have turned the tabernacle of David into a church of the Gentiles.  As we experience tremendous problems in the many churches and denominations today, perhaps part of the problem is because we are not building upon the cornerstone, Christ Jesus, Jewish Messiah.  There is a happy medium that is met though; the Gentiles were not required to take on the customs of the Jews during Acts.  They were expected to work, fellowship and support the Jews though.

Sure, we are all part of the church; we are all part of the Body of Christ, and part of His spiritual temple.  But the walls are still broken down; the Jews are still on the outside of most denominations and assemblies.  I believe that in these last days there will be a renewed opening of the arms of the Gentiles to the Jews.  We will see the two groups joining together and becoming strong again, building the temple of God in His manner, with His chosen people the Jews and His chosen people the Gentiles working together and building a strong temple where we will jointly worship and praise God.  I don't know the timing, whether it will be before the tribulation, during or after.  I do know that there is a spirit sweeping through the evangelical churches to reach out to the Jews today and to make amends for past sins.  This movement has already began, the Church of God is being rebuilt. 

Amos 9:13-15 (NASB95)
¹³ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine And all the hills will be dissolved. ¹⁴ “Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. ¹⁵ “I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.^[4]

The prosperity of the Jews is prophesied in these verses.  God not only promises to restore them as a nation, He also promises to restore their fortunes that they lost to captivity.  Consider what people thought a hundred years ago when they read these words.  In many cases they thought that the rebuilding of the Jews had taken place under the Old Testament times at the end of the Babylonian captivity.  Then when Jesus died on the cross it was felt that the Jews were responsible for killing the Messiah.  Thereby condemning them forever and removing them from God's Plan.  Folks, the Jews may have handed Jesus over for sentencing, but the Gentiles scourged Him, the Gentiles beat Him mercilessly while placing a crown of thorns on His head and a purple robe on Him, the Gentiles nailed Him to the cross, and the Gentiles made sure He was dead by running a spear into His side.  The Gentiles also posted a guard at the tomb to ensure that He was not disturbed in His death.  The Gentiles were stunned when He rose from the dead.

Isaiah 61:4 (NASB95)
⁴ Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.

Ezekiel 36:33-36 (NASB95)
³³ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. ³⁴ “The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. ³⁵ “They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ “Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it.” ^[5]

The point of all of this is simple, God has not fulfilled this prophecy yet.  The Jews did not wear out their welcome with God.  It is a matter of a future event, which we are seeing come to pass during our lifetime.  The Jews have come together as a nation.  For the first time since Amos wrote this book, the Jews are acting and functioning as an independent nation.  They are rebuilding their land, rebuilding their cities, and rebuilding their economy.  God is blessing them.  The illustration in verse 13 indicates that the crops are so plentiful that once one crop is harvested another is immediately sown.  I am not sure as to the growing season in Israel, it would be interesting to find out.  This is the first step in the total restoration of the Jews.  By the end of the complete restoration, Jesus will be reigning over them as Lord, this is only the beginning.

Father, as we consider Your word today, open our eyes to the truths that are written in it.  I pray that each of us will begin to understand how much You love Your people prepare for them so early.  Turn our hearts from living according to our ways and direct us to follow Yours.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Thanks for your comment, very good insight.  I appreciate the correction and the comments regarding this passage.   I found the comments that you made regarding the booth in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, and wish to note another point of view from another commentary, I believe that this is where the confusion may lie:

"tabernacle of David—not “the house of David,” which is used of his affairs when prospering (2Sa 3:1), but the tent or booth, expressing the low condition to which his kingdom and family had fallen in Amos’ time, and subsequently at the Babylonian captivity before the restoration; and secondarily, in the last days preceding Israel’s restoration under Messiah, the antitype to David (Ps 102:13, 14; Je 30:9; Ez 34:24; 37:24; see on Is 12:1). The type is taken from architecture (Eph 2:20). The restoration under Zerubbabel can only be a partial, temporary fulfilment; for it did not include Israel, which nation is the main subject of Amos prophecies, but only Judah; also Zerubbabel’s kingdom was not independent and settled; also all the prophets end their prophecies with Messiah, whose advent is the cure of all previous disorders. “Tabernacle” is appropriate to Him, as His human nature is the tabernacle which He assumed in becoming Immanuel, “God with us” (Jn 1:14). “Dwelt,” literally, tabernacled “among us” (compare Rev 21:3). Some understand “the tabernacle of David” as that which David pitched for the ark in Zion, after bringing it from Obed-edom’s house. It remained there all his reign for thirty years, till the temple of Solomon was built, whereas the “tabernacle of the congregation” remained at Gibeon (2Ch 1:3), where the priests ministered in sacrifices (1Ch 16:39). Song and praise was the service of David’s attendants before the ark (Asaph, &c.): a type of the gospel separation between the sacrificial service (Messiah’s priesthood now in heaven) and the access of believers on earth to the presence of God, apart from the former (compare 2Sa 6:12–17; 1Ch 16:37–39; 2Ch 1:3).
breaches thereof—literally, “of them,” that is, of the whole nation, Israel as well as Judah."
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Am 9:11). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

In order to remain consistent, here is the quote from the Bible Knowledge Commentary:

"9:11. In that day (cf. Isa. 4:2; Micah 4:6; 5:10) God will restore David’s fallen tent. Previous references in Amos to ”that day“ had spoken of it as a day of darkness and destruction (Amos 2:16; 3:14; 5:18-20; 8:3, 9, 11, 13). But when Israel’s ordeal is finally over, ”that day“ will also become the day of her renewal.
God will reestablish David’s ”tent“ over both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. A ”tent“ (lit., ”booth“) or awning was made by setting up a simple frame and spreading branches over it. Its primary purpose was to shelter those under it, whether troops in the field (2 Sam. 11:11; 1 Kings 20:12-16), a watchman at post (Jonah 4:5), or pilgrims at the Feast of Booths (also called the Feast of Tabernacles, Lev. 23:33-42). David’s dynasty, which had been a protective canopy over all the people of Israel, had ”fallen“ with the great schism of the 10 Northern tribes from the 2 Southern tribes (1 Kings 12). This booth had been broken in two. But God promised to unite the two kingdoms once again under Davidic rule (cf. Jer. 30:3-10; Ezek. 37:15-28; Hosea 3:4-5). He will restore the sheltering tent, repair its broken places, building it as it used to be. God will carry out His good promise to David that He would raise up a Descendant after him and establish His rule forever (2 Sam. 7:11-16, 25-29)."

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

I believe that the word tabernacle confused me.  As I look at the scriptures and the commentaries.  The idea of God tabernacling among us caused me to run in a different direction.  Actually, thinking about it, Solomon did build the literal temple, David planned it.  David was the father of the spiritual kingdom of David, where Jesus came to tabernacle among His people.  The ultimate fulfillment of this will be when Jesus returns in the flesh to set up His kingdom on earth.  It is fun to consider the ramifications though. 

Thanks for the correction, I needed it, thinking about it further brought added blessing. 

Thanks,

Joe.