Return to Me

Return to Me
“The Restoration of the Remnant”
Amos 9:11-15

Amos was a simple man, a shepherd, a grower of sycamore figs, who lived in the Judean Hills. However, God called Amos to go into the major cities of Dan, Bethel, and Gilgal and warn the people to repent of their sins, including their false worship of God, or prepare to face the judgment of God.

• Amos delivered God’s warning through his sermons, poems, and visions, but sadly, they did not hear or heed God’s warning.
• Thirty years after the religious leaders had Amos killed, the Assyrians took the 10-northern tribes of Israel into captivity and used them as slaves. A few years, later the Babylonians took the people of Judah into captivity and used them as slaves.

Why would a loving God allow His chosen people to suffer such indignities?

• Because they were God’s chosen people, God held them to a higher standard of holiness.
• Because they were no longer walking in His ways, being a just God, He had no choice but to call them to account.

The Book of Amos has two contrasting themes:

• In the first eight chapters, and the first ten verses of chapter nine, Amos described the seriousness of Israel’s sins against God and God’s judgment for their sin.
• In the last five verses of chapter nine, even before God released His judgment upon them, Amos gave them a word of hope for the future.
• God promised to protect a remnant of believers through which the “seed” of God’s promised Messiah would come.
  • That prophetic promise was fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ as our Savior.
• God also promised to bring that “remnant” back to their land to be His redeemed people forever.
  • That prophetic promise will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to this earth as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

1. The Preservation of the Righteous Remnant – Amos 9:8 – “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.”

Chapter nine opened with a vision of the Pre-incarnate Christ standing by the altar, ready to destroy the temple, including those who had corrupted its worship.

• God’s judgment came upon His people because they dared to challenge His sovereignty over their lives.
• King Jeroboam had instituted his own concept of religion, including the worship of two golden calves.
• He had also established his own places of worship and hired his own priests to serve in his false temples.
• God withheld His final judgment upon Israel for 700 years; hoping for their repentance, but there came that time when His judgment fell upon those in leadership, “Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but they transgressed His covenant.” (2 Kings 18:11-12)
• However, in Amos 9:8, the prophet gave a glimmer of hope for the preservation of the remnant of Israel, as God promised He would not destroy the house of Jacob – those who did not turn their backs upon God or give in to the false worship.
• While they would be taken into captivity with the rest, they would be preserved as God’s remnant.

2. The Restoration of the Kingdom of David – Amos 9:11 – “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen…it will be as in the days of old!” 

Beyond the “day of judgment” was coming a “day of blessing,” when God would raise up a new people for Himself and return them to their land.

• Amos was probably the first Hebrew prophet to relate “the Kingdom of God” to the “Day of the Lord.”
• In 2 Samuel 7:16, God told David: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever!”
• However, according to biblical prophecy, such a kingdom could only be raised up by an “offshoot” of David’s family.
• That “offshoot” was Jesus, who was born to Mary, a “virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:26-27)

• Luke 1:26-27 – “Joseph, of the house of David.”
• Acts 2:22-36 – Peter connected the first coming of Christ with God’s promise to restore the Kingdom of David.
• Before that day of restoration, God will again purge the nation of Israel during The Great Tribulation, as the nations of the world gather to destroy Israel from the face of the earth.
• However, when it appears Israel is lost, Jesus will burst from the heavens, destroy Israel’s enemies, and restore David’s kingdom. His kingdom will never be destroyed again, for it will become the eternal Kingdom of God.
• In Acts 15:13-18, quoting Amos, James said even Gentiles would be a part of this restored Kingdom.

3. The Restoration of the People to the Land – Amos 9:13-15 – “I will plant them on their land!”

The Israelites have never possessed all the land God promised them through Abraham. (Genesis 15:18-21)

• During the Millennium, God will bless His people with the same intensity with which He has punished them, and that includes the land He promised them.
• With the “curse of sin” lifted, there will be no more famine, no more war, and no more devastating weather.
• The people of God will rebuild the ruined cities, and they will be able to live in them, in peace.
• According to the prophets (Ezekiel 36:24-28, 37:25-28, Jeremiah 16:14-15, Isaiah 11:11-12, 60:21), the Israelites will return to Israel just before the Lord returns, and we are seeing those prophecies fulfilled today as the population of Israel is now more than eight million people.
• So, the prophecy of Amos 9:11-15 is yet to be fulfilled.
• The restoration of David’s throne was fulfilled at our Lord’s first coming. (Luke 1:31-33)
• The occupation of David’s throne will be fulfilled at our Lord’s second coming. (Isaiah 9:7)
• Maranatha! Even so, Lord Jesus, COME!

   Three life-long lessons to be learned from the prophet Amos:

• God is not pleased with His people when they disobey His commandments and reject His sovereignty.
• God purifies His people through His judgment, which always includes temporal suffering and persecution.
• God’s people today are being purified through His judgment.

   Three actions we must take as a result of this study:

• We must pray for revival!
• We must prepare for survival!