(Amos 9:1-15)
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said,
“Strike the pillar capitals so that the thresholds will shake,
And break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will put to death the rest of them with the sword;
They will not have a fugitive who will flee,
Nor a survivor who will escape.
2 Though they dig into Sheol,
From there My hand will take them;
And though they ascend to heaven,
From there I will bring them down.
3 And though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will track them down and take them from there;
And though they hide themselves from My sight on the bottom of the sea,
I will command the serpent from there, and it will bite them.
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword and it will kill them,
And I will set My eyes against them for harm and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of armies,
The One who touches the land so that it quakes,
And all those who live 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.
7 “Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me,
You 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 eliminate it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will not totally eliminate 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 pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us.’
11 “On that day I will raise up the fallen shelter of David,
And wall up its gaps;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 So that they may possess the remnant of Edom
And all the nations who are called by My name,”
Declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When the plowman will overtake the reaper,
And the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed;
When the mountains will drip grape juice,
And all the hills will come apart.
14 I will also restore the fortunes of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the desolated 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 be uprooted again from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
And break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will put to death the rest of them with the sword;
They will not have a fugitive who will flee,
Nor a survivor who will escape.
2 Though they dig into Sheol,
From there My hand will take them;
And though they ascend to heaven,
From there I will bring them down.
3 And though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will track them down and take them from there;
And though they hide themselves from My sight on the bottom of the sea,
I will command the serpent from there, and it will bite them.
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword and it will kill them,
And I will set My eyes against them for harm and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of armies,
The One who touches the land so that it quakes,
And all those who live 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.
7 “Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me,
You 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 eliminate it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will not totally eliminate 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 pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us.’
11 “On that day I will raise up the fallen shelter of David,
And wall up its gaps;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 So that they may possess the remnant of Edom
And all the nations who are called by My name,”
Declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When the plowman will overtake the reaper,
And the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed;
When the mountains will drip grape juice,
And all the hills will come apart.
14 I will also restore the fortunes of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the desolated 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 be uprooted again from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Where there is sin, there is death, so when those who are are sinning see truth and justice coming to judge them, and put an end to their perverted empires and evil aspirations, they will mourn. Those who have put themselves on "the throne" will know that their kingdom will not stand. All of their efforts will have been in vain, and will vanish, because whatever mankind does or builds is temporary. More importantly, if their faith and hope has been placed on themselves or anyone or anything else that is temporary, like all things that are temporary, there is an end that leads towards destruction.
Sin separates every person from the Lord - who is eternal. And it is only through the Lord that a person can be restored, forgiven of all sin, and given eternal life. Verse 10 is very clear, even though someone is an Israelite, if they do not choose to believe in the Lord, they will die. They will not see the Millennial kingdom, nor will they see heaven. And those who choose to believe in the Lord will inherit their land as God promised, according to their covenants and will spend eternity in heaven.
Out of all the sinful people on earth, God had chosen and called Abraham, who chose to believe in the Lord, making Him his God, to trust and obey. Remember, part of the covenant made to Abraham included not just the Israelites, but that all nations would be blessed. This was because through Abraham's seed, the Lord would come to earth in flesh. God knew that the Israelites would reject Him as their King and crucify Him, but God willingly allowed this to happen in order to make salvation possible to everyone.
It is all about a personal choice, to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If and when we have children, they are not saved because we are. Everyone has to make this decision for themselves. Do we want death and mourning, or do we want eternal life with everlasting joy! And this is not a cultural or racial thing. God is not white, black or brown... the Lord is God, and He loved the world so much, He paid the price for all sin and conquered death so that anyone can go to Him for forgiveness of sins, receiving eternal life, as well as certain hope, guidance and strength from our perfect heavenly Father!
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